News from Northeast-Midwest Institute

W E E K L Y U P D A T E November 28, 2016

In This Issue

Congress Returns to DC to Finish Out the Remainder of the Year

MDEQ Implements NEMWI Training Recommendation for Better Oversight of Public Water Systems

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Congress Returns to DC to Finish Out the Remainder of the Year

Congress returns to the Capitol this week to finish up its remaining legislative business for the year. Both the House and Senate have a deadline of December 9th to pass legislation extending funding for the remainder of the 2017 fiscal year. Initially, it was expected that Congress would take up some sort of omnibus legislation during the current lame duck session, but with the election of a Republican Administration in November, the GOP controlled Congress has decided to move forward with a continuing resolution (CR) that will likely fund the government at least through sometime in March, leaving the new Congress and Administration to finish up the final funding for FY 2017 next year.

Additionally, Congress could also look to move conference reports to the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), an energy package, and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). All three of these legislative proposals have been approved by both the House and Senate and currently are being negotiated by leaders in both chambers. A five-year, $300 million per year authorization of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) was included in both the House and Senate passed WRDA bills.

For more information, contact Matthew McKenna , Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program or Jared Mott , Senior Policy Analyst for the Mississippi River at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.

MDEQ I mplements NEMWI Training Recommendation for Better Oversight of Public Water Systems

The City of Flint, Michigan and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) have begun to implement recommendations that originated from the Northeast-Midwest Institute (NEMWI). Earlier this year, Director of the NEMWI's Safe Drinking Water Research and Policy Program, Elin Betanzo, provided input to the Flint Water Advisory Task Force Report that was released by Governor Rick Snyder's office last Spring, and several of her recommendations were adopted in the final report. One recommendations was for MDEQ to establish an apprenticeship/certification program for MDEQ drinking water employees that requires direct, hands-on experience with public water system operations. This recommendation is currently being implemented at the Flint Water Treatment Plant by both city and MDEQ employees. More information about the implementation of the report at the Flint Water Treatment Plant can be viewed here .

Betanzo's recommendation resulted from years of being an EPA regulator, followed by working at a public water system. Many regulators have never worked at a water utility and have not experienced the range of issues water utilities face on a daily basis and the types of trade-offs they need to make in decision making. This new step will allow MDEQ staff to be more aware of onsite considerations and challenges, and it will help them to implement drinking water regulations more effectively across the state. This will be an important long-term training program to improve drinking water oversight in the state of Michigan.

For more information, contact Elin Betanzo, Director of the Safe Drinking Water Research and Policy Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.

NEMWI: Strengthening the Region that Sustains the Nation