Opening Session 2026
Thanks to our Opening Session Sponsor (TBD)
Monday, October 26, 2026
Agenda
For the most up to date information, download the latest Draft Agenda. Session information to be updated soon, please check back.
An International Perspective on Onsite Systems
Yurie Shirakawa
Manager, International Affairs Division, Japan Education Center of Environmental Sanitation
Ms. Shirakawa will present at the Conference on
Biography: Ms. Yurie Shirakawa is a Manager, International Affairs Division, at the Japan Education Center of Environmental Sanitation (JECES). She has 9 years of experience in international cooperation of Johkasou system, shares the Japanese technical knowledge on Johkasou to the overseas countries. Since joining JECES in 2017, she has been involved in decentralized wastewater management projects in Viet Nam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia, India, and Laos. Her area of expertise includes provincial level ordinance of decentralized wastewater management, and municipal domestic wastewater management planning.
Prior to joining to the JECES, she has been working at a Japanese construction consultancy, Pacific Consultants Co., Ltd. as an engineer, and been involved in projects related to the environment, energy, and solid waste management. Yurie holds a doctoral degree of engineering from the Tohoku University, Japan, and when she was a Ph. D. student, worked as an intern at Ecosystem-Based Disaster Risk Reduction team of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in Geneva.
Research Paper
Bryan Brooks, PhD, FAAAS, FSETAC, FRSC
Distinguished Professor and Director, Baylor Environment and Health Research Laboratory
Dr. Brooks will be providing information on his recently completed research paper
Biography:
Bryan W. Brooks is Distinguished Professor of Environmental Science and Public Health at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, USA. His research, which includes water quality and reuse, eco-, environmental and comparative toxicology, environmental and green chemistry, chemical assessment and management, harmful algal blooms, wastewater-based epidemiology, and environmental public health practice, is ongoing on 5 continents. Working with students and other collaborators, Dr. Brooks has published over 350 articles in international scholarly journals and book chapters. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Science & Technology Letters (American Chemical Society Publications; https://pubs.acs.org/journal/estlcu) and previously served as Editor in Chief of Environmental Management (Springer Nature). Dr. Brooks is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, and the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Status of Advocacy / Lobbying Efforts on Behalf of Onsite and Decentralized Wastewater
Tim Perrin
Policy Advisor, The Southern Group
Tim Perrin is a member of the firm's National Public Policy group and assists clients interested in shaping energy, environmental, and infrastructure legislation and regulation. He is part of the team which represents NOWRA on Capitol Hill. He will provide an analysis of the legislative and regulatory landscape, initiatives underway which may have an impact on the onsite/decentralized industry, and steps the industry can take to increase its influence in Washington on those initiatives.
Biography: Drawing on 20 years of advocacy and public affairs experience, Tim helps clients view public policy opportunities and challenges from a comprehensive perspective. Doing so informs the strategies he employs to secure policy solutions in the best interest of the client. Tim has been doing this successfully at Polsinelli for clients in the energy and environment, outdoor recreation, health care, higher education, and technology sectors. In the past, Tim worked at the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP), a national medical society representing physicians and older adults. Prior to AAGP, Tim was a Washington Fellow in the office of U.S. Representative Floyd Spence (South Carolina).
USEPA Update
Andrew Sawyers (Invited)
Director, Office of Wastewater Management, USEPA
Biography: Andrew D. Sawyers is the Director of the Office of Wastewater Management at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC, where he oversees the management of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), the Clean Water Act’s mechanism for the permitting of municipal and industrial discharge into surface waters of the U.S. In his role as the Director of OWM, Andrew is also responsible for multiple technical and financial assistance tools for the development and maintenance of the country’s wastewater infrastructure, including the Clean Water State Revolving Fund.
Previously at EPA, Andrew was the Deputy Director of the EPA’s Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water. In that capacity, he worked with the Director to manage the implementation of the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Prior to EPA, he was the Deputy Director for the Maryland Water Quality Financing Administration, managing the State’s Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds and Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund. Andrew has a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in Geography and Environmental Engineering.