Washington Report – May 13, 2024

Latest News

Roadshow to Stop in Washington D.C. This Week

• The Engineering & Public Works Roadshow will pull into the D.C. Infrastructure Academy this Thursday;
• APWA President-Elect Dominick Longobardi will be one of the speakers, along with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and other local and federal officials;
• DCIA is the first project visited by the roadshow that is still under construction;
  • Once completed, it will recruit and train district residents in trade skills who can then join its public works department and take on infrastructure careers
  • Workforce development is a key roadshow goal
• A collaboration with the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the roadshow streams all its stops, including this week’s DCIA visit, live on its website;
  • Watch at 11 a.m., ET on May 16.

EPA Announces $41M for Stormwater and Sewer Infrastructure

• The funding is through the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program;
• IIJA changed the program so 25% of program funds go to available projects in small and/or financially distressed communities
  • State grantees are not required to contribute cost share money for program projects located in said communities though grant portions that go to other communities will include a cost-share requirement.

EPA Expands Technical Assistance

• EPA has taken steps to provide greater help to communities including engineering support and climate change risk assessment;
• Expanded engineering services include the development of project needs assessments, preliminary engineering reports, cost estimates, and other studies needed to support community pre-applications and applications for State Revolving Funds
  • Additional engineering support may be available on a case-by-case basis
• EPA’s Creating Resilient Water Utilities (CRWU) initiative provides drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater (water sector) utility owners and operators with one-on-one, no-cost climate change risk assessment support using CRWU’s tools and resources, including its Resilient Strategies Guide, Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool (CREAT), and Climate and Weather Data Maps;
• Over the course of two to four months, water sector utilities will be guided through a risk assessment process to:
  • Better understand their potential risk to climate change threats
  • Identify potential adaptive measures to become more resilient to those threats
  • Identify potential funding sources for implementation of those potential adaptive measures
• Apply to EPA CRWU’s technical assistance by Aug. 15 by emailing Aliza Furneaux.

APWA Weighs in to Protect Infrastructure Against Increasing Truck Size and Weight

• APWA is one of 20 organizations on a May 9 letter to the Chairs and Ranking Members for the U.S. Senate and House Committees on Agriculture, which are working to re-authorize the farm bill;
• The Coalition Against Bigger Trucks (CABT), of which APWA is a longtime member, is urging the committees to reject legislative language that would allow for an increase in maximum truck weight and length;
• As studies have shown, allowing heavier trucks would cause significant damage to highways, local roads, and other infrastructure, as well as make roads less safe;
• Rural and local roads, particularly, would be hard hit as they often are older and built to bear less traffic;
• The Coalition Against Bigger Trucks is comprised of more than two dozen organizations representing law enforcement, local governments, rail, trucking, and road safety.

APWA joins NHSC in Grant Funding Letter to Congress

• APWA, as a member of the National Homeland Security Consortium (NHSC) has signed a letter to Congress requesting it rescind the 9 percent reductions to all grant programs within the Federal Assistance Account at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as outlined in the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) FY24 budget;
• Grant programs that would be impacted by the cut include:
  • The State Homeland Security Grant Program and Urban Area Security Initiative, which allows state and local governments to augment gaps in national preparedness and enhance terrorism prevention capabilities
  • The Emergency Management Performance Grant, which is a 50/50 grant that supports baseline emergency management capabilities when stretched the thinnest managing events beyond natural hazards to include cyber-incidents, asylum seekers, and school safety
  • The Flood Hazard Mapping and Risk Assessment Program addresses flood risks across the country and directly impacts the abilities of communities to manage their floodplain and save lives and property
  • The Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program, allows underserved tribal communities to bolster their local security posture for a range of preparedness efforts
• The letter also requests Congress consider supplemental funding for the summer and moving forward with the FY25 DHS budget.

Biden Administration Releases National Cybersecurity Strategy Implementation Plan 2.0

• The Biden Administration released its National Cybersecurity Strategy Implementation Plan (NCSIP) Version 2.0;
• The first NCSIP came out in July 2023;
• The updated NCSIP emphasizes five pillars:
  • Defending critical infrastructure
  • Disrupting and dismantling threat actors
  • Shaping market forces to drive security and resilience
  • Investing in a resilient future
  • Forging international partnerships to pursue shared goals
• The intention is to update the NCSIP annually.

FEMA Announces $103M for Emergency Operations Centers – Due June 7

• FEMA has released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for $103M in grant funds for eligible state and local governments and Tribal Nations for equipping, upgrading, or constructing emergency operations center projects through the Fiscal Year 2024 Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Grant Program;
• The EOC Grant program is designed to improve emergency management and preparedness capabilities by supporting flexible, strategically located, and fully interoperable EOCs;
• The deadline to apply for funding is June 7.

On the Horizon

All times ET.

• May 15 at 10 a.m., the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing on Reviewing and Examining the Francis Scott Key Bridge Federal Response;
• May 15 at 10 a.m., the House Committee on Homeland Security Emergency Management and Technology Subcommittee and Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence Subcommittee will conduct a joint hearing on Unmanned Aerial Systems – An Examination of the Use of Drones in Emergency Response;
• May 15 at 1 p.m., the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) will host an Emergency Services Sector Artificial Intelligence (AI) webinar on Artificial Intelligence and The Emergency Services Sector Case Studies;
• May 15 at 4 p.m., FEMA will host a webinar on its Climate Adaptation and Hazard Mitigation Certificate Program;
• May 16 at 10 a.m. the House Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on Examining the Council on Environmental Quality FY2025 Budget Request and Related Policy Matters;
• May 16 at 1 p.m., EPA, CISA, and the FBI will provide important updates on ongoing Pro-Russia hacktivist activity against U.S. Water and Wastewater Systems, including recommended mitigations and cybersecurity best practices utilities can implement to protect against this threat.

Explore APWA’s Member Advocacy Tools:

• APWA Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) Resource page
• APWA Government Affairs LinkedIn
• APWA Government Affairs on X
• 118th Congress Public Policy Priorities and Policymaker Primers
• APWA Washington Report
• Legislative Action Center
• “What is Public Works?”
• Tell Your Story
• Public Works Research