Regulatory
$25 Million Awarded to Train and Assist Small Drinking Water and Wastewater Systems
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded more than $25 million in grants to help the country’s small drinking and wastewater systems and private well owners better protect public health and the environment. Those receiving grants include: National Rural Water Association ..
Construction Begins on $46 Million Sewer, Water Project in New York City
New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Vincent Sapienza and Department of Design and Construction (DDC) Acting Commissioner Ana Barrio announced that construction has begun on a $46 million project in the Tottenville section of Staten Island. As part of the project,..
New York to Award $15 Million for Electric Grid Modernization Projects
New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that up to $15 million is available for projects that will help the state improve the resiliency, efficiency, and overall performance of its electric grid to save on energy and costs to combat climate change. Modernizing the grid supports Gov. Cuomo’..
Water Agency Approves $11B for California Twin Tunnels Plan
LOS ANGELES (AP) — California’s largest water agency on Tuesday approved a nearly $11 billion plan to help fund two enormous tunnels, breathing new life into Gov. Jerry Brown’s ambitious and controversial plan to remake the state’s water system. The board of the Metropolitan Water District of..
North Carolina Agency Says Chemical Makers Lied
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina should tackle an emerging problem of water and air pollution from little-studied industrial chemicals by beefing up the state’s health and environmental agencies, Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday. Cooper proposed spending $14.5 million to help improve the ability of ..
Pennsylvania Regulators Develop Tool to Improve Chesapeake Bay Water Quality
About 200 leaders from municipal governments, county conservation districts, agriculture, environmental groups, water companies, and other entities today participated in a meeting hosted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to expand local engagement in Phase 3 of the pla..
Twin Tunnels Considered Again for California Water Project
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A week after Southern California’s largest water agency abandoned a plan to pay for much of the state’s ambitious water project, the funding proposal will be debated again. The Tuesday vote by the board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California could put bac..
Michigan to Close Flint's Free Bottled Water Sites
LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Four remaining free bottled water stations will close in Flint, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced Friday, more than two years after the state opened them in response to a man-made, lead-tainted drinking water crisis that threatened the health of its residents. The statement ..
$138,000 Awarded for Texas Water Pipeline Replacement Project
The Texas Water Development Board has approved, by resolution, financial assistance in the amount of $138,780 in loan forgiveness from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to Patterson Water Supply. The company will use the assistance to finance the planning, design, and construction costs assoc..
New York City Releases Stormwater Management Plan
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection released the city’s draft Stormwater Management Plan as required by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to help further improve the health of New York Harbor. The goal of the plan is to reduce or remove pollutants in st..
Broadband in Jeopardy Without State Funding, Kentucky Companies Warn
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Private companies building a high-speed internet network in Kentucky warned Thursday that the project will fall apart if state lawmakers don’t pay for it, potentially forcing taxpayers to pay back hundreds of millions of dollars in loans. State lawmakers sent a two-year operat..
New Jersey Governor Names Former Democratic State Senator to Utility Board
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy says he’s naming a recently retired Democratic state senator to the board that oversees the state’s utilities. Murphy, a Democrat, said in a statement Thursday that he is nominating Bob Gordon to serve as a commissioner on the Board of Public Utiliti..
Trump has Confidence in EPA Chief as White House Probes His Ethics
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Thursday he has confidence in Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, even as the White House investigates whether a condo rental by Pruitt was ethical. The EPA’s ethics office suggested there still could be questions abou..
Vermont Regulators Order Review of Gas Pipeline
COLCHESTER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont utility regulators are asking for an investigation into the construction of a 41-mile natural gas pipeline. In an order issued on Wednesday, the Public Utilities Commission noted that Vermont Gas Systems has already agreed to an outside review of its construction prac..
EPA Announces New Funding for Water Infrastructure Projects
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the availability of funding that could provide as much as $5.5 billion in loans for water infrastructure projects through the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program. Prospective borrowers seeking WIFIA credit ass..
Virginia Regulators Raise Constitutional Questions About New Utility Law
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – State regulators are questioning whether a new electric utility overhaul recently approved by lawmakers may be unconstitutional. The State Corporation Commission issued a ruling Monday raising the possibility that a new utility-backed law may unfairly disadvantage out-of-state ..
