Thomas Sexton, P.E. from “This Week in Washington” (Water Environment Federation) Bipartisan Clean Water Bill Introduced in House Also during Infrastructure Week 2017, H.R. 2510, the Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2017, was introduced by Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Vice Chair of the House Committee on … Read more
from “This Week In Washington” (Water Environment Federation) Bipartisan Water Bill Introduced in Senate During Infrastructure Week 2017, U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and John Boozman (R-Ark.), both senior members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), introduced bipartisan legislation to bring affordable relief to America’s crumbling water infrastructure systems. The bill, S. … Read more
from “This Week In Washington” (Water Environment Federation) House Hearing Focuses on Integrated Planning On Thursday, May 19, the Water Resources & Environment Subcommittee of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee held a hearing examining the EPA’s implementation of the integrated planning policy, and looked at ways to help EPA, states, and municipalities in developing … Read more
Mass Rivers Alliance Proposes has recently petitioned MassDEP to impose water conservation conditions on Water Registration Volume renewals. Registrations will expire and renewals are due December 31, 2017. The requested conditions are as follows: a) Preparation of a written water conservation plan that incorporates and achieves the Commission’s Standards, including but not limited to, 65 … Read more
Currently in Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, Senate Bill 456 proposes a mandate for water suppliers to fully replace lead service lines at every school district, charter school, nonpublic school, and early childhood program that they serve within 3 years of becoming law. This would be first-time mandate for water suppliers to … Read more
taken from Paintsquare.com, story by Eric J. Conn: The Trump Administration submitted a blueprint budget for 2018 to Congress proposing $2.5 billion in cuts to the U.S. Department of Labor’s operating budget. The president’s proposed budget expressly calls for reduced funding for grant programs, job training programs for seniors and disadvantaged youth, and support for … Read more
The budget proposal put forth last week by the Trump administration would impact the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency significantly, if passed. The EPA’s new budget for fiscal year 2018 (beginning October, 2017) would be reduced by $2.6 billion. This would include a 31 percent cut in discretionary spending, and the elimination of 3,200 positions within … Read more
3a-Memo_to_WRC_on_WNF_buffer_revision_01-31-17 At their March 9, 2017 meeting, the MA Water Resources Commission approved an increase in the buffer added to their water demand projections for municipal suppliers, from 5 percent to 10 percent, for Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard water suppliers. This includes water suppliers in Bourne, north of the Cape Cod Canal. The suppliers … Read more
FW: MassGIS Data Update: DFW Coldwater Fisheries Resources Water suppliers renewing their Water Management Act permits or seeking new permits in subbasins face additional metrics when Coldwater Fisheries are mapped within the subbasin. MassGIS has updated the mapped areas based upon recent data: From: Trust, Michael (MassIT) Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2017 11:17 AM Subject: MassGIS … Read more
FROM USEPA, JANUARY, 2017: To aid drinking water utilities in preparing for sampling and field testing that could occur during water contamination incidents, EPA released, “Guidance for Building Field Capabilities to Respond to Drinking Water Contamination.” The guidance outlines basic and advanced field response activities and also provides information pertaining to staffing, quality assurance, and … Read more