The purpose is for the association of clean water administrators (acwa) to plan, prepare, and conduct, with support and participation by state clean water act programs, EPA and other stakeholders,…

The purpose is for the association of clean water administrators (acwa) to plan, prepare, and conduct, with support and participation by state clean water act programs, EPA and other stakeholders, up to six (6) workshops to enhance states, tribes, and territories' implementation of clean water act section 303(c), 303(d), and section 402 programs. The workshops and resulting training materials will be facilitated and focused such to enhance understanding of effective and integrated approaches across these programs. Examples topics might include: water quality challenges faced by disadvantaged or rural communities, implementation of complex water quality criteria; translating complex water quality criteria to watershed or site specific approaches (tmdls, permits, variances, etc.); WQS variance implementation or challenges posed by ubiquitous legacy pollutants; how to increase coordination among the state and tribal CWA section 303(c) WQS, 303(d) listing and tmdl, and section 402 npdes programs; how to increase state and tribal staff's awareness and capacity to address specific issues with cross-program implications; what gaps exist in states and tribes' capacity to use more effective and integrated approaches for implementing their respective CWA programs; identifying challenges and barriers to implementation; highlighting opportunities for program improvement and enhancement; showcase innovation; assisting with analysis of training, guidance, technical support documents, tools, and other support material needs; improving administrative efficiencies; clarifying roles and responsibilities; promoting program streamlining; considering specific program challenges (linking water quality criteria to permits, tmdls, and assessment; legacy pollutants; persistent non-attainment of standards and designated uses; stormwater, cafo, industrial, and other challenging daily load point and non-point source contributions, etc.); building stronger linkages among WQS, npdes permits, and tmdls; developing variances and other flexibility tools affecting the section 303(c), 303(d), and section 402 programs; developing tmdls and permits for environmental results, modernizing tdml and permit terms and data management; revising program performance measures; identifying program areas where targeted technical assistance would be most beneficial; and identifying and attempting to solve the most intractable issues. Activities:- acwa will create a planning committee(s) to help identify the highest priority 402, 303(c), and 303(d) program priorities for discussion at six national workshops. - acwa will convene 6 training workshops to foster close coordination among the CWA section 303(c) water quality standards, CWA section 303(d) tmdl and listing, and CWA section 402 npdes programs. Acwa in collaboration with EPA and the planning committee will: (1) determine workshop objectives and priorities; (2) identify workshop topics; (3) develop and refine a workshop agenda; (4) identify potential presenters and discussion leaders/facilitators; and (5) scope materials needs and inform development of materials for use during, between, and after workshop events and/or the award period. Also, acwa will provide travel support to non-federal participants and acwa will be responsible for identifying travel support recipients. - acwa will develop training materials and tools to help state, interstate, territory and tribal professionals understand effective approaches for integrated implementation of CWA programs. - acwa will develop reports on the outcomes of each workshop, including next steps. Subrecipient:no subawards are included in this assistance agreement.outcomes:outputs/deliverables - creation of planning committee(s) to help identify the highest priority 402, 303(c), and 303(d) program priorities for discussion at six national workshops. - six (6) training workshops convened to foster