News
Senate Advances FY 2026 Interior, Environment Appropriations Bill
The Senate Committee on Appropriations approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, providing support for state and tribal programs, National Parks, public lands, and federal efforts to suppress wildfires. The measure, which was advanced by a vote of 26-2, provides $38.6 billion in nondefense discretionary funding. According to a summary on the Committee’s website, the bill provides $8.6 billion in grants and program funding for EPA, including $2.8 billion for the Clean Water and Drinking Water Revolving Funds.
ACWA has updated their funding chart to reflect the FY 2026 Interior, Environment Appropriations bill. View the updated funding chart here.
EPA CWA Section 401 Public Listening Session – July 30
The U.S. EPA has announced that it will host a series of stakeholder listening sessions on regulatory uncertainty or implementation challenges associated with the Clean Water Act section 401 certification process as defined in the 2023 Water Quality Certification Improvement Rule. The Agency will use this input to determine whether guidance or rulemaking are necessary to address identified areas of regulatory uncertainty or implementation challenges regarding the scope of certification. The Agency also seeks stakeholder input related to CWA section 401(a)(2) implementation.
The next public listening session will take place on July 30, from 1:00 – 4:30 pm ET. Please click here to register. As part of its public engagement, EPA will be accepting written feedback, which must be received on or before August 6, 2025 (Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2025-0272).
Please reach out to Ward Scott (wscott@acwa-us.org) for more information or visit EPA’s CWA Section 401 Outreach and Engagement webpage.
White House AI Action Plan and Environment Programs
This week the White House released an action plan focused on ensuring the United State achieves global dominance in artificial intelligence (AI). The plan relies heavily on President Trump’s Executive Order 14179, “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence.” America’s AI Action Plan calls on the United States to “build and maintain vast AI infrastructure and the energy to power it.” The plan further states that “AI will require new infrastructure — factories to produce chips, data centers to run those chips, and new sources of energy to power it all. America’s environmental permitting system and other regulations make it almost impossible to build this infrastructure in the United States with the speed that is required.”
One facet of this plan is to “Remove Red Tape and Onerous Regulation.” Specifically, the United States “must be unencumbered by bureaucratic red tape” and not permit “AI-related Federal funding to be directed toward states with burdensome AI regulations.” The report also calls for streamlined permitting for data centers, semiconductor manufacturing facilities, and energy infrastructure. Targeted policy actions will include:
- Establishing new categorical exclusions under NEPA.
- Expanding the use of the FAST-41 processes AI, semiconductor, and related energy projects.
- Exploring nationwide Clean Water Act Section 404 permits.
- Expediting environmental permitting under the CAA, CWA, and CERCLA and other relevant laws.
- Ensuring Federal lands are available for data center construction and the construction of power generation infrastructure.
- Expanding use of AI to accelerate and improve environmental reviews.
For more information on America’s AI Action Plan.
On a related note, President Trump issued an executive order titled Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure which provides further details and time frames for moving forward on some of the action items in the plan. In particular, Section 7 directs the EPA Administrator to assist in expediting permitting by developing or modifying regulations promulgated under the CAA, CWA, CERCLA, TSCA, and other relevant applicable laws, while Section 8 directs the Secretary of Energy to initiate ESA consultation and the Secretary of Army to determine if a nationwide permit is needed.
Potable Water Reuse Report – Pathogen Crediting Frameworks
On July 10, 2025, the Water Reuse Consortium released their sixth issue of the Potable Water Reuse Report. The Water Reuse Consortium provides national leadership in integrating potable water reuse into military and municipal water supply portfolios to ensure the nation’s water supply is secure and resilient. This report notes that “potable reuse requires high levels of pathogen reduction, but many treatment processes do not have frameworks for claiming pathogen credits.” The first two issues of this series focused on the importance of pathogen crediting frameworks for potable reuse treatment trains and how pathogen crediting can be improved. This third report focuses on showing the types of processes that are currently uncredited and three approaches that can be used to earn credits.
1. Modeling Approach: used for treatment processes whose mechanisms of pathogen reduction are well understood and whose performance can be accurately predicted using a model.
