Washington Report – September 23, 2024

Latest News

Continuing Resolution to December up for Vote This Week

The current fiscal year ends Sept. 30, and Congress has not passed a single FY25 appropriations bill to fund the federal government;
With the Nov. 5 election coming quickly, and the entire U.S. House and 1/3 of the U.S. Senate up for re-election, members are anxious to be campaigning in their home districts and states;
Over the weekend, the House announced it will vote on a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government through Dec. 20;
Leadership in both chambers has expressed support for this approach;
The CR will keep the federal government funded at current FY24 levels, and Congress will return for a lame duck session after the election.

APWA Participates in Congressional PFAS Panel

a photo of APWA Government Affairs Committee Member and Washtenaw Water Resources Commissioner Evan Pratt speaking about PFAS and the challenges of addressing contamination’s upgrades, costs, and legal risks

APWA Government Affairs Committee Member and Washtenaw Water Resources Commissioner Evan Pratt spoke to a room filled with U.S. House of Representatives staff last week about PFAS and the challenges of addressing contamination’s upgrades, costs, and legal risks;
APWA reiterated public works should not be held liable under CERCLA for substances they did not create, and reasonable protections would help deter unwarranted legal expenses that could hinder investments in improvements to water and waste systems, and also raise costs for communities served;
Other organizations represented as part of the “passive receivers” coalition included the Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF), U.S. Conference of Mayors, National Waste & Recycling Association, Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) and U.S. Composting Council.

Department of Defense Announces PFAS Standards 3X EPA’s

In a memo, the Pentagon’s top environmental official laid out a plan for prioritizing cleanup work near military installations with PFAS contamination;
The plan calls for initially addressing only private drinking water wells with PFAS levels three times higher than the limits set by EPA in its drinking water regulation;
The initial thresholds are:
- 12 parts per trillion (ppt) for PFOA or PFOS contamination
- 30 ppt for PFHxS, GenX or PFNA contamination
- A hazard index of 3. The hazard index is meant to account for health risks posed by mixtures of multiple chemicals
The Pentagon did not reply on how it set its threshold and what the department’s timeline is for addressing wells that fall below that level of contamination
- It is also unclear how many wells that threshold will cover, and how many wells that exceed EPA’s limits will fall outside of DOD’s threshold for initial action;
The memo also states, “whenever possible,” the military should act within 6 months and actions could include hooking up homes to public water systems, installing home treatment systems or providing bottled water;
DOD “intends to expedite action at public water systems where authorized, prioritizing the most impacted sites for earlier action” but it sets no threshold for action when a water system exceeds the new EPA limits;
The last time the Pentagon estimated cleanup costs, in 2022, they came in at $38B, but that was before the drinking water limits were finalized and more contaminated sites have come to light since then.

Department of Interior Announces Water Funding Opportunities

As part of Interior’s WaterSMART initiative, the following funding opportunities are available:
- Water and Energy Efficiency Grants for FY 24. Funding for projects that result in quantifiable water savings, implement renewable energy components, and support broader sustainability benefits. Apply by Nov. 13
- Drought Response Program supports a proactive approach to drought with financial assistance to develop and update comprehensive drought plans and implement projects that will build long-term resilience to drought. Apply by Oct. 7
- Small-Scale Water Efficiency Projects. Invite to States, Indian Tribes, irrigation districts, water districts, and other organizations with water or power delivery authority to leverage their money and resources by cost sharing with reclamation on small-scale on-the-ground projects. Apply by Jan. 14
- Environmental Water Resources Project provides funding for water conservation and efficiency projects, water management and infrastructure improvements, and river and watershed restoration projects and nature-based solutions that provide significant ecological benefits. Apply by Mar. 11
- Small Surface Water and Groundwater Storage Projects offers federal assistance to enhance water storage opportunities for future generations in support of the department’s priorities. Apply by Dec. 12
- Desalination and Water Purification Research Program: Research Projects FY25 invites applicants to address any of the following objectives: develop or improve process or approaches to reduce the cost, energy consumption, feasibility, and/or environmental impacts of treating impaired water to standards necessary for an identified beneficial use, improve existing membrane technologies, including reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, nanofiltration, membrane filtration, and pretreatment processes. Apply by Nov. 13

FEMA Releases 2024 National Resilience Guidance (EDIT)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has released its 2024 National Resilience Guidance (NRG);
The NRG focuses on:
- Promoting a common understanding of resilience
- Emphasizing the critical relationship between chronic community stressors and acute shocks
- Addressing the resilience roles of individuals, organizations, and all levels of government
- Providing an actionable approach to resilience planning and implementation.
- Incorporating a community resilience maturity model that walks through concrete steps to build resilience
To assist in the rollout effort, FEMA will host webinars on the following dates (all ET):
- Sept. 24 at 1 p.m.
- Sept. 26 at 3 p.m.
- Oct. 1 at 1 p.m.
- Oct. 9 at 3 p.m.

FEMA Releases Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) 2023 Stakeholder Engagement Report

FEMA is out with its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) 2023 Stakeholder Engagement Report;
While FEMA plans to request stakeholder feedback for the BRIC program in 2026, feedback may be submitted at any time via email to fema-bricfeedback@fema.dhs.gov.

CISA Announces Secure Our World Opportunities Guide to Kickoff Cybersecurity Awareness Month

The Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA) has published its Secure Our World Opportunities Guide for Cybersecurity Awareness Month Guide and Toolkit;
CISA is seeking participation from state, local, territorial, and tribal partners during “Cybersecurity Awareness Month” in October
- This year’s theme is “Secure Our World”
Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. ET, CISA will host a kick-off virtual event;
To register for the free virtual kick-off event, click here;
Should you be planning events in October or have questions, contact APWA Government Affairs Manager Marty Williams at mwilliams@apwa.org or (202) 218-6732.

On the Horizon

All times ET.

Sept. 25 at 10 a.m., the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management will hold a hearing on Examining the Role and Effectiveness of Building Codes in Mitigating Against Disasters;
Sept. 26 at 10 a.m., the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit will hold a hearing, A Negotiated Rulemaking at Work: Stakeholder Perspectives on Implementation of the Entry Level Driver Training Rule;
Sept. 26 at 10 a.m., the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will hold a hearing, Examining the Public Health Impacts of PFAS Exposures;
Sept. 26 at 3 p.m., FEMA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will host a Climate Resiliency Fireside Chat to provide recommendations to assist communities with resiliency efforts;
FEMA’s Risk Map Systems will have a planned outage Oct. 24-27 to conduct infrastructure improvements. A complete list of applications affected can be viewed on the FEMA Outage Infrastructure Improvement webpage.