EPA changes municipal drinking water legislation_Illinois Power Agency legislates_Current NFP survielling and MWRD survielling

Illinois Power Agency IPA, “Below is the schedule for the procurement event that seeks indexed renewable energy credits from new utility-scale wind projects, new utility-scale solar projects, new brownfield site  photovoltaic projects, and new hydropower projects at an existing dam or modernized or  retooled hydropower projects.“ “Draft Indexed REC Contract and Preliminary Proposal  Requirements  Comment process on Draft Indexed REC Contract and  Preliminary Proposal Requirements begins” (https://www.ipa-energyrfp.com/calendar/, [may download automatically] https://nera-content-media.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/ipa/IPA_Fall_2026_Indexed_REC_RFP_Calendar_29_JUL_2026_15f13a488f.pdf) 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA[.]gov, Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), "A renewable energy certificate, or REC (pronounced: r_e_k, like wreck), is a market-based instrument that represents the property rights to the environmental, social, and other non-power attributes of renewable electricity generation. RECs are issued when one megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity is generated and delivered to the electricity grid from a renewable energy resource. (US Environmental Protection Agency, https://www.epa.gov/green-power-markets/renewable-energy-certificates-recs, webpage heading 'What is a REC?')"

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA[.]gov, Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), "RECs play an important role in accounting, tracking, and assigning ownership to renewable electricity generation and use. (US Environmental Protection Agency, https://www.epa.gov/green-power-markets/renewable-energy-certificates-recs, webpage heading 'How Do RECs Work?')"

Illinois Power Agency IPA, Public Act 104-0458 Implementation, https://ipa.illinois.gov/crga.html 

Illinois Power Agency IPA, Final Summer 2026 Energy Storage RFP Bidder Information Webcast, https://www.ipa-energyrfp.com/energy-storage-final-materials 

Illinois Power Agency IPA, Energy Storage - Procurements and Programs, “CRGA establishes an initial target of 3,000 megawatts of cumulative nameplate capacity committed to reaching commercial operation by December 31, 2030.  By bringing more energy storage projects online, Illinois moves closer to a reliable and affordable energy future. (https://ipa.illinois.gov/renewable-resources/energy-storage.html)” 

Chicago Tribune, Friday August 7, 2026, "Lobbyists: Consensus forming on data centers [] Discussions in Springfield over regulation described as productive", By John Lippert and Jeremy Gorner FOR THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2026, "Legislators return for their fall session on Nov. 17, just one day after the Illinois Commerce Commission and other agencies will formally release a plan aimed at preventing (cover page, online edition)"

"CENTERS from Page A1 [] electricity shortages and even higher prices they say could plague the state by 2030. (page A4, online edition)"

Illinois State Senate Schedules, https://ilga.gov/Senate/Schedules#pane-Today

Illinois State House of Representatives Schedules, https://www.ilga.gov/House/Schedules#pane-Today

POWER Act - EXECUTIVE BRANCH - (20 ILCS 3855/) Illinois Power Agency Act, https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ILCS/details?MajorTopic=GOVERNMENT&Chapter=EXECUTIVE%20BRANCH&ActName=Illinois%20Power%20Agency%20Act.&ActID=2934&ChapterID=5&ChapAct=20+ILCS+3855%2F&SeqStart=100000&SeqEnd=3650000 .

Illinois Commerce Commission Events Week of November 16 2026, https://icc.illinois.gov/meetings?bd=639303840000000000&dts=7&scm=True&sps=True&sh=True&ssh=True&sjc=True&smceb=True

Illinois Commerce Commission Events Week of August 8 2026, https://icc.illinois.gov/meetings?bd=639217440000000000&dts=7&scm=True&sps=True&sh=True&ssh=True&sjc=True&smceb=True

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, mwrd[.]org/news/, "Data center water use projected to grow from 17 billion to 72 billion gallons by 2028," CBS 2, August 3, 2026, "The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago says treated wastewater from its Calumet plant could be redirected to data centers — potentially reducing how much drinking water those facilities consume each day. (https://mwrd.org/news/data-center-water-use-projected-grow-17-billion-72-billion-gallons-2028-cbs-2, News)"

Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, YouTube, video titled “Water in Chicago: Where does it come from? Where does it go?”, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, "Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) President Kari K. Steele and Chicago Department of Water Management (DWM) Commissioner Randy Conner explain how their two agencies work together to protect Chicago’s most important natural resource: water (https://youtu.be/fKIB7r-w2LE?si=KszfQC6mwZkfJ72H)" 

'Illinois data centers are using millions of gallons of residential water; experts say there are better alternatives', By Tara Molina,Updated on: May 22, 2026 / 5:26 PM CDT / CBS Chicago, https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/illinois-data-centers-residential-water-better-alternatives/ .

