The Rundown
- GAO assesses FEMA’s extreme heat assistance.
- State Department’s “America First” global health strategy does not directly mention water, sanitation, or hygiene.
- EPA extends deadline for coal power plants to comply with water pollution standards.
- USGS investigates how beavers change a watershed in northwest Oregon.
And lastly, a North Carolina senator urges Congress to fund FEMA’s disaster response.
“But for every community that is back on its feet, there are still several communities that are on their knees or flat on their back. In fact, there are some communities that we wonder whether or not they ever will come back.” – Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) speaking on the Senate floor on October 1 to mark the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene, which wreaked the western part of his state.
The state budget office for North Carolina estimated that the record-breaking storm caused at least $53.8 billion in direct and indirect damage. Tillis complained that Congress was not adequately funding recovery efforts through FEMA. The current government shutdown, he said, added an obstacle just when hurricane risk is peaking. “FEMA simply doesn’t have the funding needed to respond to a major disaster.”
By the Numbers
$1.4 Billion: FEMA’s account balance for major disasters, as of August 31.
News Briefs
Shutdown
The federal government closed its operations on October 1, except for those necessary for public safety or funded outside the annual budgeting process.
Agencies have posted their shutdown plans. The Bureau of Reclamation notes that dam operators and water treatment plant operators are exempted from furloughs.
Coal Help
During an event to promote the most polluting fossil fuel for generating electricity, Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator, announced several measures to help the coal industry, which is having trouble competing with cheaper, cleaner power sources.
Zeldin finalized or proposed extending the compliance deadline for new water pollution standards for coal-fired power plants.
A final rule gives coal plants six more years to decide whether they will stop operating by the end of 2034. Once they decide, they are allowed to continue operating under less-strict pollution standards.
The agency justified the extensions by pointing to rising electricity demand due to AI. “A significant number of facilities need more time to understand how their operations fit within a changing landscape of local and regional demand,” the agency wrote. Zeldin has made AI promotion a pillar of his term as EPA administrator.
Studies and Reports
Extreme Heat Disasters
A U.S. president has never declared an extreme heat disaster, the GAO reports.
But such a declaration is allowed under the Stafford Act, the federal statute that governs disaster response.
GAO, the watchdog arm of Congress, assessed FEMA’s role in assisting states and tribes with extreme heat.
The report found “limited assistance.” Less than 1 percent of FEMA’s climate resilience grants from 2020 to 2023 were directed to projects addressing extreme heat.
If a disaster declaration were requested and approved, FEMA could provide bottled water or set up cooling shelters.
Beavers in Oregon
The U.S. Geological Survey published a multi-part study that examined how beavers influence water quality and hydrology in the Tualatin River basin of northwest Oregon. More than 600,000 people live in the basin.
The studies found that beaver dams trap sediment, can increase water temperatures in unshaded ponds, and in some cases dampen stream flows during small storms. The findings are important for water managers, whose treatment processes are affected by water quality changes.
On the Radar
Global Health Strategy Missing WASH
The State Department published an “America First” global health strategy – but it does not directly mention water, sanitation, or hygiene.
A foundation for public health, the WASH trio is absent from the 40-page strategy, which emphasizes instead American safety and prosperity.
An overriding goal is to prevent disease outbreaks abroad from reaching U.S. soil. Yet the strategy also acknowledges that disease outbreaks can cause political instability in their country of origin. Good health, in this sense, makes for good politics.
“Given that instability can be a breeding ground for national security threats, targeted U.S. health foreign assistance has helped preempt those threats from emerging.”
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.
