NAM, EPA Partner on Water Reuse Plan
The Environmental Protection Agency’s second Water Reuse Action Plan aims to give wastewater a second life in data centers and energy production, among other industrial uses (Inside EPA, subscription).
What’s going on: WRAP 2.0 “lists dozens of actions the agency plans to take, including identifying regulatory barriers to further industrial re-use, voluntary treatment and monitoring needs for data centers, as well as actions that states and other partners can take to bolster re-use in the food, manufacturing and energy sectors.”
- The NAM is partnering with the EPA on one of the new WRAP’s actions: “Engage with Industry and Manufacturing Leaders to Scale Water Reuse.”
- WRAP 2.0 follows the first version of the plan, unveiled in President Trump’s first term, which focused on municipal water reuse.
About WRAP 2.0: The latest iteration of WRAP has three main pillars:
- Providing water for the U.S. “technology revolution”
- Supporting water reuse for “resurgent” domestic manufacturing
- Unleashing “American energy dominance”
Why it’s important: “At this critical juncture of the AI and data center revolution, manufacturing growth and evolving community demands, water reuse has never been more important,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said, according to the article.
Action details: Among WRAP 2.0’s actions are “identify[ing] regulatory hurdles impeding widespread implementation of recycled water in the technology sector” and “develop[ing] case studies and outreach materials on overcoming those hurdles (including developing model permitting guidance for the use of recycled water in data center cooling).”
About the NAM’s role: “Water is a critical input across manufacturing sectors, and the NAM’s members are leading the way in designing and deploying sustainable solutions for industrial water use across the country. Together with the WateReuse Association and the Water Environment Federation, the NAM will host roundtables and webinars to help interested industries identify opportunities and best practices for expanding the use of recycled water,” said NAM Director of Chemicals, Materials and Sustainability Policy Reagan Giesenschlag.