{"id":3002,"date":"2022-03-01T15:16:24","date_gmt":"2022-03-01T20:16:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waterways.org\/?p=3002"},"modified":"2022-03-01T15:16:24","modified_gmt":"2022-03-01T20:16:24","slug":"nwc-federal-spotlight-march-1-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waterways.org\/wordpress2\/nwc-federal-spotlight-march-1-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"NWC Federal Spotlight (March 1, 2022)"},"content":{"rendered":"

NWC Federal Spotlight <\/strong><\/p>\n

March 1, 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Good afternoon NWC members,<\/p>\n

As you may know now, NWC\u2019s 2022 Legislative Summit is a go for April 25-26, 2022, in Washington, DC. We are concluding our final negotiations now with the site and will have a draft schedule available soon.<\/p>\n

For those of you who are interested in Section 408 rulemaking, please reach out to me. We have formed a small working group to look at challenges within the program and address potential fixes. We will have our next call on Friday, March 18 at 11am ET. Additionally, NWC\u2019s Flood Control Caucus meets tomorrow at 1:00pm ET to discuss potential comments on USACE\u2019s National Levee Safety Program. And the next NWC Water Supply Caucus meeting is scheduled for Friday, March 18 at 2pm ET.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, below are some items of interest. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.<\/p>\n

Best,<\/p>\n

Julie Ufner, NWC<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>CEQ. <\/strong>CEQ SEEKS FEEDBACK on climate and economic justice screening tool.<\/strong> The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published a request for information (RFI), seeking feedback on its beta version of the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, which federal agencies will use to implement the J40 initiative.\u00a0 The function of the tool is to employ indicators to identify communities that have underinvestment in energy, transit, housing and water infrastructure, among other things. The RFI seeks input on a variety of issues, with responses due April 25, 2022, which CEQ will use to update the tool as needed and rollout to federal agencies to use.\u00a0 For more information, click here.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>EPA\/USACE. <\/strong>AGENCIES Select locations for 10 WOTUS roundtables nationally.<\/strong> On February 24, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and USACE (the agencies) announced 10 roundtable discussions they intend to hold nationally. Each regionally focused roundtable will allow stakeholders to engage and discuss their experiences with definitions of WOTUS, including challenges and opportunities within their geographic areas. The locations are as follows: Amigos Bravos (Southwest); Arizona Farm Bureau (Southwest); Cahaba Brewing (Southeast); California Farm Bureau (West); Kansas Livestock Association (Midwest); Natural Resources Defense Council (Northeast); National Parks Conservation Association (Midwest); North Carolina Farm Bureau (Southeast); Regenerative Agriculture Foundation (Midwest) ; and the Wyoming County Commissioners Association \/ Montana Association of Counties \/ Idaho Association of Counties (West). The agencies plan to hold these roundtables virtually over the spring and summer. Unlike previous roundtables, where the agencies asked for individual nominations to participate in region-specific roundtable, the agencies requested that nominees submit a complete slate of proposed participants (up to 15) per regional event. In December 2021, the agencies proposed a new WOTUS definition, using a revised version of the 1986 regulations. On Feb. 7, NWC submitted robust comments to the Agencies that detailed our concerns with the proposed WOTUS rule. To read NWC\u2019s comments, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>USACE. <\/strong>Changes at USACE headquarters. <\/strong>Ms. Stacey Brown, the Chief of the Programs Integration Division at Headquarters, will be moving to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) to become the Principal Deputy for Management and Budget (replacing Vance Stewart). A replacement for Ms. Brown has not yet been named.\u00a0 Mr. Eric Bush has been named the permanent Chief of Planning and Policy, a position he\u2019s been serving in an acting capacity.<\/p>\n

USACE. <\/strong>USACE WEBINARS.<\/strong> In February, The USACE Civil Works leadership team conducted two virtual external partner meetings to provide an update on various USACE initiatives and to respond to questions.\u00a0 The presentations from both meetings are attached for your reference and may also be accessed here.\u00a0 <\/a><\/p>\n

The first webinar on February 22, 2022, was led by Ms. Stacey Brown, Chief, USACE Programs Integration Division and focused on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act\u00a0 (IIJA) and the 2022 Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (DRSAA).<\/strong>\u00a0 The USACE team addressed many good questions from our external partners mainly focused on the timing of future spend plans, workload challenges, non-federal sponsor funding opportunities, innovative contracting\/acquisition tools and the Corps Water Infrastructure Financing Program (CWIFP-WIFIA). To view the slides, click here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Highlights of the discussion: <\/u><\/p>\n