Environmental Briefs: California Clean Water Infrastructure/ Martha Guzman Appointed to EPA Admin. Region 9

California to Receive $600 Million for Clean Water Infrastructure

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) announced that California will receive over $600 million for water infrastructure projects in 2022 through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that President Biden signed into law last month. Projects supported by this funding will create new jobs across California, provide clean drinking water to underserved communities, and help remove harmful lead and PFAS chemicals from drinking water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or EPA will allocate $7.4 billion to states, Tribes, and territories for 2022—including over $600 million to help California address water infrastructure demands which have historically exceeded available funding. This funding is provided through EPA’s State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs. Nearly half of the total funding is available as grants or principal forgiveness loans that remove barriers to investing in essential water infrastructure in underserved communities across rural America and in urban centers. The 2022 allocation is the first of five years of $43 billion in dedicated EPA SRF funding that states will receive through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Details: https://www.epa.gov/infrastructure

Martha Guzman Appointed as Regional Administrator for EPA Region 9

WASHINGTON, DC (TBD, 2021) — Dec. 9, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan announced that President Biden will appoint Martha Guzman to become EPA’s Regional Administrator for Region 9. Guzman will lead the implementation of the Biden-Harris environmental agenda in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, the Pacific Islands, and 148 Tribal Nations. Martha Guzman has served as a Commissioner at the California Public Utilities Commission or CPUC for the last five years, appointed by Governor Jerry Brown. Her portfolio included leadership on issues related to fiscal oversight of utilities, broadband for all, water affordability, increasing access to clean energy programs and preventing disconnections of basic utilities for disadvantaged communities. Guzman spearheaded the interagency solar consumer protection taskforce, the Tribal Land policy, and the COVID-19 arrears response. Prior to joining the CPUC she served as Deputy Legislative Affairs Secretary in the Office of the Governor where she worked on the passage of the Human Right to Water and the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, re-organized the safe drinking water program, and helped to shape climate goals related to short-lived climate pollutants and renewable energy legislation. Earlier in her career, she was the sustainable communities program director for the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation where she worked for Swanton Berry Farm on human resource issues. Guzman started her career as the legislative coordinator for the United Farm Workers.