Best wishes for a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday next week. The Washington Report will return Dec. 2. Until then, follow ˾ Government Affairs on and .

Latest News

With 118th Congress Coming to a Close, a Preview of the 119th

  • Government funding is set to expire Dec. 20 with Congress likely poised to pass a continuing resolution (CR) into 2025, which would maintain funding levels until a longer-term solution is reached;
  • One possibility is an omnibus bill that would combine all appropriations bills with potential, added disaster funding and other legislation, such as the Water ˾ Development Act (WRDA), and the Farm Bill, while another possibility would be passing a combination of the FY 2025 appropriations bills as separate, smaller funding packages;
  • The U.S. House has approved all 12 of its proposed FY25 appropriations bills out of the Appropriations Committee, but only six (Defense, Energy and Water Development, Homeland Security, Interior and Environment, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and State and Foreign Operations) have passed on the House floor, and one failed (Legislative Branch);
  • Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee has approved eleven of 12 proposed FY25 spending bills, but none have been voted on by the full Senate;
  • In organizing for the 119th Congress, Senate Republicans have chosen John Thune (SD) and John Barrasso (WY) to serve as Senate Majority Leader and Assistant Majority Leader respectively, while Republicans in the U.S. House have tapped current Speaker Mike Johnson (LA) to continue in that role, with Steve Scalise (LA) remaining as Majority Leader and Tom Emmer (MN) staying on as Majority Whip. Senate and House Democrats are expected to vote on their leadership this week;
  • While not all races have been called, the current breakdown in the U.S. Senate will be 53 Republicans, 47 Democrats (2 are Independents and caucus with the Democrats); in the U.S. House, the breakdown is 218 Republicans, 212 Democrats, with 5 races yet to be called;
  • Both chambers will be sworn into office Jan. 3 for the start of the 119th Congress.

Action Alert: Urge Congress to Provide Water Infrastructure with Liability Protections from Misguided PFAS Lawsuits

  • It is vital Congress hears from you about legislation impacting water infrastructure;
  • Take a minute to and urge them to cosponsor the Water Systems PFAS Liability Protection Act;
  • The legislation is consistent with ˾ policy priorities to engage “passive receivers” of PFAS like water systems and protect them from being subject to unfair litigation under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA);
  • Text PWX to 52886 if you aren’t receiving ˾ action alerts.

˾ Recognizes Crash Responder Safety Week

  • Nov. 18-22 marks with numerous events taking place virtually and live across the country;
  • The week is an opportunity to recognize the important collaboration of those who respond to roadway incidents, including public works, police, fire, EMS, tow operators, and transportation professionals, working to safely and quickly provide care for those involved in a roadway incident, protect the traveling public, and return operations to normal;
  • More information about events and CRSW purpose are available at the link provided, including how to for a kickoff webinar today at 1 p.m. ET;
  • Additionally, ˾ President Dominick Longobardi’s recognizing this important week is available;
  • The Executive Leadership Group for Traffic Incident Management (TIM), of which ˾ is a member, is also meeting this week at the U.S. Dept. of Transportation and meets in person twice annually to coordinate on TIM training, strengthening collaboration amongst responder groups and members, and tools and technology for continuous improvement in safely and efficiently responding to traffic incidents.

Reminder: ˾ Resource Page for Infrastructure Law Updates, Opportunities

  • Nov. 15 marked 3 years since the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) was signed into law, and is now more than halfway through its 5-year authorization;
  • IIJA is the largest federal investment in our nation’s infrastructure – transportation, water, emergency management – which are ˾ policy priorities, and are being positively impacted by this law;
  • To ensure the law’s success for public works, it is essential for ˾ members to regularly check ˾’s Infrastructure Law Resource Page to be aware of funding opportunities, proposed regulatory updates, and helpful links to federal agencies who have a role in the implementation of the law;
  • ˾’s Government Affairs Committee and the Government Affairs staff have been working diligently this year to update ˾ policy priorities for the 119th Congress and these refreshed policy statements will be reviewed by the ˾ Board of Directors in early December;
  • Once the policies are approved by the Board, and the new Congress is sworn into session, the ˾ Government Affairs team will distribute the new policies to Congress and key federal agencies;
  • To see the current public policy priorities and other available advocacy resources, go to ˾’s Government Affairs page;
  • If you have any questions about ˾’s policy process, contact Director of Government and Public Affairs Andrea Eales at aeales@apwa.org.

