Awards Deadline Approaching!

Apply today for the CASA Awards of Excellence! Each year we honor our members' community outreach, education, innovation, organizational strategies and capital projects through our Awards of Excellence program. Your organization works hard to do what's right for California, and we want to recognize your hard work and accomplishments statewide. The award symbolizes the incredible work being done by water professionals across the state, while strengthening the drive for innovation, creativity and ingenuity. Winning the award positions your agency as a leader to policy makers and residents within your community and across the state. Be sure to apply by April 28, 2023. Winners will be announced (and celebrated!) in August during CASA’s Annual Conference in San Diego. For more information about the award criteria and categories, please visit the Awards Program Webpage.

Let Your Community Know About College Scholarships

The CASA Education Foundation offers several $5,000 scholarships annually to students pursuing higher education in engineering, environmental science, public administration, wastewater operations, or other fields connected to clean water, which includes wastewater treatment, water recycling, and resource recovery. The application deadline is May 14, 2023. There is also an additional San Francisco Bay Area specific scholarship dedicated to the memory of Bruce Wolfe. Download the flyer for more information and be sure to share it with colleges in your community! Visit the Foundation webpage for additional information.

CASA Mentoring Program

Calling all mentors and mentees! CASA is pleased to share that we will be continuing the CASA Mentoring Program in 2023-24. This 11-month comprehensive program, kicking off in October 2023 and concluding in August 2024, serves to connect clean water professionals from across the state of California. Working with Core Consulting, which has a depth of experience developing mentoring and training programs working with public agencies, CASA will match mentor/mentee pairs based on their professional goals, preferences, and experience. The program is open to both associates and agency members. If you already know you are interested in this program for the upcoming year, please email Alyssa Downs (adowns@casaweb.org) so we can add you to our interest list. Keep an eye out for more information on this exclusive member benefit!

CASA Agency Salary Survey

CASA would like to encourage your agency’s participation in the annual Agency Salary and Benefits Survey. The survey provides valuable information for our members. The more responses we receive, the more accurate the statistical summary we can create. If your agency participated previously, your data is important for those agencies that use benchmarks. For those of you who have not participated in recent surveys, or have never participated, you will find this information very helpful when conducting a salary classification and review. Monterey One Water has again graciously volunteered to coordinate and produce the survey report. We look forward to providing as much comprehensive benefit information as possible with the distribution of the results. Please complete the survey by April 30.  

EPA Hosts PFAS CERCLA Potential Liability Listening Session

On March 23, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) Office of Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance held the second of two public listening sessions to seek public input on concerns regarding future potential liability enforcement policies for PFAS contamination under CERCLA. The purpose of the listening session was to provide a general overview USEPA’s efforts to develop CERCLA enforcement policies and allow for remarks from participants. The event did not allow questions from the audience and did not address USEPA’s proposed rulemaking to designate PFAS as hazardous substances under CERCLA.

Proposed PFAS National Drinking Water Regulation Published

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation proposed rulemaking was recently published in the Federal Register. The deadline for submitting public comments on the proposed rulemaking is May 30, 2023. The proposed rulemaking, USEPA has identified six PFAS chemicals that would be regulated: PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, PFXxS, PFBS, and GenX chemicals. USEPA will be hosting a public webinar on May 4, 2023 to hear verbal comments about the proposed rule. To attend and provide verbal comments, you can register here by April 28.

President Biden Vetoes Congressional Effort to Overturn WOTUS Rule

As part of the latest development in the decades long effort to define what constitutes a “water of the United States” for jurisdictional purposes, last week President Biden vetoed H. J. Res. 27 that would have overturned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new WOTUS Rule. Last month, Congress passed H.J. Res 27 by slim margins in both chambers. As a result, it will be challenging for proponents of the resolution to secure a two-thirds vote to override the veto. Ultimately, the congressional effort to overturn the new WOTUS rule and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s jurisdictional authority may end up being moot given the pending outcome this Spring of Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other litigation.

CASA Contributes to Western City Magazine

CASA recently contributed an article on SB 1383 to the League of California Cities’ magazine, Western City. CASA’s Greg Kester and Adam Link co-authored the article titled “Wastewater Treatment Facilities Could be a Solution for Cities’ Organic Waste Challenges”, discussing SB 1383 and the vital role WWTPs play in helping cities meet their organics diversion goals. Check out the publication here and reach out to Greg Kester with any questions or comments.

BAYWORK’s 2022 Annual Report

The Bay Area Water/Wastewater Workforce Reliability (BAYWORK) recently released a report highlighting their impact over the last year in the water/wastewater industry. Check out the annual report and more information here at www.baywork.org. 

New Members

Welcome to CASA!

EPC Consultants 

      

Responsible Flushing Alliance



2023 CWEA Annual Conference and Expo

Be sure to register today for the 2023 CWEA Annual conference and expo, next week, April 18 – April 21 in San Diego, for a chance to hear from CASA’s Greg Kester sharing updates on SB 1383 implementation, CASA’s Jared Voskuhl on nutrient issues, along with many other great topics and speakers! See the conference webpage for more information: CWEA AC23

Partnering For Impact

Register today for the CWEA and CASA Partnering for Impact (PFI) event happening on June 6, 2023, from 9:00am to 4:15pm in Berkeley, CA. The goal of Partnering for Impact is to build stronger utility, university, and industry collaborations for innovation and find areas where we can create a positive impact together. At this year’s event, we’ll discuss ways we can implement innovative solutions even faster. This year’s featured topics include the risks and rewards associated with various technologies, and what we’re learning about innovations in biosolids resource recovery. Register here!

CASA represents more than 130 local public agencies engaged in the collection, treatment and recycling of Wastewater and biosolids to protect public health and the environment. Our mission is to provide trusted information and advocacy on behalf of California clean water agencies, and to be a leader in sustainability and utilization of renewable resources.