Blog
Immigration Policy Alert
On September 19, 2025, the Trump Administration issued a proclamation entitled “RESTRICTION ON ENTRY OF CERTAIN NONIMMIGRANT WORKERS,” aimed directly at the H-1B visa program. The Department of Commerce is imposing a $100,000 visa petition fee (USCIS) for applicants seeking this highly coveted visa. Last Friday, the US Chamber of Commerce sent the Secretary of Commerce [...]
Tariffs Hit the Water Sector: New 50% Duties to Impact U.S. Equipment Imports
Tariffs are coming to the water sector, sooner rather than later. On August 18, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), an agency of the United States Department of Commerce (DOC), announced that 407 additional eight- or 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) codes are now subject to Section 232 steel and aluminum [...]
EPA to Defend Biden-Era Rule Requiring Lead Pipe Replacement
The Environmental Protection Agency announced in early August that it would defend the Biden administration’s aggressive rule for reducing lead in drinking water against a court challenge brought by a water utility association. There are roughly 9 million lead pipes providing water to homes and businesses in the United States. The rule gave cities and towns a [...]
WEF White Paper: Valuing the Circular Water Economy: A $47 Billion Opportunity for U.S. Utilities
This groundbreaking white paper from the Water Environment Federation reveals how U.S. utilities and municipalities could unlock $47 billion annually by adopting circular water economy principles. Valuing the Circular Water Economy explores three core strategies—Reduce, Recover, and Regenerate—to help utilities rethink water use, maximize resource recovery, and revitalize ecosystems. Reduce: Cut operational costs and environmental impact by minimizing water use and waste. Recover: Extract [...]
FY2025 Allotments for the SRFs
Fiscal Year 2025 Allotments for the State Revolving Fund Provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Base Program Funding On May 16, 2025, the EPA posted the allotments for Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds for Fiscal Year 2025. EPA is making $8.9 billion available in new Clean Water and Drinking Water [...]
EPA PFAS Update
EPA Announces It Will Keep Maximum Contaminant Levels for PFOA, PFOS EPA intends to provide regulatory flexibility and holistically address these contaminants in drinking water U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the agency will keep the current National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWR) for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), which [...]
ASCE 2025 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure
The ASCE 2025 Report Card for America's Infrastructure gave U.S. infrastructure an overall "C" grade, marking an improvement from the "C-" in 2021 and the highest grade since 1998. The report highlights progress driven by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) but stresses that more investment is needed. Despite improvements, the infrastructure funding gap has [...]
How Can AI Technologies Be Used to Ethically Provide Clean Drinking Water?
By Susi Ricker Artificial intelligence (AI) describes an ever-evolving cyber tool which can be used to assist in many different business applications, including the water industry. Due to the fast implementation of this methodology, there are unknowns which create challenges in establishing protocols. AI technologies can be used ethically to provide clean drinking water by applying [...]