On February 16, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its Proposed 2022 Clean Water Act (CWA) Financial Capability Assessment (FCA) Guidance for public comment. Once finalized, the FCA Guidance will provide the financial information and formulas the EPA will use to evaluate a community’s capability to fund CWA control measures in both the permitting and enforcement context. The public comment period closes on April 25 and may be submitted here. Additionally, EPA is hosting a webinar on the guidance on March 14 from 1:00-2:00pm ET, click here to register for the webinar.

Local governments with public water, wastewater and stormwater utilities are subject to a wide range of federal CWA compliance obligations. Local authorities must make costly investments to upgrade, maintain or replace critical water infrastructure to meet CWA standards. These costs are primarily absorbed by ratepayers, with low-income populations feeling most of the burden. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law contains over $50 billion in water infrastructure investments.

The 2022 Proposed FCA contains three significant changes from the 2020 proposal, which the EPA is seeking comments on.

• Determines which of two methodologies would be best for the agency to utilize when considering metrics for low-income communities.
• Adds a financial alternatives analysis to determine whether other financial tools would better suit a community’s needs.
• Imposes a 20–25-year limit on compliance schedules, removing the “useful life” alternative.

As owners, users and regulators of water resources and infrastructure, counties are directly impacted by the EPA’s proposed guidance. In addition, counties invest $134 billion annually in infrastructure construction and the maintenance and operation of public works, including public water systems and water infrastructure projects. NACo will keep members informed of any updates.