The water sector stands at a crucial juncture, facing challenges from aging infrastructure, climate-related risks, and water quality concerns that did not exist when our vast network of treatment plants and networks were designed. It is in this new paradigm that decisions made in Washington will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of water.
The 2024 U.S. presidential and congressional elections carry long-term ramifications for the water and wastewater sectors, potentially reshaping their regulatory landscapes, current and future public funding programs, private sector dynamics, and, most importantly, the foundational precepts of federal agency authority.
This Bluefield Research paper examines the potential impacts of the upcoming governing scenarios (i.e., Democratic and Republican) on the municipal utility service providers and industrial water and wastewater sectors.
At the time of this writing, the race for the White House has been upended by President Biden’s withdrawal from his reelection campaign. Despite this, the political landscape remains highly contested, with neither party currently positioned to gain unified control of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate according to current polling. Biden’s departure from the Presidential elections certainly shakes the political landscape, but for the water and wastewater sectors, a Democratic victory for the White House in November will likely maintain the current course at the federal levels of government. The real game-changer, however, looms in a potential Trump win—promising a seismic shift that could echo the transformative policies proposed during his previous term. Overall, a continued divided government points to an environment driven more by executive actions and judicial interventions rather than more comprehensive, enduring legislative reforms.
However, the most far-reaching changes to the scope of federal regulatory action are not likely to come from the halls of Congress or the Oval Office but from the chambers of 1 First Street, Washington, D.C.
In this White Paper:
Section 1: Projecting the Path Forward
Section 2: Regulatory Landscape and the Potential Impacts of Change
Section 3: Workforce and Sustainability
Section 4: Other Economic Risks
List of Exhibits:
- Mapping the Current Electoral College by State, April 2024
- Political Sentiment toward Existing Policies
- 10 Key Water Programs within IIJA, US$
- Historical State Revolving Fund Appropriations, 1989–2026
- The EPA’s Pursuit of PFAS Policy Action
- Lead and Copper Rule Timeline
- What’s In the Inflation Reduction Act?
- Water-Related Impacts of the CHIPS Act
- Corporate Water Sustainability Drivers
- Net Monthly U.S. Water Employment Change, 2005–2022
- Corporate Water Disclosure via Sustainability Initiatives
Glossary of Policies Mentioned
- Affordable Clean Energy rule (ACE)
- Build America, Buy America (BABA) legislation
- Emerging Contaminants (EC)
- Environmental Assessments (EAs)
- Environmental Impact Statements (EIS)
- Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)
- European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)
- Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)
- Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA)
- Lead and Copper Rule (LCR)
- Lead Service Lines (LSLs)
- National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
- National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWR)
- State Revolving Funds (SRFs)
- Superfund law (CERCLA)
- S. CHIPS and Science Act
- Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA)
- Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act
- WaterSMART