2. Surrogate Approach: used where a parameter that can be continuously monitored and correlates well with the amount of pathogen reduction provided by the treatment process.
3. Operational Envelope Approach: used where empirical studies at one or more facilities provides a consistent pattern of real-world pathogen reductions, assuming the facility maintains the same level of performance.
For a copy of the report, please click here: PWRR-Series-2-Issue-3.pdf
Association Updates
ACWA’s 64th Annual Meeting in Madison, WI – Registration is Open!
Dates: August 13-15th, 2025
Board of Directors will meet August 12th, 2025.
Member Rate – $550
Non-Member Rate – $570
(email Lexy at abailey@acwa-us.org for assistance with registration)
View the draft agenda here.
Venue:
The Madison Concourse Hotel and Governor’s Club
One West Dayton Street, Madison, WI 53703
Check back here for more details.
ACWA Leadership Elections – Cast Your Ballot Today!
The ACWA Leadership Election ballot is open.
ACWA’s Leadership Election ballot is currently open and all ACWA members should have received an email with a link to the ballot from the Executive Director. If you did not receive a link to the ballot, contact Julia Anastasio. The even numbered Regions are up for election this year, along with the Executive Officers. Please vote no later than August 7, 2025. All “members in good standing” may participate in these elections, but cast only one vote per state/interstate. The “member in good standing” is the formal or primary ACWA representative for the state/interstate agency that paid dues for the previous fiscal year (FY2025). If you are unsure whether your FY2025 dues are paid, contact Julia Anastasio or Annette Ivey.
ACWA Water Quality Modeling Workshop – Updated Agendas Now Available!
Dates: September 16-19, 2025
Location: Atlanta, GA
Registration is available here.
View the draft agendas here.
ACWA, in partnership with USEPA, will be holding the 2025 Water Quality Modeling Workshop in Atlanta, GA, the week of September 15, 2025. The 2025 Water Quality Modeling Workshop supports implementation of state programs by continuing to build a community of practice among state agency staff who use or want to use water quality modeling in state water quality programs.
This year we will be offering hands-on training on LSPC and EFDC, as well as a Modeling 201 track, a course featuring hands-on components, presentations, case studies, and discussions. The workshop will start Tuesday, September 16 and wrap up around noon on Friday, September 19.
This workshop is for state program managers and staff involved in water quality modeling, as well as for both Regional and Headquarters-based U.S. Environmental Protection Agency managers and staff.
Lodging is available at the Embassy Suites Atlanta Centennial Olympic Park Hotel at the local per diem rate. The workshop will take place at the EPA Region 4 Offices at 77 Forsyth St SW, Atlanta, GA 30303.
You may reserve your hotel room here. ACWA will have some travel support available for state staff.
Meetings and Webinars
NPDES Technical Assistance Webinar: Process Control Best Management Practices for Lagoons and Small Mechanical Plants
Aug 21, 2025 01:00 PM
REGISTER HERE
EPA’s Office of Compliance is hosting a free webinar on Thursday, August 21, 2025, as part of EPA’s ongoing Technical Assistance Webinar Series: Improving CWA-NPDES Permit Compliance at Small Wastewater Treatment Systems.
This presentation will provide an in-depth comparison of process control requirements and best management practices (BMPs), from preliminary treatment through to final discharge, for both lagoons and small mechanical treatment plants. Although similar, process control requirements for lagoons and small wastewater treatment plants can differ significantly in key areas. For system managers considering modifications to an existing lagoon or an upgrade to a mechanical plant, understanding the specific needs of each system is essential to maintaining compliance with NPDES permits.
Job Opportunities
Water Quality Program Analyst (Program Analyst 3)
Location: Portland, OR
Closing Date: July 27, 2025
For more information and to apply, visit Oregon Job Opportunities.
Senior Wastewater Permit Specialist (Environmental Specialist 4)
Location: Richland, WA
Closing Date: August 4, 2025
For more information and to apply, visit Washington Ecology Job Opportunities.
Be sure to check out other opportunities on ACWA’s Job Opportunities page.
