Washington Report – October 23, 2023

National First Responder Day is Oct. 28 and it’s an important day for APWA first responders;
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 15 (S.Con.Res.15) Honoring the Nation’s First Responders Day in 2019;
The resolution includes public works among first responders
- Public works professionals are also recognized as first responders by the federal government in Public Law 107-296
Earlier this year, in conjunction with APWA’s ongoing first responder campaign, we issued a public works professional First Responder Flyer to show where public works professionals should display their first responder credentials;
APWA and its members continue to advocate for the inclusion of public works as a critical component for the safety of all citizens and the sustainability of our communities;
The public, government, and other professional and technical organizations should recognize and support the contributions of public works professionals in all-hazards emergency management;
Reach out to APWA Government Affairs Manager Marty Williams at (202) 218-6732 or mwilliams@apwa.org to help you in your efforts to raise awareness of public works professionals as first responders.

Crash Responder Safety Week (CRSW), which APWA supports as part of promoting Traffic Incident Management (TIM) and its procedures to protect first responders and the traveling public, is Nov. 13-17;
A kickoff webinar Nov. 13 will honor the work of responders and provide an overview of CRSW activities across the country. Register here to watch;
APWA will promote activities about the week through its social media on X (@APWAGOVAFFAIRS) and APWA Government Affairs on LinkedIn.

APWA’s public policy priorities developed by the Government Affairs Committee and the Government Affairs staff to advocate to the 118th Congress are on video;
The 3.5-minute production highlights emergency management, transportation, and water resiliency priorities to explain to elected officials and the public what policies are important to APWA members;
Watch the video at apwa.org or on YouTube.

In response to Sackett v. EPA, 118 U.S. House Democrats have introduced a bill that would restore Clean Water Act (CWA) protections for bodies of water impacted by the decision;
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturned the “significant nexus” test and substantially reduced the scope of Waters of the United States (WOTUS) by finding bodies of water are only protected by the CWA if they have a continuous surface connection with a larger body of water;
That interpretation provided an even narrower reading of CWA jurisdiction than the Trump administration proposed in its 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule
- The 2020 rule protected wetlands with “relatively permanent” surface water connections to other nearby waterways and included protections for wetlands cut off from nearby waterways by human-made structures like roads or berms;
The legislation is unlikely to go anywhere in the Republican-controlled House but would be a priority should Democrats retake the gavel following the 2024 election.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications Information Admin. (NTIA) has launched its newly created tool to help the public monitor the implementation progress of the IIJA-funded $42B Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program;
The new tool, the BEAD Initial Proposal Progress Dashboard, will offer insights into each of the 56 eligible territories and states’ progress in submitting initial BEAD proposals (the deadline is Dec. 27);
The dashboard contains six milestones, covering the pre-submission and approval processes outlined by NTIA for BEAD eligibility;
Access the BEAD Initial Proposal Progress Dashboard here;
In APWA’s fourth IIJA webinar, a federal program officer for NTIA, Gilbert Resendez, discussed NTIA and BEAD.

The Federal Transit Admin. (FTA) recently announced Rail Vehicle Replacement grant funding from IIJA;
State and local government authorities in urbanized areas with fixed guideways or high intensity motorbus systems in revenue for at least 7 years are eligible to apply and must do so by Dec. 18;
Funding has also been announced for Accelerating Advanced Digital Construction Management Systems;
Applications, due Feb. 12, may come from eligible entities, including transit agencies, state and local government entities, and institutions of higher education;
The funding is intended to promote field-tested advanced digital platforms to reduce costs and improve project delivery timeframes for investments in public transit capital improvement projects.

All times ET.

Oct. 24 at 10 a.m., the House Transportation & Infrastructure Water Resources & Environment Subcommittee is scheduled to hold a hearing Water Resources Development Acts: Status of Past Provisions and Future Needs;
Oct. 25 at 1 p.m., CISA will host a Cyber Incident Response Strategies webinar
- The webinar will focus on strategies and best practices to identify and respond to cyberattacks on emergency communications systems
Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. the House Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Protection will hold a hearing on Evaluating Federal Cybersecurity Governance.