We sincerely appreciate the following sponsors who have committed to a sponsorship for our 2022 Annual Technical Training Workshop & Exhibition in Verona on May 23-25, 2022. These sponsorships will be used for door prizes and a Sponsorship Grand Prize for attendees.

1) Premier Sponsors - Koester Associates, and G.A. Fleet Associates, Inc.

2) Gold Sponsors - Mueller Company, EJ Prescott, General Control Systems, Inc. and Ti-SALES

3) Silver Sponsors - Auctions International, Kennedy Valve and M&H and BCA Architects & Engineers

4) Golf Hole Sponsors - EJ Prescott

If you are an Associate Member or Exhibitor and wish to provide a sponsorship for our 2022 Annual Technical Training Workshop & Exhibition, please reach out to Jamie Herman at herman@nyruralwater.org

Thank you one and all for your continued support of this association!

Learn more about NRWA Affinity Programs by visiting the NRWA website (nrwa.org)
or by calling 1-800-545-1054. 

Don't have time to spend traveling to sit in a class all day? The best place to receive renewal web based training is at home or work, whichever your schedule allows. You can work at your own pace. SunCoast Learning Systems offers some great topics that will fit your certification requirement needs. Online courses are New York State approved and offer the flexibility and convenience you are looking for. For more information call 1-800-269-1181 or visit https://www.suncoastlearning.com/courses/ny.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the EPA Region 2 states and territories are hosting a free one-day virtual workshop to assist community (drinking) water systems (CWSs) in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands with developing or updating Emergency Response Plans (ERPs) in accordance with America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (AWIA) Section 2013(b). AWIA Section 2013(b) requires CWSs serving more than 3,300 people to develop or update ERPs that incorporates the findings of their risk and resilience assessment.

The law specifies the components that ERPs must address and establishes deadlines by which water systems must certify to EPA completion of the ERP. This workshop will provide a broad overview of the requirements and the new EPA ERP Template and Instructions that will assist water utilities with developing an ERP in accordance with AWIA Section 2013(b).

The virtual workshop will also provide more detailed information on specific response areas such as cybersecurity among others. More information about AWIA Section 2013(b) compliance is available at https://www.epa.gov/waterresilience/awia-section-2013

Who Should Attend: This workshop is designed for CWSs serving greater than 3,300 people, but all EPA Region 2 water systems are invited to attend.

In addition, vendors and consultants, especially those who are assisting CWSs in achieving the requirements of AWIA Section 2013 can attend as well. Applications will be submitted for Region 2 water operators to receive renewal training hours for participating in this virtual workshop.

To register for the workshop, please go to: https://tinyurl.com/jc8jufau. For more information, please contact: Bria Crawford, EPA; 202-564-9553; crawford.bria@epa.gov Will Keefer, Horsley Witten Group; 508-833-6600; wkeefer@horsleywitten 

Drinking Water Fluoridation – 2021
Solicitation of Interest #18737 Round 1

A new streamlined procurement process for DWF funding is now available. This new process will be administered through a Solicitation of Interest (SOI) which will be announced in the NYS Contract Reporter.

This SOI has two components:

Component 1: Planning and Feasibility Projects support municipalities seeking to pursue an Engineering report to:

· Study the feasibility (technical and economical) of starting fluoridation; OR

· Develop a technical plan for initiating fluoridation; OR

· Upgrade existing fluoridation system, including projects that have structural, chemical, or process modifications, that requires professional design services.

Up to $50,000 may be requested for Component 1 projects, with approximately $250,000 available to award each State Fiscal Year (SFY).

 Component 2: Implementation and Maintenance Projects support all the following:

· Purchase/repair and installation of fluoride equipment including equipment used for fluoride feed, personal operator safety and laboratory/analysis; AND/OR

· Construction/modification of building for the storage of fluoride additive and/or equipment;  AND/OR

· Upgrade of building and/or fluoridation equipment to address/meet the codes and standards outlined in the Recommended Standards for Water Works, 2018 Edition (Ten State Standards).

Up to $1 million may be requested for Component 2, with approximately $4.75 million available for award each SFY.

Eligible Municipalities may only submit a letter of interest for  one Component (either Component 1 or 2) in each issuance of this SOI. If both Components are required for a project, it is advised that the eligible municipality submit a letter of interest for Component 1 (Planning and Feasibility Projects) first. Once a successful eligible municipality has completed its Component 1 project (Engineering Report developed and final voucher and progress report submitted to NYSDOH), an eligible municipality may then submit a separate letter of interest for Component 2 (Implementation and Maintenance Projects) funding in a later issuance of the SOI.

