March 2022 Water and Wastewater Market Recap is a recap of some of the most interesting and useful water industry news from March 2022. It contains updates on industry drivers, notable projects, and recent mergers and acquisitions, as well as some interesting reads, and upcoming upcoming meetings and conferences.
Industry Drivers
Our data team tracks major developments in the water industry, which we call drivers. Here are some of the most important drivers from last month.
EPA Releases Final Strategic Plan to Protect Public Health, Address Climate Change, and Advance Environmental Justice and Equity
Status: Effective
Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Summary: On March 28, 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its final strategic plan for fiscal years 2022 through 2026 to accompany EPA's 2023 budget request. The plan includes a strategic goal that focuses exclusively on climate change and public health. It also aimed at advancing environmental justice and civil rights. It outlines seven goals and four cross-agency strategies. The goals include tackling the Climate Crisis, enforcing environmental laws, and ensuring compliance; ensuring clean and healthy air and water for Americans; safeguarding and revitalizing communities' goals, and ensuring the safety of chemicals for people. Its cross-Agency strategies will focus on:
- ensuring scientific integrity and science-based decision making;
- considering children's health at all life stages and other vulnerable populations;
- advancing EPA's organizational excellence and workforce equity; strengthening the tribal, state, and local Partnerships, and;
- enhancing engagement.
Click here for more information
Statement by EPA Administrator Regan on the President’s Fiscal Year 2023 Budget
Status: Proposed
Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Summary: On March 28, 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received the President’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget, seeking $11.8 billion for the agency’s work to protect the people from pollution. Once the budget is approved, EPA will make various critical investments. Around a third ($4 billion) of the total budget will be spent on the up-grade of drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. The remaining funding would be invested in air quality improvement, cleaning up hazardous waste, and studying the health and environmental effects of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). It will also support on-the-ground efforts to reduce GHG emissions and successfully implement the toxic substances and control Act.
Click here for more information
Perchlorate in Drinking Water
Status: Effective
Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Summary: On March 31, 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided not to impose limits on perchlorate in drinking water. This chemical consumption is linked to brain damage in newborns and infants. While not pursuing a drinking water regulation at this time, EPA will continue to consider new information on the health effects and occurrence of perchlorate. The previous administration in 2020 opted not to regulate the perchlorate. Likewise, the incumbent administration endorsed the earlier decision, and the EPA said that the best available peer-reviewed science supported it. The agency would provide $11.7 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to address the drinking water issues by setting up new monitoring tools and cleaning up contaminated sites. An online toolkit with technical information will be created for the drinking water system and communities and will be available online in 2022.
EPA Proposes to Restore Protective Pollution Standards for Washington Waters
Status: Proposed
Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Summary: On March 29, 2022, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed rule to restore Washington state’s protective federal water quality standards. After finalization, this will help protect the health of those consuming fish from Washington’s waters. This renewed commitment to more protective measures would help safe, clean, healthy waters in the state. And especially tribes who depend on fish and seafood will benefit from it. Under the Clean Water Act, the EPA proposes limits for dozens of chemicals posing a health risk. On March 28, EPA also signed a proposed rule to restore the protective and science-based federal human health criteria (HHC) for the state’s waters that EPA had initially promulgated in 2016.
Click here for more information
Notable Capital Improvement Programs
Here are some recent, notable Capital Improvement Programs (CIPs). FirmoGraphs has deconstructed the CIPs into data elements, along with available project descriptions. Please feel free to request a meeting and review the data live in our business intelligence application.
City of Arlington, Texas, Capital Program Decreased by 8%
In the CIP covering the 2021-2025 fiscal years, Arlington detailed plans to spend $476 million on capital projects, a decrease of 8% from nearly $518.6 million in its 2020-2024 CIP. The current CIP has 66 discrete projects, compared to 102 projects in the prior CIP. The table below breaks down the City of Arlington's planned capital spending by business area for its last two CIPs.
Parks & Recreation and Public Works & Transportation Spending Decreases
The City of Arlington's planned spending in Parks and Recreation was reduced by 29% to $59.2 million from its prior CIP 2020-2024. This was due to a $25 Million Indoor Sports Center Project completed. Funds under the Public Works and Transportation have also been trimmed by 13% to $140.8 million. Planned spending in Stormwater Utility has seen a $13 million increase, 22% of the previous period, mainly for the annual localized drainage projects.
