What Happened?
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently released a new framework to help municipalities meet national water quality goals amid resource constraints. The new framework is designed to help localities understand their financial capability and how it relates to water quality programs.
Goal
The EPA released the Financial Capability Assessment Framework for Municipal Clean Water Act Requirements, which identifies the key elements the federal agency utilizes when evaluating how municipalities’ financial capabilities influence schedules of water quality programs.
The framework also aims to provide information to help communities better understand how their financial capability is determined, and what it means in the big picture. Enforcing water quality mandates in the past has placed a disproportionate burden on low-income residents. Municipalities can now know what socio-economic factors impact what is affordable within each community and then create financially sustainable options.
The new framework specifically aims to:
- Provide clarity on how local governments can assess their financial capability
- Define the relationship between the financial assessment and the consideration of schedules for permit and consent decree implementation
- Offer additional examples on the flexibilities built into existing guidance for financial assessment
Cities work to implement the Clean Water Act through wastewater and stormwater infrastructure and services for the community. To meet the objectives of the Clean Water Act, many municipalities have invested more into capital projects to rehabilitate existing water systems, operations and maintenance. However, these investments have created economic challenges for local agencies.
The new framework is designed to help municipalities identify low-cost water programs that will work toward the Clean Water Act’s goals without breaking budgets.
Integrated Water Plans
The EPA has identified a variety of obstacles preventing municipalities from fully-achieving the objectives of the Clean Water Act, including:
- Population growth
- Aging infrastructure
- Complex water quality issues
- Current economic challenges
The EPA recommends municipalities consider all objectives of the Clean Water Act when developing stormwater and wastewater plans, rather than working toward each goal independently. This can create a more integrated approach to improving water quality, while reducing costs and redundant use of resources.
According to the EPA, an integrated planning process will help municipalities prioritize water quality objectives and identify best practices in implementing the EPA’s requirements in wastewater and stormwater projects. Not only will this process lead to lower overall costs, but also better develop sustainable and comprehensive solutions that:
- Install green infrastructure
- Support improvements in other quality of life attributes
- Improve economic growth in the long-term
Green infrastructure projects, in particular, offer benefits to the community beyond stormwater control. Green infrastructure also:
- Manages stormwater as a resource
- Reduces sewer overflows
- Enhances environmental quality
To help communities recognize opportunities for integrated water plans and green infrastructure projects, the EPA is partnering with communities across the country. The federal agency will provide these municipalities with resources and $335,000 in technical assistance to plan and implement sustainable water programs in key regions of the community.
The municipalities chosen to work with the EPA will act as examples for other communities nationwide on how to develop elements of an integrated water plan and meet the Clean Water Act’s objectives. Transferable tools and best practices will arise from the partnerships and be available to other local agencies.
EPA Invests in Clean
Gov1 has followed a variety of EPA grant programs designed to reduce waste and rebuild with sustainable infrastructure.