Eligible municipalities will be selected on a first-come first-served basis if their project is complete and meets the requirements of the SOI. When funding has been depleted to a level such that a project’s total requested funding amount cannot be met, the eligible municipality will be offered a reduced award amount. If the eligible municipality accepts that amount, no further awards will be made. If the eligible municipality declines that amount, the next eligible municipality will be offered an award until funds are completely exhausted.

If available funding for a single state fiscal year is deemed deficient in size to properly make quarterly awards, NYSDOH reserves the right to not issue the quarterly SOI until the next SFY.

If funding becomes limited for any reason prior to the closing date of this SOI, the project will be suspended with adequate notice in the NYS Contract Reporter.

Written questions will be accepted until 4:00 pm EST, THREE WEEKS PRIOR TO DUE DATE. All questions should be submitted electronically to DFHDWF@health.ny.gov. All questions should be submitted with the subject line “Drinking Water Fluoridation Grants”. If any updates and/or clarification of information are warranted, information will be posted in the Contract Reporter under the tab “Documents” for this announcement. Responses to questions received by 4:00 pm EST, THREE WEEKS PRIOR TO DUE DATE, will be posted continually on or about TWO WEEKS PRIOR TO DUE DATE.

To obtain more information and stay informed of this new funding opportunity, please sign up and register for an account with the Contract Reporter at https://www.nyscr.ny.gov/.

Dear Water Suppliers:

In recent months, an increased number of ransomware attacks have occurred against U.S critical infrastructure, including targeted attacks against the water sector. Ransomware as defined by DHS’s Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is “an ever-evolving form of malware designed to encrypt files on a device, rendering any files and the systems that rely on them unusable.” Cybercriminals and state actors will leverage this technique to block access to these resources or threaten to publish any private or protected information to the public unless a ransom is paid. 

In response to the pervasive ransomware threat, Anne Neuberger, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology, issued the attached memo, What We Urge You to Do to Protect Against the Threat of Ransomware, in which she outlines five best cyber security practices. The Office of Water urges all water and wastewater facilities to adopt these basic practices to reduce the risk of a successful ransomware attack. 

Please follow the steps outlined in memo to protect your organization from ransomware attacks. Additionally, if you suspect that you organization is the victim of a ransomware attack please contact CISA (central@cisa.dhs.gov) or local law enforcement.

 1. Backup your data, system images, and configurations, regularly test them, and keep the backups offline: Ensure that backups are regularly tested and that they are not connected to the business network, as many ransomware variants try to find and encrypt or delete accessible backups. Maintaining current backups offline is critical because if your network data is encrypted with ransomware, your organization can restore systems.

2. Update and patch systems promptly: This includes maintaining the security of operating systems, applications, and firmware, in a timely manner. Consider using a centralized patch management system; use a risk-based assessment strategy to drive your patch management program.

3. Test your incident response plan: There’s nothing that shows the gaps in plans more than testing them. Run through some core questions and use those to build an incident response plan: Are you able to sustain business operations without access to certain systems? For how long? Would you turn off your manufacturing operations if business systems such as billing were offline?

4. Check your security team’s work: Use a third party (CISA will do this for free) to test the security of your systems and your ability to defend against a sophisticated attack. Many ransomware criminals are aggressive and sophisticated and will find the equivalent of unlocked doors.

5. Segment your networks: There’s been a recent shift in ransomware attacks – from stealing data to disrupting operations. It’s critically important that your corporate business functions and manufacturing/production operations are separated and that you carefully filter and limit internet access to operational networks, identify links between these networks and develop workarounds or manual controls to ensure industrial control networks can be isolated and continue operating if your corporate network is compromised. Regularly test contingency plans such as manual controls so that critical functions can be maintained during a cyber incident.

CISA has created a website that contains a collection of resources devoted to preventing ransomware attacks: https://www.cisa.gov/ransomware. And EPA has a cybersecurity website tailored to the water sector: https://www.epa.gov/waterriskassessment/epa-cybersecurity-best-practices-water-sector .

If you have questions regarding any of the information contained in this email, please contact David Travers, Water Security Division, USEPA (travers.david@epa.gov).

• Blue Sky Estates Association, Inc.
• Cahoon Farms
• Evoqua Water Technologies
• Rye Brook, Village of 
• Mount Vernon Board of Water

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