SUSTAINING THE FLOW

Welcome to the April 2025 edition of ARA's partner newsletter, featuring highlights from our partners and organizations around our network to help keep us collaborating, informed and engaged. See below for comment opportunities, events, updates from ARA's staff, partner highlights, funding, training, and hiring opportunities. See past editions of the newsletter here.

Dear Partners and Friends:

I am sure you have all heard about the potential Executive Orders threatening to target nonprofit's 501(c)(3) status. There have been various rumors circulated, some specific to environmental organizations and environmental justice organizations, but thankfully Earth Day passed without any of this coming to fruition. We want you to know that we are a part of many national, regional and statewide networks and we are closely monitoring developments at all levels of government, especially anything that stands to impact our partners and our movement here in Alabama. We never want to alarm any of our partners unnecessarily, but we want to assure you we are following this closely and we will do our best to keep you informed of what we are hearing that may impact your organizations.

While there is plenty of uncertainty right now, what we do know is that this is not the time for us to freeze in fear or to back away from our core values and missions of protecting clean water, healthy ecosystems and inclusive, diverse movements towards a just and healthy world. Attacking nonprofits and charities or university research or reducing important federal agency staff and funding is a chilling attempt to slow progress and stop our work, and will result in innumerable harms to the American people and our environment. We must stand strong together during these uncertain and challenging times.

Please know that the Alabama Rivers Alliance is here for you. If you or your organization have concerns about being targeted, or are vulnerable from loss of federal funding, please reach out and we will do whatever we can to help you.

Sincerely,

Cindy, ARA Staff and Board of Directors

FEDERAL AND REGULATORY NEWS / COMMENT OPPORTUNITIES

WATERS OF THE US (WOTUS)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Army are engaging environmental and conservation stakeholders and the public on certain key topics related to the implementation of the definition of “waters of the United States” in light of the Supreme Court's 2023 decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency. Click here to learn more and submit comments.

SEWAGE / WASTE SLUDGE COMMENTS 

The EPA also released their Draft Sewage Sludge Risk Assessment for PFAS for public comment. The draft risk assessment reflects the agency’s latest scientific understanding of the potential risks to human health and the environment posed by the presence of PFAS in sewage sludge that is land applied as a soil conditioner or fertilizer. Click here to submit comments. Click here to watch SOILED, the 2020 Southern Exposure Film that dives into this harmful toxic practice.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATES

ARA has been in Montgomery each week since the start of the session, monitoring bills and working with legislators to protect Alabama's rivers.

HB 541 - This important legislation amends the Alabama Safe Drinking Water Act, ensuring drinking water utilities can provide affordable, clean drinking water free from PFAS, or “forever chemicals”, contaminants. HB541 would make sure that drinking water utilities across our state can make polluters pay for the costs of removing PFAS from drinking water, instead of us — the consumer.

CURRENT STATUS: HB541 is currently in the State Government Committee. If your House Member is on this Committee, please let them know to vote YES on HB541. Click here to see if your legislator on this committee. We'll be reaching out again as soon as the bill hits the floor!

We are also working with Birmingham area members and partners to monitor and express concerns about SB 330, regarding the restructuring of the Birmingham Water Works Board.

And earlier in April, we helped secure amendments HB 473, which posed a threat to drinking water utilities' ability to protect their water resources. As always, keep up with the all the bills out of Montgomery affecting our rivers and streams on our website.

PARTNER HIGHLIGHTS FROM ACROSS ALABAMA

Amplifying the voices of river defenders in Alabama by celebrating news, wins of all sizes, milestones and ways others could use support. Submit your news so we can share!

• Conservation groups throughout Alabama have filed a Petition for Rulemaking with Alabama’s Environmental Management Commission, the board that oversees the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, urging the state to update and publish amended toxicity values for twelve priority toxic pollutants. The groups are: Alabama Rivers Alliance, Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Cahaba Riverkeeper, Choctawhatchee Riverkeeper, Coosa Riverkeeper, Environmental Defense Alliance and Mobile Baykeeper. Click here to read more.

• Help Energy Alabama research utility bills in Alabama! They're analyzing billing patterns to better understand how energy costs are impacting households across the state. Your private info will be kept private or redact it before you send it in, here!

• Cahaba Riverkeeper announced the retirement of their Founder and Executive Director Myra Crawford. Click here to read more about Myra.  

• Congratulations to Portia Sheppard with BlackBelt Women Rising who was recently appointed to the Uniontown Water Board! 

• Montgomery Partners! ARA is working with the City of Montgomery to gather feedback from the wonderful people of the River Region about what the Alabama River means to you. Click here to let us know your thoughts and share across the Montgomery area!

• Funding news! More than 78 funders signed the Meet the Moment pledge, which is a call to action to build a coordinated response from the philanthropic sector following federal cuts to national and international programs. 

• The Alabama Water Resources Conference has opened their call for abstracts! The conference is September 3-5 in Orange Beach. Click here to read more.

• Cahaba River Society is encouraging community members to get involved in tracking new developments alongside the Cahaba River: the Creekside development in Homewood and the Irondale R4 Development. Reach out to them if you have questions or want to get involved.

• Catch Conservation Through Art: 50 Years of Wilderness in Alabama, Wild Alabama's art exhibit highlighting the three wilderness areas in Alabama, at the Talladega College Art Museum through May 4th!

• US EPA published the Water Affordability Needs Assessment Report with findings that 1 in 7 people in the US, or 19.2 million households, have unaffordable water. A permanent low-income water assistance program would require $8.8 billion annually in federal funding to close this current water affordability gap. Read more here.

• Read the latest op-ed from recent Water Rally speaker, Erin Kanzig (River Network), We Must Continue Investing in Water Infrastructure.

Please reply to this email or click below to submit newsletter items from your organization. We'd love to share your news with our 100+ partners across the region!

FUNDING | LEARNING | EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

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