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, mwrd[.]org, Calumet Water Reclamation Plant, "Receiving Stream[:] Little Calumet River (https://mwrd.org/locations/calumet-water-reclamation-plant)."

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, mwrd[.]org, Calumet WRP Fact Sheet, FactSheet_WRPs_Calumet_251008.pdf, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Fact Sheet Calumet Water Reclamation Plant [may download automatically]https://mwrd.org/media/10751 .

Current NFP, H2Now, "In recent years, there have been efforts to revitalize the Calumet River and its surrounding communities. Restoration projects have focused on improving water quality, creating green spaces, and developing recreational amenities along the riverbanks. These efforts aim to enhance public access, support wildlife habitats, and promote economic development in the area.

(cont.) Efforts to mitigate pollution have included the implementation of stricter environmental regulations, pollution reduction initiatives by industrial facilities, and the remediation of contaminated sites. Additionally, stormwater management strategies have been implemented to reduce urban runoff and prevent pollutants from entering the river. (https://www.h2nowchicago.org/calumet-river)"

Current NFP, H2Now, "Our real-time gauges offer a microbial water quality assessments of the Chicago and Calumet rivers, based on data collected from water quality sensors. Updated every 15 minutes, these gauges provide insights into current river conditions and help you stay informed."

(cont.) More on the Gauge Methodology

Fecal coliform estimates are produced by a regression model that takes into account multiple sensor readings, such as tryptophan-like fluorescence (TLF), temperature, and colored dissolved organic matter. When the sensors are installed in the river, Current collects water samples on a monthly basis and submits the samples to be tested in an EPA-certified laboratory using the Membrane Filtration Method (Standard Method 9222D). The lab results are used to continuously evaluate the fecal coliform model’s performance and calibrate the model to improve its precision. (https://www.h2nowchicago.org/home)"

H2NowChicago Waterway Monitoring presented by Current, technology advances in water monitoring, "Our Latest Tech Pilot: Virridy’s Lume Sensor [] Through H2NOW, we piloted Virridy’s Lume sensor at our Calumet site in 2025, the first deployment of the Lume in an urban river system—a major step toward bringing a faster, lower-cost solution for detecting E. coli to market.  E. coli is a key indicator of fecal pollution and public health risk in water.

(cont.) Lume is a compact, autonomous, internet-connected sensor that uses tryptophan-like fluorescence and machine learning to estimate E. coli levels" (https://www.h2nowchicago.org/technologies).

Virridy, virridy[.]com, "Virridy Sensor Technology & Carbon Finance for Water Security [] Monitor water quality. Finance clean water access. Real-time sensor intelligence powers contamination detection worldwide. Carbon credit programs fund the clean water services that communities need most. (https://virridy.com/)"

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, Little Calumet River Watershed, "Tunnel and Reservoir Plan [] This watershed is served by the Thornton composite reservoir, located in the Village of South Holland, and the Calumet tunnel system. The reservoir was constructed as part of the Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP) and can hold 7.9 billion gallons of water. (https://mwrd.org/what-we-do/stormwater-management/watersheds/little-calumet-river-watershed)"

Metropolitan Planning Council, metroplanning[.]org, Little Calumet River - Metropolitan Planning Council, "These pollution sources [sewage, 'industrial liquid waste'] are  minimally regulated by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA), the City of Chicago, and the Water Reclamation District. Improvements to the IEPA-permitted effluent standards at the Calumet treatment facility continue to be advocated by environmental advocacy organizations [.pdf may download automatically] https://metroplanning.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/clcp_cap_final_21.03.31-pages-reduced.pdf" .

--Urban Rivers "built a network" of 'remotely triggered digital cameras' in Chicago (2025 Annual Report, https://urbanrivers.org/annual-reports). Urban River's rangers[.]urbanrivers[.]org includes data on trash, plants, bugs, and camera trap images; the camera trap webpage has filters for 'humans' (https://rangers.urbanrivers.org/).

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA[.]gov, "Work is currently underway to assess Bubbly Creek. In 2020, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers produced a National Ecosystem Restoration feasibility study recommending a comprehensive 40-acre habitat restoration plan." 

(cont.) "Bubbly Creek has nine Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) outfalls. While CSO discharges will continue in the creek, they are expected to decrease significantly in frequency and volume after the McCook Reservoir Stage 2 comes online as part of MWRD’s Tunnel and Reservoir Plan in 2032. All sampling efforts will be coordinated around CSO discharge events. (https://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/bubbly-creek-sampling)"

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, MWRD[.]org, "Today, our water reclamation plants release clean water, our Tunnel and Reservoir Plan captures sewer overflows, and green infrastructure and other stormwater management investments reduce polluted runoff and prevent it from reaching rivers and streams.

(cont.) "Decades of data [] The MWRD has collected extensive water quality data on Chicago area waterways for decades, making them some of the most scientifically studied rivers in the world.

We collect monthly water samples at 30 locations throughout our 882-square-mile service area and analyze them for dozens of chemical and biological constituents. We also operate continuous monitors, which collect hourly dissolved oxygen levels, conductance measurements, and temperature readings at 20 locations.

To gain an even closer understanding, we also participated in a revolutionary seven-year study with our partners at Argonne National Laboratory to analyze the genetic composition of thousands of different microorganisms in the river. (https://mwrd.org/what-we-do/protecting-water-quality)" 

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, MWRD[.]org, https://mwrd.org/what-we-do/tunnel-and-reservoir-plan-tarp

Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP) Reservoir Levels with volume measured in millions or billions of gallons.

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, MWRD[.]org, https://mwrd.org/what-we-do/tunnel-and-reservoir-plan-tarp/tunnel-and-reservoir-plan-tarp-reservoir-levels

McCook TARP Reservoir livestream link on the mwrd.org website "This camera is operated and maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the MWRD’s partner on this project. (https://mwrd.org/what-we-do/tunnel-and-reservoir-plan-tarp/tunnel-and-reservoir-plan-tarp-reservoir-levels/mccook-tarp-reservoir-live-stream)" 

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, MWRD Channel Atlas, https://gispub.mwrd.org/ChannelAtlas/

Urban Rivers, urbanrivers[.]org, "We install the Wild Mile modularly with the eventual goal of a mile-long park, but it currently stands at about 700 linear feet. (https://urbanrivers.org/wildmile)" 

Photographs, dabneymariegmail[at]gmail[.]com, 'Urban Rivers - River Park - Metropolitan Water Reclamation District - TARP in a Public Chicago Park', https://photos.app.goo.gl/URVQQf4YEqQE5acW9

Photographs, dabneymariegmail[at]gmail[.]com, 'Urban Rivers Bubbly Creek _Origin_ Park District Park 571 Amazon river walk',  https://photos.app.goo.gl/yAeLvTJmdsLXYrHy7

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA[.]gov, “A mitigation bank is a wetland, stream, or other aquatic resource area that has been restored, established, enhanced, or (in certain circumstances) preserved for the purpose of providing compensation for unavoidable impacts to aquatic resources permitted under Section 404 or a similar state or local wetland regulation.1 A mitigation bank may be created when a government agency, corporation, nonprofit organization, or other entity undertakes these activities under a formal agreement with a regulatory agency. Mitigation banks have four distinct components:

- Bank site: the physical acreage restored, established, enhanced, or preserved;

- Bank instrument: the formal agreement between the bank owners and regulators establishing liability, performance standards, management and monitoring requirements, and the terms of bank credit approval;

- Interagency Review Team (IRT): the interagency team that provides regulatory review, approval, and oversight of the bank; and

- Service area: the geographic area in which permitted impacts can be compensated for at a given bank. (https://www.epa.gov/cwa-404/mitigation-banks-under-cwa-section-404, Mitigation Banks under CWA Section 404)”

CNN, cnn[.]com, "Two of the three newly approved PFAS pesticides, diflufenican and epyrifenacil, will eventually degrade into multiple smaller PFAS chemicals, including trifluoroacetic acid, or TFA, Subramaniam said. Globally, TFA concentrations in soil, drinking water and plants are “orders of magnitude higher” than those of other PFAS and are fast becoming a threat to the planet, according to a 2024 analysis.

(cont.) Trifluoroacetic acid “is now the most abundant #PFAS in drinking water, the most abundant #PFAS in your blood, the most abundant #PFAS in your juice, your wine, your tea, your beer, the trees outside your window, the snow falling down in the Arctic, the groundwater wells, the soils,” environmental chemist Hans Peter Heinrich Arp wrote on LinkedIn. Arp, the lead author of the 2024 analysis, is a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim.

