2021 Financial Capability Assessment for Clean Water Act Obligations - Pre-Publication Notice
On January 12, 2021, EPA signed a federal register notice finalizing the 2021 Financial Capability Assessment (FCA) for Clean Water Act (CWA) Obligations. A pre-publication of the 2021 FCA is available until the official version is announced in the Federal Register. The 2021 FCA advances the ability of communities to more accurately demonstrate the financial burdens they face and increases the transparency of EPA’s considerations as it endeavors to consistently apply FCA methodologies across the country. EPA will apply the options and flexibilities from Appendix D of the 2021 FCA when considering economic impacts for public entities seeking revisions to designated uses, water quality standard (WQS) variances, and antidegradation reviews for WQS.
When the official version is announced in the Federal Register, EPA intends that the recommended expanded matrix for water quality standards (WQS) decisions in Appendix D, along with the electronic spreadsheet tools for the public sector at https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/wqs-tech/spreadsheet-tools-evaluate-economic-impacts-public-sector, would replace the worksheets and calculations for the public sector sections of the Interim Guidance for Water Quality Standards. This replacement would then guide states and authorized tribes in determining the degree of economic impact for use in WQS decisions for public entities including revisions to designated uses, WQS variances, and antidegradation reviews.
- [See Pre-Publication Federal Register Notice of Finalized 2021 Financial Capability Assessment for Clean Water Act Obligations ]
- [See Pre-Publication Version of 2021 Financial Capability Assessment for Clean Water Act Obligations ]
Workbook and Worksheets
- [See Interim Economic Guidance for Water Quality Standards: Workbook ] This guidance is for use by states and EPA regional offices in considering economics at various points in the process of setting or revising water quality standards.
Spreadsheet Tools to Evaluate Economic Impacts
The purpose of these spreadsheets is to help states, tribes, and stakeholders implement the recommendations in EPA's Interim Economic Guidance for Water Quality Standards, Workbook (1995). The spreadsheets supplement the guidance by guiding the user through the necessary calculation steps to successfully implement the guidance recommendations.
You may need a PDF reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA’s About PDF page to learn more.- Interim Economic Guidance for Water Quality Standards: Workbook (PDF)(89 pp, 646 K, March 1995, EPA-823-B-95-002)
- Worksheets for Interim Economic Guidance for Water Quality Standards (PDF)(36 pp, 246 K, March 1995)
- Pre-Publication Federal Register Notice of Finalized 2021 Financial Capability Assessment for Clean Water Act Obligations (PDF)(14 pp, 262 K)
- 2021 Financial Capability Assessment for Clean Water Act Obligations (PDF)(79 pp, 830 K)