Federal Water Tap, July 29: No Revision of Current Drinking Water Regulations Needed, EPA Determines in Mandated Review

The Rundown

• EPA determines that no federal drinking water regulations need to be revised right now.
• House passes budget bill with 20 percent EPA spending cut.
• EPA announces first round of funding in a $2 billion grant program for water and climate environmental justice projects.
• White House releases report identifying climate resilience “game changers.”
• EPA researchers develop harmful algal bloom forecasting tool.
• Senate committee will hold a hearing on a tire chemical that kills salmon.

And lastly, a House committee holds a hearing on a dozen tribal water rights settlement bills.

“Growth of competing non-Indian uses has created expectations among non-Indians that their state law water rights are secure. In fact, many non-Indian rights are far from secure, just as Indian rights are far from being quantified or implemented.” – Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-OR) speaking at a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on 12 tribal water rights settlement bills. Nine of the bills authorize new settlements, in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Montana. The other bills amend existing settlements. Bentz said the estimated federal cost of the settlements, which provide infrastructure to tribes to access water, is more than $12 billion. The bills are summarized in the testimony of the Interior Department.

By the Numbers

$350 Million: First tranche of funding to environmental justice organizations for climate, water, and pollution-reduction projects in disadvantaged communities. It is part of $2 billion in grants that will be handed out by the EPA. This first round of projects includes $14 million to Texas A&M University and Black Belt Unincorporated Wastewater Program to install functioning wastewater treatment units across 17 counties in central Alabama that struggle with failing septic systems and untreated sewage; also, $16 million to Pocatello, Idaho, to install sewers in neighborhoods that do not have them.

In context: America’s Septic System Failures Can Be Fixed

News Briefs

The Six-Year Itch
Under federal law, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must periodically review all federal drinking water regulations and determine whether any might need to be revised in order to better protect public health.

It’s called the Six-Year Review, though it often takes longer. In the latest assessment, the EPA says that none of the current 94 contaminants is a candidate for revision.

The agency still has quite a bit on its plate. It is working through potential revisions for microbial and disinfection byproducts, which includes contaminants that it identified in the previous Six-Year Review, as well as new rules for six PFAS, which were finalized in April.

For this review, the agency considered data available as of December 2021. Ongoing health assessments, such as for nitrate in drinking water, will inform future reviews.

“EPA plans to evaluate whether a revision of the nitrate and nitrite [drinking water regulations] is appropriate, once the final IRIS assessment is available,” the agency wrote.

Water Bills in Congress
Notable action on Capitol Hill last week on the budget and water infrastructure.

On the budget, the House passed a funding bill for the EPA and Interior Department. The bill passed narrowly, by just five votes.

The Republican-controlled House wants a 20 percent cut to the EPA budget, and 25 percent cut to the State Revolving Funds, the main federal vehicles for water and wastewater infrastructure funding. About half of the revolving fund money would be re-directed to water infrastructure earmarks, a move that water utilities argue will eventually weaken the funds.

The bill also prohibits the EPA from using funds for a number of administration objectives, including environmental justice programs and implementing new limits on wastewater from coal-fired power plants.

The House, by an overwhelming majority of 359 to 13, also passed the Water Resources Development Act, the bill that authorizes Army Corps dam, levee, port, and ecosystem restoration projects.

The bill adds water supply as a primary mission of the Army Corps, putting it alongside navigation, hydropower, flood control, and environmental protection. These missions can be in conflict.

Studies and Reports

Climate Resilience “Game Changers”
How to prepare places for inevitable disruption by flood, heat, and drought? And what are the best options?

The White House released a report that identifies technologies, management practices, and institutional structures that are not widely adopted but could help the country adapt to a warming planet.

The report names 28 of these “game changers” and defines them either as particular to a sector (agriculture, energy, health) or cutting across sectors (nature-based solutions, financing, infrastructure).

For water, the resilience strategies include aquifer recharge, desalination, water recycling, and smart infrastructure.

Forecasting Harmful Algal Blooms
EPA researchers are developing a tool that forecasts the likelihood of harmful algal blooms on the largest lakes in the Lower 48 states.

The weekly forecasts – based on satellite data and still considered an “experimental” product as the model is refined – are available for 2,192 lakes.

The researchers caution that the model forecasts are conservative – meaning more false positives – and should not supersede real-world sampling and testing.

In context: Danger Looms Where Toxic Algae Blooms

On the Radar

Senate Tire Chemical Hearing
On July 31, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing on the environmental harm from 6PPD, a chemical used in car tires that is lethal to salmon.

Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton