The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has unveiled a new tool that assembles publicly available water quality data into a user-friendly package that provides information on the quality of our nation’s waters at the community, State, and national level. The “How’s My Waterway” tool allows the public to learn about water, explore data, and find out Read More
Author: TheUpdateStaff
USEPA Releases Draft Criteria to Protect Lakes and Reservoirs
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) recently issued new, draft ambient water quality criteria recommendations for nutrients in lakes and reservoirs. The criteria recommendations serve as important resources to protect public health, pets, and aquatic life from the adverse effects of excess nutrients in surface waters, including during the summer recreation season. When finalized, these Read More
Future PFAS Legislation One Step Closer
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is closer to implementing an important per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) requirement of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The NDAA added 172 PFAS to the list of chemicals required to be reported to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and established a 100-pound reporting threshold for these substances. The Read More
Facility Operators Should Prepare for Emergency Weather Events
The summer severe weather season is upon us, with tornados, flash floods, and hurricanes possible depending on specific location. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) reminds facility operators of requirements for preventing, minimizing, and reporting chemical releases. Facility operators are obligated to maintain safety, minimize releases that do occur, and report chemical or oil releases Read More
Lawsuits Attempt to Block New Definition of WOTUS
The pendulum on the definition of the “Waters of the United States”, or WOTUS, appears to be swinging in yet another direction. A federal lawsuit filed by 20 entities aims to prevent the Navigable Waters Protection Act from going into effect later this month. California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, Read More
New AWIA Risk & Resilience Assessment Checklist
The National Rural Water Association (NRWA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) recently unveiled a simplified checklist for small Community Water Systems to help achieve compliance with new risk and resilience assessment requirements under America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (AWIA). The guidance is intended for systems serving greater than 3,300 but less than 50,000 Read More