Your Water and Wastewater Updates for June 22

CASA News

Join Your Peers at CASA’s Annual Conference

Wrap-up summer with your colleagues in San Diego at CASA’s Annual Conference, August 9-11, 2023. Our program will feature speakers and panels that focus on how wastewater agencies are adapting to new challenges, including ways to attract and retain workers in the coming years, big changes in how biosolids are managed, and strategies for addressing the more extreme cycles of heavy rain followed by extended drought. It has also been a busy year on the advocacy front, and our committee leaders and technical track speakers will be there to provide all the latest information on legislative and regulatory proposals that will impact your agency.

Check out our preliminary program to see the other great speakers, panels, and presentations available during CASA’s 2023 Annual Conference and register today! We hope to see you there!

Come Grow With Us!

CASA is delighted to share that we will be continuing the CASA Mentoring Program in 2023-24 after another successful year. Join us as a mentor or mentee to inspire others, share knowledge and drive change! This 11-month comprehensive program, kicking off in October 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. Want to learn more? Join us for a virtual information session on Monday, July 31, from 12:00pm - 12:30pm or Wednesday, August 16, from 11:30am - 12:00pm and be sure to visit the CASA LEAD webpage ! If you already know you are interested in this program for the upcoming year, please email Alyssa Downs so we can add you to our interest list.

CASA Annual Salary Survey Results

Thank you, CASA members, for responding to the Agency Salary and Benefits Survey Questionnaire. The survey provides valuable information for our members when conducting a salary classification and review. And thank you to Monterey One Water for coordinating and producing the survey report. Please find the summaries of the data from 44 participating agencies, here. Some important notes about the survey itself:

Learn About CASA’s Committees!

Participating in CASA’s Committees is an excellent way to contribute to the clean water community and get the most out of your agency’s CASA membership. Most CASA Committee seats are two-year terms, but some committees may have openings throughout the year. If you are interested in subscribing to any of the Committee LISTSERVs or learning more about our various committees, please email Cheryl MacKelvie and identify the committee you are interested in. Below please find a brief description of each Committee:

Member News

Roseville Converts Organic Waste into Renewable Fuel

In a significant milestone, the City of Roseville has embarked on a groundbreaking initiative to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and minimize landfill waste. This effort involves powering its trash and recycling fleet with renewable natural gas (RNG) derived from the digestion of organic waste. The regional Pleasant Grove Wastewater Treatment Plant (PGWWTP ) is owned and operated by the city where the plant efficiently treats millions of gallons of wastewater daily, safeguarding the health of local streams and rivers. The PGWWTP expansion has been under construction since 2020 to increase treatment capacity from 9.5 million gallons to 12 million gallons of wastewater per day to accommodate regional population growth. As part of the expansion, Roseville has developed an energy recovery project to transform the plant into a waste-to-energy facility capable of producing RNG fuel. “We have come full circle with managing our integrated utility service to benefit our community,” said Roseville’s Environmental Utilities Director, Richard D. Plecker. “Through this project, we have the opportunity to generate environmentally beneficial by-products, mitigate the impacts of climate change, comply with regulatory obligations, and safeguard the interests of our ratepayers by stabilizing fuel costs for our solid waste fleet.” Read more in the full press release.

Anaergia Wins ‘Net Zero Carbon Champion of the Year’

Congratulations to Anaergia, which has been named Net Zero Carbon Champion in the Global Water Awards. Additionally, a wastewater project designed, built, and financed through the Company’s subsidiary SoCal Biomethane for Victor Valley Wastewater Reclamation Authority was named Wastewater Project of the Year. The awards represent a milestone in the Company’s mission to accelerate decarbonization at scale and recognize its efforts to build world-class sustainable infrastructure in the water and waste industries. The awards were presented at the Global Water Summit in Berlin, Germany. Read more in the full press release.

NapaSan to Install New Biofuel Mainspring Linear Generator

NapaSan and NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, have signed an agreement for the construction and installation of a new Mainspring Linear Generator. The linear generator will run on biofuel produced at NapaSan’s wastewater treatment plant, providing renewable energy to power the plant while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Under the agreement, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources will install, own and operate the linear generator at NapaSan’s wastewater treatment plant. The unit is expected to generate 230 kW of clean, renewable electricity.

The linear generator, developed by Mainspring Energy, is a new fuel-flexible power generation technology that converts a variety of clean fuels, including wastewater treatment plant biogas, into clean and reliable electricity. NapaSan will be the first-ever wastewater treatment facility to run a linear generator using methane produced in an anaerobic digester. The project is currently in the design phase, with installation scheduled to begin this summer. After testing and utility approval, the linear generator is scheduled to be operational in fall. Read more in the full press release.

State Legislative Update

AB 759 (Grayson) Heads to the Governor

Good news: CASA’s sponsored legislation to modernize accounting procedures in the Sanitary Districts Act is headed to the Governor! The bill would allow sanitary districts to adopt a resolution to allow the issuance of warrants without Board president approval, so long as the check register is included in the meeting materials at the next regularly scheduled board meeting. If enacted this bill goes into effect January 1, 2024. We ask that agencies interested send a letter of support to Governor Newsom, and reach out to Spencer Saks with any questions or comments.

Legislature Passes Budget by Deadline

Last Thursday, the Legislature passed their Budget bill which includes provisions necessary to close the $31.5 billion spending gap. While many programs and items have been cut, we are happy to report that $300 million for water recycling was restored in the Budget after the Governor’s May Revision proposed it be cut and moved into a Resources Bond. While the Budget bill has technically been passed, the budget process is far from over, and legislative leaders will continue negotiating with Governor Newsom on the many details that remain undecided, including the Governor’s infrastructure streamlining package. These outstanding items will pass in subsequent trailer bills later this summer.

CASA has created a new comprehensive e-newsletter to share state legislative updates with the CASA membership. If you are interested in receiving these updates, please contact Spencer Saks. The latest edition is available here.

Federal Update

Spring 2023 Unified Agenda Published: Proposal Delays CERCLA PFAS Rulemaking

Last week, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs released the Spring 2023 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The Agenda outlines short-term and long-term schedules for rulemaking efforts across the agency and also makes revisions to earlier rulemaking timetables that will govern its activities going into next year.

Most notably, the Spring 2023 Agenda notes that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s deadline for its rulemaking to designate PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under Comprehensive Emergency Response Compensation and Liability Act is delayed. The final rulemaking is now slated to be released in February 2024. This represents a six-month delay from when USEPA initially planned to publish the final rulemaking. The Agenda also states that USEPA’s listing of decision for six additional PFAS chemicals and GEN X delayed by nine months and the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to list additional PFAS chemicals public comment period extended for an additional sixty days until August 11.

Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Process Continues Ahead

House Republican leadership announced last week that Fiscal Year 2024 spending limits will now be based off FY2022 limits. The announcement rejects the previously agreed upon spending limits agreed-upon in the Fiscal Responsibility Act’s Fiscal Year 2023 and means a 30% budget cut for domestic program funding.

The additional $100 billion reduction creates a new hurdle in developing final spending bills later this year and means spending bills exclusive of Defense appropriations will face draconian cuts if enacted. Adding additional complexity to developing FY2024 spending bills is that the Senate will still adhere to funding levels based upon Fiscal Year 2023 spending levels. The new fiscal year starts on October 1 when Congress will have to either passing new spending bills or a continuing resolution to give appropriators more time to finalize appropriations if new bills are not complete. Based on the diverging spending limits in the House and Senate, it will have to be seen how appropriators bridge this and other spending differences.