Four Projects Valued at More Than $25 Million
The current CIP contains 66 projects with four projects valued at more than $25 million. These include two projects under Water Utilities Area: Water Treatment and Water and Sewer Main having an allocation of $54.5 million and $48.5 million, respectively. The other two are the Active Adult Center and Residential Rebuild Program.
Click Here to See City of Arlington, TX, CIP
City of San Diego, California, Capital Program Decreased by 4%
In the CIP covering the 2022-2026 fiscal years, San Diego detailed plans to spend $3137.9 Million on capital projects, a decrease of 4% from nearly $3251.7 Million in its 2021-2025 CIP. The current CIP has 255 discrete projects, compared to 283 projects in the prior CIP. The table below breaks down City of San Diego planned capital spending by business area for its last two CIPs.
Spending Increases for Stormwater, Parks & Recreation and Facilities Services; Transportation and Citywide Spending Decreases
Planned spending in Stormwater will increase to $137.5 million, a 200% increase from the prior period. This was due to an $82 million and $55 million additional project which are the Stormwater Green Infrastructure and Flood Resilience Infrastructure. These projects aim to remove pollutants from stormwater before it enters the City’s public waterways or to reuse the storm water and keep it from entering public waterways; and provide for the high priority redesign and reconstruction of existing storm drain structures respectively. Planned spending was also increased by $30 million on its spending in Parks and Recreation and Facilities Services. These increases are accompanied by a significant decrease of $163 million in the transportation category.
Public Utility Projects to Get more than $100 Million
Despite a slight reduction of 4% the biggest allocation goes to Public Utilities with $2,491.9 million planned. Under this category, the Pure Water Program is the largest single project with an allocation of $817 million. Also, another $800 million are planned on water main replacements, sewer main replacements, pipeline rehabilitations and Advanced Metering Infrastructure.
Click Here to See City of San Diego, CA, CIP
Notable M&A
The following M&A transactions in the Power Generation and Supply Industry stand out in the month of March:
What We Are Reading
Here are some recent articles our team has been reading:
- Government appropriates Infrastructure Bill funding
- Clean Water Funding Formula Comes Under Scrutiny in Congress
- N.Y. announces $725M for water infrastructure
- Leachate from landfills is contaminated with PFAS chemicals at hundreds of times the state’s drinking water limit
- Well water of homes near Kittery dump shows elevated PFAS. Others show arsenic.
- California reduces State Water Project allocations
- EPA issues guidance on identifying lead service lines
- Government appropriates Infrastructure Bill funding
- California awards $180M for drought relief projects
- EPA releases 2021 WIFIA Report: $5B in water infrastructure loans
- Michigan Legislature passes bill to use federal recovery funds for clean water projects
Meeting Planner
Organizations have shifted their event strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are tracking these changing meeting plans.
Meetings in April and May 2022
- WEF Collection Systems Conference - Apr. 19 - Apr. 22, 2022
- IMS-AWWA Water Quality And Infrastructure Midyear Conference - Apr. 21, 2022
- NACWA Water Week - Apr. 24 - Apr. 30, 2022
- AWRA Spring Conference: Water Risk Under a Rapidly Changing World - Evaluation & Adaptation - Apr. 25 - Apr. 27, 2022
- PA-AWWA Annual Conference - Apr. 25 - Apr. 27, 2022
- MT-AWWA Joint Conference - Apr. 26 - Apr. 28, 2022
- NACWA National Water Policy Fly-In - Apr. 26 - Apr. 27, 2022
- PNWS-AWWA Section Conference - Apr. 27 - Apr. 29, 2022
- WEF AWW & AWEA Annual Conference - May 1 - May 4, 2022
- AWWA-AS Annual Statewide Conference - May 2 - May 5, 2022
- OWWA Ontario's Water Conference & Trade Show - May 2 - May 4, 2022
- ACWA Spring Conference & Exhibition - May 3 - May 5, 2022
- AWRA Geospatial Water Technology Conference - May 9 - May 12, 2022
- AWE Emerging Water Technology Symposium - May 10 - May 11, 2022
- WEF Residuals and Biosolids Conference - May 24 - May 27, 2022
Early Birds Registration
- Event: AWWA ACE22
Dates: Jun. 12 - Jun. 15, 2022
Deadline for Early Registration: Apr. 22, 2022