Message
From:
Matthew Holmes [Matt@nrwa.org]
Sent:
5/8/2017 2:35:26 PM
To:
Greenwalt, Sarah [/o=ExchangeLabs/ou=Exchange Administrative Group
(FYDIBOHF23SPDLT)/cn=Recipients/cn=6cl3775b8f424e90802669b87bl35024-Greenwalt,]
Subject:
Thanks from NRWA
Attachments: EPA Approps Request.pdf; Mike Keegan.vcf
Good morning Sarah,
Thank you and Administrator Pruitt for a great meeting last week - we appreciate the candid conversation and your willingness to listen! Our board leadership was very impressed and encouraged.
Sam and I will be in DC next week, from Monday around noon until Thursday morning. I will be attending the "Peer-toPeer" meeting that is being held by OWM on Tuesday and Wednesday morning. We are open to meeting with you anytime, aside from Wednesday from 11:00 - 1:00pm when Sam has another commitment.
I thought I would include some follow-up information on the technical assistance grant topic that we discussed at our meeting. We are currently in final negotiations for our FY16 cooperative agreement. The Project Officer is very new Leslie Temple. We have been working with Mike Finn in the past as the Project Officer, as well as Maria Lopez-Carbo of course. They are both supportive of our efforts, but haven't really been open to addressing the structural problems with how the RFA is set up.
If things work as they have in the past, OGWDW will release the RFA for the new round of grants this summer. I'm sure you are aware of this, but additional information is online here: https://www.epa.gov/dwcapacity/training-andtechnical-assistance-small-systems-funding.
I have attached our latest appropriations request fact sheet for the EPA program. This includes the language that Mike Keegan referred to in the meeting, the Grassroots Rural and Small Community Water Systems Assistance Act (Public Law 114-98). As I mentioned in the meeting, this program is essential for small water systems. When the program was eliminated in 2007 due to the new earmark rules, Rural Water delivered 15,000 letters of support to EPA to retain this program. Unfortunately, the effort was continually watered down with many different organizations providing online tools, webinars, surveys, planning efforts, etc. While this looks good on paper, it is not effective for rural and small system personnel. I know I'm not telling you anything you don't already know!
Thank you again for what you and Administrator Pruitt are doing for this Agency. EPA has a critically important mission, and every one of our 30,000+ members recognizes this. We are long-standing partners, and we are eager to help get things back on track. My cell number is below - please feel free to call or email at any hour if we can be of help.
Sincerely,
Matt
Matthew Holmes
Deputy CEO
National Rural Water Association
Ex. 6
www.nrwa.org
FYI - here Keegan's contact info: Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA
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Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA
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