EPA Chief Draws Trump Praise — and Ire
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is offering measured support for Scott Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency chief whose deregulatory efforts make him one of the most consequential Cabinet members. But Pruitt, who is at the center of swirling ethics questions over his travel spending ..
Could Enemies Target Undersea Cables that Link the World?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Russian ships are skulking around underwater communications cables, causing the U.S. and its allies to worry the Kremlin might be taking information warfare to new depths. Is Moscow interested in cutting or tapping the cables? Does it want the West to worry it might? Is there a mo..
Water Resources Plan for Southeastern Michigan Adopted
DETROIT (AP) – The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments general assembly has adopted a plan aimed at protecting the region’s water resources. The plan emphasizes the importance of integrated management of water resources to advance tourism, recreation, economic development, protection of natur..
Michigan City Works to Deal with Disinfection Byproduct in Water
CASEVILLE (AP) — Michigan officials say a community along Lake Huron is working to make its drinking water meet government standards. WNEM-TV reports recent tests found that the city of Caseville’s water system had levels of a disinfection byproduct called trihalomethane that slightly exceeded st..
New York Municipalities Receive $615,000 in in Lake Ontario Flood Relief Funds
New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the Town of Newfane and the Village of Barker in Niagara County have been awarded $615,083 in Lake Ontario Flood Relief funds to support restoration resiliency efforts following last year’s flooding and to protect the community from the damage of fut..
Report: California’s Regulated Water Utilities Invested More than $645 Million on Infrastructure in 2017
According to an analysis by the California Water Association (CWA), the state’s largest regulated water utilities invested more than $645 million in 2017 into improving and upgrading the infrastructure that delivers water to the communities they serve. CWA represents 100 water utilities regulated b..
US Government, Montana County Make Deal over Water System
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The U.S. government has asked a judge to approve an agreement with Beaverhead County to upgrade a small Montana community’s drinking water system after years of finding excessive contamination and numerous monitoring failures. The Department of Justice filed the proposed agreem..
Lake Erie Monitoring Study Shows High Phosphorous Levels
The Ohio EPA today released its Spring 2017 Western Lake Erie Tributary Water Monitoring Summary, which shows high levels of phosphorous are still headed to Lake Erie. Exacerbated by wet weather, the total phosphorus load in the Maumee River was elevated to more than twice the required reduction tar..
Teen Rescued After Fall into Drainage Pipe at Los Angeles Park
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A 13-year-old boy who fell into a drainage pipe during an Easter outing at a Los Angeles park was rescued alive early Monday after an overnight search of the underground system, authorities said. The boy spent at least 12 hours in the system before he was found. “We located Jesse..
Court Denies Hawaiian County's Plea to Reverse Wastewater Ruling
WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) — An appeals court denied Maui County’s request for a full-panel review of its Feb. 1 decision that the county pumped treated wastewater into injection wells at its Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility for more than three decades, thereby violating the Clean Water Act. “We’r..
New York Governor: Maintain or Increase Lake Ontario Outflows
New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo issued a letter to the U.S. Chair of the International Joint Commission (IJC) requesting that the entity maximize outflows from the Lake Ontario system to reduce the flooding risk for New Yorkers living and working along the shoreline. The letter was issued in advan..
FERC Denies Pipeline’s Request for More Time to Cut Trees
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal commission denied a request Wednesday from developers of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline to continue cutting down trees along the project’s route beyond an initial deadline designed to protect birds and bats. Dominion Energy, leading percentage owner of the natur..
Kentucky Auditor Examining Troubled Broadband Project
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s auditor is investigating the state’s troubled broadband project, but the report won’t be finished before lawmakers must decide whether to keep funding a venture that is years behind schedule and costing taxpayers millions of dollars in delays. Auditor Mike Har..
Vermont Gas Agrees to Independent Review of Pipeline
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont Gas Systems has agreed to an independent review of a pipeline project to address allegations of safety shortcuts. The company says it is confident in the integrity of the Addison Natural Gas Project pipeline, which was completed last year, but wants an outside expert ..
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