(cont.) “We are ignorant of where the biggest impacts of TFA on the global scale will be realized, but we know that when they are they are irreversible,” he added." "The new EPA website does not address the possible link between PFAS pesticides and trifluoroacetic acid. However, an EPA spokesperson told CNN breakdown products like TFA were considered at “levels people may be actually exposed to." The ECHA’s committee opinion is a hazard-based recommendation — not a finalized classification — and not a conclusion that anyone is at risk of being harmed by a registered pesticide use in the United States. EPA weighs real-world exposure risks, not just intrinsic hazard, and we will keep following the evidence on TFA and other chemicals wherever it leads.”

(cont.) One day after approving the three new PFAS pesticides, however, the agency proposed requiring US drinking water to be monitored for TFA under the Safe Drinking Water Act." (CNN[.]com, https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/10/health/pfas-pesticides-industry-influence-wellness, PFAS pesticides approved after EPA adopts new toxicity definition)

CNN, "Those financial ties to industry could lead officials to favor “industry’s profits over people’s health,” Alexandra Munoz wrote in public comments opposing candidates who were later approved to serve on the EPA’s Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals. Munoz is an independent toxicologist working in collaboration with MAHA against pesticides and toxics." (CNN[.]com, https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/10/health/pfas-pesticides-industry-influence-wellness, PFAS pesticides approved after EPA adopts new toxicity definition)

Dr. Alexandra Munoz, substack, "But here is what the Court’s reasoning misses. FIFRA contains a misbranding provision (U.S.C. 7 §136(q)), an ongoing prohibition on labels that carry inaccurate or incomplete health warnings1. Meaning a company is continuously required to have a label that provides all the necessary warnings." (Monsanto v. Durnell-How a Fraudulent Label Became a Legal Shield, Alexandra Muñoz PhD, substack handle Dr. Alexandra Muñoz https://dralexandramunoz.substack.com/p/monsanto-v-durnell, "Originally delivered as a speech on July 1, 2026 in Washington D.C.")

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Science Advisory Committee on Chemical '2026 List of Candidates for Membership to the SACC', Posted by the Environmental Protection Agency on Apr 6, 2026, Document ID EPA-HQ-OPPT-2025-3624-0003

Federal Registrar, federalregister[.]gov, "Under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the UCMR program gathers data about unregulated contaminant occurrence in drinking water. The proposed UCMR 6 would require certain public water systems (PWSs) to collect national occurrence data for 30 unregulated contaminants that are not currently subject to national primary drinking water regulations (NPDWRs)." (Revisions To Establish the Sixth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 6) for Public Water Systems, A Proposed Rule by the Environmental Protection Agency on 07/01/2026, Environmental Protection Agency 40 CFR Part 141 [EPA-HQ-OW-2023-0469; FRL-10857-03-OW] RIN 2040-AG33, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/01/2026-13263/revisions-to-establish-the-sixth-unregulated-contaminant-monitoring-rule-ucmr-6-for-public-water, "Comments must be received on or before August 31, 2026.")

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "As proposed, [Public water systems] PWSs will monitor for ultrashort organofluorine compounds (including certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances [PFAS]), pesticides, pesticide metabolites, industrial solvents, and chemical intermediates in drinking water during a 12-month period from January 2028 through December 2030. Large PWSs serving more than 10,000 people are responsible for all analytical costs associated with their UCMR monitoring requirements." (Proposed Sixth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, https://www.epa.gov/dwucmr/proposed-sixth-unregulated-contaminant-monitoring-rule)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, YouTube, "We also developed a method to detect 40 different PFAS, in surface water, groundwater and wastewater." (100 Days, 100 Environmental Accomplishments, YouTube, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, https://youtu.be/AH3iwfMkeT0?si=aKPR9TA2NPFL5FTE, "Hear from Administrator Zeldin on some of EPA’s environmental accomplishments in the first 100 days.")

U.S. Department of Agriculture, "(Washington, D.C., July 24, 2026) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $3 million to support the development of wetland mitigation banks for agricultural producers. Through the USDA’s Wetland Mitigation Banking Program (WMBP), wetlands are restored, created or enhanced, generating credits that can be purchased by producers looking to compensate for unavoidable impacts to wetlands at another location. (https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs-initiatives/wetland-mitigation-banking-program/news/usda-invests-3-million-for-wetland)"

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