EPA Finalizes Update to Lead and Copper Rule

  • The maintains the deadline to identify and replace all lead service lines within 10 years and tightens an extended deadline for cities that would need to replace more than 10,000 pipes per year;
  • The rule also gives utilities a stricter limit for lead levels in drinking water, lowering it from 15 to 10 parts per billion (ppb) and it sets new requirements for how utilities test for lead and mandates that they distribute filters when lead levels repeatedly exceed 10 ppb;
  • EPA is hosting an specifically for the drinking water professional community on Nov. 14;
  • EPA also announced the availability of $35M in competitive grant funding for reducing lead in drinking water and $2.6B in newly available funding through the Infrastructure Law, which will flow through the drinking water state revolving funds (SRFs) and is available to support lead-related activities, including lead pipe replacement projects with 49% of the funding set aside for disadvantaged communities as grants or other investments that do not have to be repaid;
  • EPA estimates as many as 9M homes nationwide are still served through legacy lead pipes and the total cost of the rule to public water systems and agencies at somewhere between $1.47B and $1.95B per year;
  • It is expected thousands of water systems will have trouble complying with the new requirements due to the high cost of replacing pipes
    • Utilities have also struggled with hiring enough staff and with accessing pipes on private property
  • Consequently, groups are calling on Congress to provide more funding for removing lead service lines on top of funding provided by the Infrastructure Law;
  • Since the new rule is coming out late in the Biden administration, Republicans could also overturn it with control of Congress and the Presidency using the Congressional Review Act, though it is likelier some will challenge the requirements legally as did several Republican attorneys general on EPA’s initial proposal.

˾ Joins Coalition Touting More ˾, Flexibility in Financing Water Infrastructure

  • ˾ signed onto a coalition letter promoting H.R. 5664, the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) Amendments, which, if enacted, would;
    • Broaden WIFIA funding and financing eligibility to include state-led water storage projects and federally owned infrastructure managed by non-federal entities
    • Allow for longer loan maturity dates based on the expected life of the project, which will provide greater flexibility for large-scale, long-term projects
    • Lower minimum project size for small communities to $1M
    • Expand EPA’s authority to provide technical and financial capacity support
    • Clarify the definition of “small community” as those with less than 25,000 people
    • Authorize the use of collaborative project delivery methods
  • ˾ has previously supported the legislation and is working to secure further consideration by Congress during the lame duck session in preparation for the new Congress starting Jan. 3.

˾ to Participate at SAFECOM Bi-Annual Meeting This Week

  • ˾ will be participating in the 2024 SAFECOM Bi-annual meeting today through Nov. 21 in Cape Coral, Florida;
  • ˾ is a member of , which is overseen by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA);
  • SAFECOM was created to improve emergency response providers’ inter-jurisdictional and interdisciplinary emergency communications interoperability across local, regional, tribal, state, territorial, international borders, and with federal government entities;
  • SAFECOM works with existing federal communications programs and key emergency response stakeholders to develop better technologies and processes for the coordination of existing communications systems and future networks.

DHS Releases Artificial Intelligence (AI) Critical Infrastructure Recommendations

  • The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released guidance for the safe and secure development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) in critical infrastructure: ;
  • This voluntary framework is designed to help improve safety and security practices, improve the delivery of critical services, enhance trust and transparency among entities, protect civil rights and civil liberties, and advance AI safety and security research that further enables critical infrastructure to deploy emerging technology;
  • DHS is focused on attacks using AI, targeting AI systems, and design and implementation failures.

On the Horizon

All times ET.

  • Nov. 19 at 10 a.m., the House Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee Transportation and Maritime Security will hold a hearing on the ;
  • Nov. 20 at 9:45 a.m., the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing on ;
  • Nov. 20 at 12 p.m., the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management will hold a hearing, ;
  • Nov. 26 at 1:30 p.m., CISA will host a webinar on the .

Explore ˾’s Member Advocacy Tools: