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Just when you thought QE (qualitative easing) was getting out of hand, the Federal Reserve is now looking to create a digital Federal Reserve Note. The language of the proposed bill is monumental. > "The bill is called the "Digital Asset Market Structure and Investor Protection Act" ("Digital Asset Bill"). And for the majority, it sets out future rules for crypto. However, hidden in this bill, changes to the foundation of the Dollar are proposed." > "...the Federal Reserve System is authorized to issue digital versions of Federal reserve notes in addition to current physical Federal reserve notes. Further, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, after consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, is authorized to use distributed ledger technology for the creation, distribution and recordation of all transactions involving digital Federal reserve notes." > BitDollars??

DRIVER-TREATMENT-POLITICS-POLLUTION The original 1948 statute (Ch. 758; P.L. 845), the Water Pollution Control Act, authorized the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, in cooperation with other Federal, state and local entities, to prepare comprehensive programs for eliminating or reducing the pollution of interstate waters and tributaries and improving the sanitary condition of surface and underground waters. During the development of such plans, due regard was to be given to improvements necessary to conserve waters for public water supplies, propagation of fish and aquatic life, recreational purposes, and agricultural and industrial uses. The original statute also authorized the Federal Works Administrator to assist states, municipalities, and interstate agencies in constructing treatment plants to prevent discharges of inadequately treated sewage and other wastes into interstate waters or tributaries.

"The Biden administration has issued a warning that the pending federal debt crisis might trigger an economic recession that would affect economic growth and trigger job losses across the United States."

Trust in the federal government's handling of international problems has fallen nine percentage points since last year to a record-low 39%, and now matches the level of trust for its handling of domestic problems -- one of only a few times that has occurred. Confidence in the three branches of the federal government is low on a relative basis. Although a 54% majority of U.S. adults trust the judicial branch, this is down 13 points compared with 2020. Americans' trust in their state and local governments' ability to handle problems under their purview continues to be higher than trust in the federal government and its three individual branches. As has been the case in recent years, confidence in local government (66%) remains higher than it is for state government (57%).

" recently filed lawsuit against Facebook reveals new details about the Cambridge Analytica data breach scandal, claiming among other allegations that company executives massively overpaid the Federal Trade Commission to shield CEO Mark Zuckerberg from personal liability."

The Aging Water Infrastructure (AWI) research program is part of EPA's larger effort called the Sustainable Water Infrastructure (SI) initiative. The SI initiative brings together drinking water and wastewater utility managers; trade associations; local watershed protection organizations; and federal, state, and local officials to ensure that all components of our nation's water infrastructure….drinking water treatment plants, drinking water distribution lines, sewer lines, and storage facilities….meet future needs. The AWI research program supports the four priority areas of the SI initiative's strategy: (1) Better Management - moving beyond compliance to sustainability and improved performance, (2) Full-cost Pricing - helping utilities to recognize the full cost of providing service over the long term, (3) Water Efficiency - promoting water efficiency in the residential and commercial sectors, (4) Watershed Approach - integrating watershed management principles and tools into utility planning and management practices. The driving force behind the SI initiative and the AWI research program is the "Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure Gap Analysis." In this report, EPA estimated that if operation, maintenance, and capital investment remain at current levels, the potential funding shortage for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure could exceed $500 billion by 2020.

DRIVER-FLINT-TREATMENT-WATER-POLLUTION-CHEMISTRY Former EPA Drinking Water Standards Director, Dr. Joseph Cotruvo developed the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) first THM Rule in 1979. I spoke with him for his perspective on TTHM in Flint's drinking water: "Scientists have studied the health effects of disinfection byproducts extensively. For example, the January 4, 2006 Federal Register,2 which announced the Stage 2 Rule, cites over 60 mixed result research studies probing the potential health effects of exposure to disinfection byproducts such as TTHM. After reviewing many studies, the Agency concluded that 'no dose response relationship or causal link has been established between exposure to chlorinated drinking water or disinfection byproducts and adverse developmental or reproductive effects.' Nevertheless, EPA takes a very precautious stand, saying the studies 'do provide an indication of a potential health concern that warrants incremental regulatory action beyond Stage 1 DBPR [Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rule].'"

DRIVER-PUBLICNOTICE-TTHM-TREATMENT When a PWS exceeds the maximum contaminant level (MCL) for both Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) and Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) it must issue a public notice to inform the consumers of its water that the levels of Total Trihalomethanes and Haloacetic Acids detected in their water have exceeded the MCLs set by Federal Regulations. You can use this template as a guide to prepare that public notice

DRIVER-FUNDING-INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING INFRASTRUCTURE: The nationwide need for investment in water and wastewater infrastructure continues to far outpace the amount of funding that is available at all levels of government and the United States has an estimated need between $400 and $600 billion over the next 20 years for safe drinking water and wastewater treatment infrastructure. One of the primary sources of federal funding for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure are the highly successful, but chronically underfunded, Safe Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund (SRF) programs. Modernizing and replacing aging water infrastructure may be the single largest public works endeavor in our nation's history. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure Gap Analysis found a $540 billion gap between current spending and projected needs for water and wastewater infrastructure (combined) over 20 years. Other public studies conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and a private study produced by AGC partner, the Water Infrastructure Network, have similarly estimated the nation?s water infrastructure needs to range between $400 and $600 billion over a 20-year period.

The segments mated briefly on Friday are codenamed B4 (the Super Heavy booster) and Ship 20 (the Starship upper-stage). The pair won't launch until they have a licence from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The government agency is currently conducting an environmental review that will invite at some point a 30-day public consultation. So, the maiden orbital outing is still some way off. But Mr Musk is very keen that it should happen well before the end of the year. He described seeing the brief mating of the segments on Friday as a "dream come true". He has to make Starbase work, everything else is dependent on it. Never good to have all your eggs in one basket.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is evaluating Space Exploration Technologies Corporation's (SpaceX) Starship/Super Heavy program, in particular a proposal to operate the Starship/Super Heavy launch vehicle at its existing Boca Chica Launch Site in Cameron County, Texas and conduct launches originating from this site. This could be real trouble for Musk. If the FAA makes his life difficult, how will he react?

The new National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) that the Department of Justice is forming will focus on investigating and prosecuting criminal misuse of cryptocurrency, but DOJ's history of working with federal regulatory agencies on high-profile civil enforcement actions shows that crypto businesses willfully violating regulatory requirements should be wary of the NCET as well.

Is this a recipe for a social uprising fullscale class warfare revolt? Sure, maybe after the next Super Bowl/iPhone/Video Game Release. > Top 1%'s wealth jumped to a record 27% of the total: Fed data shows. > The top 1% represents about 1.3 million households who roughly make more than $500,000 a year -- out of a total of almost 130 million. > The middle 60% of U.S. households by income saw their combined assets drop to 26.6% of national wealth as of June, the lowest in Federal Reserve data going back three decades. For the first time, the super rich had a bigger share, at 27%. > The concentration of wealth in the hands of a fraction of the population is at the core of some of the country's major political battles.

When the National Election Study began asking about trust in government in 1958, about three-quarters of Americans trusted the federal government to do the right thing almost always or most of the time. Public trust reached a three-decade high shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but declined quickly thereafter. Since 2007, the share saying they can trust the government always or most of the time has not surpassed 30%. Currently, 36% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say they can trust government, compared with 9% of Republicans and Republican-leaners. Throughout Trump's tenure, more Republicans than Democrats reported trusting the government, though that has flipped since Biden's election.

A majority of Americans continue to say they see the effects of climate change in their own communities and believe that the federal government falls short in its efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change. At a time when partisanship colors most views of policy, broad majorities of the public - including more than half of Republicans and overwhelming shares of Democrats - say they would favor a range of initiatives to reduce the impacts of climate change

This paper uses a scenario-based approach to understand how Congress might function in 2050. At present, Congress appears to be underperforming due to high levels of polarization, hyperpartisanship, and gridlock. Notwithstanding these challenges, Congress will need to address several big and complex issues over the next three decades, including the demographic transformation of the United States into a majority-minority nation, the looming fiscal challenges facing the federal government, widespread automation in the economy, climate change, more diffuse and dangerous patterns of global conflict, and the rapidly evolving media and communications technology environment.