WRAP MONTHLY UPDATE – MAY 2022

Reuse and Action Highlights

For more details about the following highlights and events, please visit the Recent and Upcoming Water Reuse Activities page.

White House Event Highlights Reuse’s Role in Global Water Security Vice President Harris released the White House Action Plan on Global Water Security, a whole-of-government effort that covers the spectrum of water issues and promotes U.S. leadership on water security. In her remarks the Vice President stated, “Our administration recognizes the urgency of water security, which is why our President, Joe Biden, invested over $63 billion in our nation’s water infrastructure through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to put us on a path to remove every lead pipe in our country within the next 10 years and to fund water efficiency, water reuse, and groundwater storage projects…in communities across our nation.”

• City of Oxnard Receives WIFIA Loan to Expand Recycled Water Supply – EPA announced a $48 million WIFIA loan to the City of Oxnard, California, to support its Aquifer Storage Recovery Project. The Oxnard Basin is a key water source for the community but is in a state of critical overdraft and vulnerable to saltwater intrusion. “Communities across the west—including in Oxnard, California—are facing sustained water challenges as a result of climate change and the worst megadrought in a millennium. This challenge calls for using multiple tools, including recycling our water to get more use from every drop,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox. With this loan, EPA is helping to expand the city’s recycled water supply to secure a climate-resilient and reliable water service for over 200,000 people. This project is expected to create 315 local jobs.
   
• Public Comment Period Opens for the National Program Guidances – EPA’s draft fiscal year 2023-2024 National Program Guidances (NPGs) are available for public comment through July 14, 2022. The FY 2023-2024 NPGs will be issued in Spring 2022 and will communicate programs’ operational priorities, strategies, and performance measures. The draft Office of Water NPG includes the WRAP and water reuse. 
• Action Team Creates Fact Sheets on EPA Prohibition of the Sewering of Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals – In 2019, EPA prohibited all healthcare facilities and reverse distributors from disposing of their hazardous waste pharmaceuticals down the drain (e.g., no flushing or pouring down a sink). The action team led an effort to create two fact sheets to help explain this EPA regulation. The first fact sheet is directed to a general audience who may be less familiar with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act regulations. The second fact sheet is directed to Publicly Owned Treatment Works that receive discharges from industrial users (Action 2.9: Align Tools to Promote Best Management of Unused/Expired Pharmaceuticals).
   
• WateReuse California Completes Mapping Project – Building from the California State Water Resource Control Board’s data collection, WateReuse California developed a map that visualizes all recycled water in California. The map includes recycled water uses and environmental uses (i.e., instream flows and natural system uses), with the ability to filter by use type. WateReuse California will update the map annually.
   
• GSA Requests Speakers for Energy Exchange 2022 – The Energy Exchange 2022 in Cincinnati, Ohio, from October 25-27 is looking for speakers for the session Net Zero Water - Pathways and Processes for Success. This session will discuss specific strategies and technologies to support the successful achievement of federal net-zero water goals. Please contact Technical Planning Team members Matt Goss (GossMT@cdmsmith.com) or Nazmi Ahmed (nazmi.ahmed@gsa.gov) by June 30, 2022, if you would like to be considered or to suggest a potential speaker.

Drought Resilience Interagency Working Group (IWG) Releases Summary Report Marking one year since the establishment of the Drought Resilience IWG, the White House released the Drought Resilience IWG Summary Report. The report outlines actions taken to date to improve drought-stricken communities’ longer-term resilience to drought through financial and technical assistance. "The dangerous impacts of climate change and drought are being felt across America. Through the Drought Resilience IWG and President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Biden-Harris administration is quickly ushering every resource available to drought-impacted communities to provide relief now and make investments long into the future,” said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland in a press release. Investments in water reuse projects are referenced as examples of how IWG members help communities address climate change impacts, including Department of the Interior’s WaterSMART program and USDA’s Conservation Innovation Grant program.

Upcoming Reuse Activities and Events June 29 – National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI) Pilot Program request for proposals (RFP) concept paper submission deadline. The RFP is seeking proposals to design, build, test, and/or operate small-scale water reuse and desalination treatment systems (RFP). February 28, 2023 – The Clean Watersheds Needs Survey closes, which now includes reuse applications (more details).

Spotlight on WRAP Strategic Theme: Policy Coordination
WRAP actions under the policy coordination theme aim to align and integrate federal, state, tribal, and local water reuse programs and policies to encourage water reuse. The examples below, while not exhaustive, provide a snapshot of activities under this theme.

• Enhancing state collaboration on water reuse – This action provides opportunities for states to discuss and share information and approaches for water reuse management. State regulators have been convening annually since 2019 learn and share about water reuse issues, such as training for state staff and facility operators, public health communications, and developments in non-potable reuse. Action outputs include the 2020 State Summit on Water Reuse meeting notes summary and state water reuse contacts list. This year, the action team is hosting a collaborative water reuse webinar series for states; please email Colby.Richardson@erg.com to receive registration links (Action 2.2).
• Supporting local and regional reuse projects – This action team identified institutional challenges to water reuse and assessed opportunities for interagency collaboration. The team produced a report and companion summary document that offers an analytical framework for understanding the dynamics of interagency collaboration. The report includes a detailed analysis of case studies, lessons learned, and questions and exercises to facilitate utility collaboration (Action 2.16).
• Utilizing existing working groups to coordinate federal engagement – Federal working groups can be useful forums to understand activities and identify gaps related to reuse policy, research, technology, funding, and outreach. The WRAP federal partners group helped to formally establish the Water Reuse Interagency Working Group under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to develop and coordinate reuse actions, tools, and resources. Similarly, the National Drought Resiliency Partnership helped to establish the Drought Resilience Interagency Working Group, which provides targeted support and relief to communities struggling with drought, such as providing funding for reuse projects (Action 2.7).
• Developing materials on how National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits can facilitate reuse – This action sought to enable water reuse practices within the appropriate authority of Clean Water Act NPDES permits. The team created a white paper that summarizes key items to consider when permitting water reuse projects, presents strategies to effectively permit water reuse projects, and draws upon specific case studies that illustrate these strategies. In collaboration with Actions 2.16 and 3.3, the team also hosted a webinar about improving permitting processes to support new water management technologies and strategies (Action 2.6).
• Promoting Best Management of Pharmaceuticals – This action aimed to foster more consistent messaging on best practices for drug disposal to minimize unnecessary introduction of pharmaceuticals into water. The action team reviewed over thirty public websites to identify a representative sample of messages for proper disposal of unwanted pharmaceuticals to help federal entities align messaging. The team also supported a national survey to learn what outreach materials and methods are needed to enhance public education regarding chemicals of emerging concern and pharmaceuticals, created two fact sheets about an EPA rule that bans flushing hazardous waste pharmaceuticals, and updated the Flush3P.org website (Action 2.9).

If you have questions about water reuse, progress or news on WRAP actions, or reuse activities that you would like EPA’s water reuse team to consider for inclusion in an upcoming monthly status update, please email waterreuse@epa.gov.