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November 4, 2021
CURRENT EPA WSD INITIATIVES AND UPDATES
Listed below are the most recent Water Security Division (WSD) resilience updates and opportunities for drinking water utilities, wastewater utilities, and state primacy agencies. We believe several of these updates may of interest to you. 
Federal Register Notice for August SDWA Section 1441 Applications

WSD published a Federal Register Notice (FRN), EPA-HQ-OW-2021-0653, on October 20, 2021 that included eight water and wastewater applicants from Florida under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Section 1441. The applications, received on August 25-26, 2021, identified chlorine, sodium hypochlorite, sulfur dioxide; clarifloc ploymer SE-1482, clarifloc polymer SE-1371, and liquid oxygen as the chemicals in need. The FRN will be open until November 3, 2021 to provide the opportunity for comments from suppliers who may be subject to a Certification of Need order. The comment period is also an opportunity for applicants to provide an update on their chemical supply. By November 17, 2021, WSD will provide a recommendation to the Office of Water Assistant Administrator to either issue or not issue a Certification of Need. Upcoming decisions will be posted at https://www.epa.gov/waterutilityresponse/sdwa-section-1441-certification-need-decisions.

America's Water Infrastructure Act Section 2013 Certification Summary

Please see summary table below for AWIA RRA and ERP compliance information.
NATIONAL NEWS
Nature can reduce costs, extend life of infrastructure projects A newly published article hopes to stir discussion around adoption of construction designs and methods that utilize nature to cut costs, extend project lifecycles and improve ecological synergy. more

American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) And Drinking Water Infrastructure Opportunities As the $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed by the Senate last month would authorize $55 billion in federal spending on water and wastewater infrastructure, contractors in the space are no doubt keeping a close eye on it. more

EPA Proposed Revisions To The Lead And Copper Rule On October 10th, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the long-awaited proposed revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule (LCRR) which was promulgated nearly 30 years ago under the Safe Drinking Water Act. more

Biden Has Reversed 42 Trump-Era Environmental Actions, With Dozens More On The Radar  It is not uncommon for new presidential administrations to reverse, revise, or undo much of their predecessors’ work. And ever since President Joe Biden took office, environmental policies established in the Donald Trump era have been targeted. more

EPA Administrator Regan Announces Comprehensive National Strategy To Confront PFAS Pollution Today U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael S. Regan announced the agency’s comprehensive Strategic Roadmap to confront PFAS contamination nationwide. The Roadmap is the result of a thorough analysis conducted by the EPA Council on PFAS that Administrator Regan established in April 2021. more

How Do We Erase Forever Contaminants? USC Viterbi Associate Professor Adam Smith seeks to get rid of persistent chemicals found in nonstick pans by identifying bacteria that can consume them. more

U.S. House to put spotlight on water cybersecurity The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has scheduled a hearing this week to look at cyber threats facing the nation’s critical infrastructure. more

President Announces $1.75 Trillion “Build Back Better” Compromise Legislation  On Thursday, the President unveiled his new framework - a far more scaled-down version than the $3.5 trillion package that Congressional Democrats originally had outlined. more

Ransomware Attacks On Water And Wastewater Utilities Are Increasing A slew of recent attacks makes it clear that utilities are under increasing threats from cybercriminals and bad actors, and recent revelations demonstrate that the problem may be even worse than previously known. more


STATE NEWS
Annette Taddeo, Joe Casello again target water bottling companies with 12.5-cent-per-gallon fee | Florida Politics Sen. Anette Taddeo hopes the third time’s the charm for a proposal that would tax bottled water companies tapping Florida springs 12.5 cents per gallon drained. more

Ribbon-Cutting Set Nov. 13 to Mark Completion of 50th Indian River Lagoon Restoration Project | Space Coast Daily County, state and City of Melbourne officials will mark the completion of the $2.6 million Sherwood Park Stormwater Project – the 50th project of the Save Our Indian River Lagoon restoration program – with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 13, at Sherwood Park in Melbourne. more

Florida Congressional Delegation to convene on water quality challenges The Florida Congressional Delegation will meet in Washington next week to discuss water issues challenging the state. more

Traces of the Mu coronavirus variant found in Altamonte Springs, Fla.’s wastewater It’s the first time that particular variant has appeared in Central Florida’s wastewater since Altamonte Springs began testing for the presence of the coronavirus and its variants. more

Palm Beach, Fla., asks state for money to mitigate climate change Town officials are asking for more than half a million dollars from a newly created state coffer aimed at preparing Florida for the rising seas that come with climate change. more

Florida's water infrastructure earns a 'C' grade from ASCE | WaterWorld The group recently published their infrastructure report card for the state of Florida, giving 14 categories of infrastructure an overall grade of ‘C’ as well. more
This Week in Water History
Cuyahoga River Catches Fire...Again
November 1, 1952: Cuyahoga River catches fire. “In 1952, leaking oil from the Standard Oil Company facility was accused of creating, ‘the greatest fire hazard in Cleveland,’ a two inch thick oil slick on the river. In spots, the slick spanned the width of the river. Although many companies had taken action to limit oil seepage on the river, others failed to cooperate with fire officials.

It was only a matter of time before disaster struck. On the afternoon of November 1, 1952, the Cuyahoga ignited again near the Great Lakes Towing Company’s shipyard, resulting in a five-alarm fire. (Many sources incorrectly put the date of the fire at November 3, 1952) The next morning’s Cleveland Plain Dealer led with a banner headline, ‘Oil Slick Fire Ruins Flats Shipyard.’ Photos taken at the scene are incredible; the river was engulfed in smoke and flame. Losses were substantial, estimated between $500,000 and $1.5 million, including the Jefferson Avenue bridge. The only reason no one died was that it started on a Saturday afternoon, when few shipyard employees were on duty.”

Commentary: There was a long history of fires on the Cuyahoga—by one count a total of 13 with the first occurring in 1868. Other fires of note occurred in 1868, 1883, 1887, 1912, 1922, 1936, 1941, and 1948. A relatively minor fire on June 22, 1969 was reported nationwide and became part of the impetus for passing the Clean Water Act in 1972.

Commentary Update: In 2019, there have been several articles about how the Cuyahoga River has been dramatically cleaned up and is now considered an asset for the City of Cleveland. No doubt this is due in part to the 50th anniversary of the 1969 fire. Check out: Cuyahoga Named River of the Year; Cleveland River Now a Hot Spot (groan).

To enjoy more opportunities to take a look at the past in water history, go to this link.
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