The Rundown
- EPA denies a petition to regulate wastewater from phosphoric acid production, a fertilizer input, as a hazardous waste.
- Justice Department seeks penalties from DC Water over a January 2026 sewer line collapse that sent sewage into the Potomac River.
- New Mexico Democrats oppose a Canadian company’s plan to drill test wells in the Chama watershed for uranium extraction.
- Water bills in Congress touch on geothermal energy, tribal water rights, and tribal water infrastructure.
- U.S. Geological Survey assessment finds hotspots for chloride carried to Michigan’s portion of Lake Huron by groundwater.
And lastly, Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, defends the department’s fossil fuel and mineral priorities.
“Interior is committed to increasing energy development on our public lands, establishing our position as dominant in critical minerals, releasing the stranglehold that China has on critical minerals over the U.S. economy and making sure we have the proper and secure supply chains while protecting our economic and national security.” – Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, speaking to a House Appropriations subcommittee on the department’s fiscal year 2027 budget request and priorities.
By the Numbers
$700 Million: Funding allocated by the Indian Health Service to tribal drinking water and sanitation projects in 2026. The funds are part of the 2022 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which provides $3.5 billion over five years for those purposes.
News Briefs
Potomac Sewage Spill
The Justice Department filed a complaint against DC Water for a January 2026 sewer line collapse that resulted in some 240 million gallons of untreated sewage entering the Potomac River.
The complaint alleges DC Water failed to maintain its infrastructure, including the ruptured 54-mile Potomac Interceptor, which was built in the 1960s. The federal complaint seeks penalties and sewer system assessment and repair.
The State of Maryland has also sued DC Water over the incident.
Wastewater Rules
The EPA denied a petition to regulate the radioactive byproducts of phosphoric acid production as hazardous wastes under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
The byproducts from this fertilizer input are phosphogypsum (a solid waste stored in stacks) and processing wastewater (a liquid stored in pits). Most commonly found in Florida, these wastes are currently regulated by the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.
The petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity flagged the risks to waterways from storage failures. But the EPA argued that it did not “provide sufficient information” for a regulatory change.
Water Bills in Congress
Bills touch on geothermal energy, tribal water rights, and tribal water infrastructure.
- The House passed the HEATS Act, a bill to encourage geothermal development. The bill exempts geothermal projects on private or state land from requiring a federal permit if the federal government owns less than 50 percent of the subsurface rights.
- A bipartisan group of Colorado representatives introduced the Western Tribal Water Act, a bill that would reauthorize a tribal water infrastructure program and prioritize 10 projects in the Upper Colorado River basin. The bill would increase authorized funding to $60 million annually.
- California senators introduced a bill to authorize a water rights settlement with the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. The settlement would provide 20,000 acre-feet of groundwater annually, as well as a $500 million fund for water infrastructure and groundwater management.
Studies and Reports
Chloride Polluting Lake Huron
Pollutants can enter Lake Huron, one of the five Great Lakes, via groundwater. But scientific understanding is limited.
A U.S. Geological Survey report sheds light on the matter.
The study focused on two pollutants carried in groundwater: chloride and nitrate. Both occur naturally, but chloride also comes from road salt and nitrate from farm runoff.
Chloride carried by groundwater was found to be the bigger problem, especially in the Saginaw lowlands surrounding Saginaw Bay. Here, naturally occurring chloride comes largely from bedrock.
In context: Road Salt, a Stealthy Pollutant, Is Damaging Michigan Waters
On the Radar
Uranium Drilling in New Mexico
Three New Mexico Democrats raised their concerns about a Canadian company’s plan to drill uranium-extraction test wells in the Chama watershed in Carson National Forest.
“This watershed is not simply an environmental amenity. It is critical water infrastructure –as essential to the communities of northern New Mexico as any road, pipe, or reservoir,” the representatives wrote in a letter to James Duran, the Carson National Forest supervisor.
Gamma Resources plans to drill up to 12 exploratory wells. The representatives said that they plan to introduce legislation to ban mineral extraction in the Chama watershed.
Congressional Budget Hearings
Cabinet members will be spending the week on Capitol Hill for budget hearings.
On April 27, a House Appropriations subcommittee will hold a hearing on the EPA’s 2027 budget. Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator, will testify.
Then on April 28, Zeldin will visit the House Energy and Commerce Committee to discuss the budget there.
On April 29, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will host Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, to discuss the department’s fiscal year 2027 budget request.
Also on April 29, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing on the EPA’s fiscal year 2027 budget. Zeldin will testify.
Drought Meeting
The National Integrated Drought Information System, a federal interagency drought monitoring program, will hold a public meeting on May 7 in Washington, D.C.
Register by May 1. The agenda is here.
Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.
