Despite pressures to improve performance and reduce costs, innovation in the municipal wastewater sector in the United States has been notoriously slow. Previous research has suggested that wastewater utility managers may see regulation as a barrier to developing and deploying new technologies. To better understand how environmental regulation may fuel or hinder innovation in this sector, we conducted a nationwide survey of wastewater utility managers and wastewater regulators in the United States, asking both populations about their perceptions of specific aspects of regulation and innovation. Survey results revealed broad agreement between the two groups that funding and capacity, regulatory relationships, and complexities and inconsistencies within the regulatory environment present key barriers to and opportunities for enabling increased innovation in the municipal wastewater sector. While utility managers perceived almost all aspects of regulation as stronger barriers and opportunities than regulators did, both groups ranked them similarly. These results are promising evidence of common ground between wastewater regulators and municipal wastewater utility managers, and suggest shared views of key leverage points for encouraging innovation. Notably, neither regulators nor utility managers viewed reducing regulatory stringency as a productive way to encourage the deployment of new technologies. Rather, our survey results suggest that improving relationships and communication between utility managers and regulators, along with additional funding support for increased capacity of both utilities and regulators, would be more fruitful ways to encourage innovation in the municipal wastewater sector.

尽管面临着提高性能和降低成本的压力，但美国城市污水部门的创新却是出了名的缓慢。先前的研究表明，污水处理设施管理人员可能将监管视为开发和部署新技术的障碍。为了更好地了解环境监管如何推动或阻碍该领域的创新，我们对美国的污水公用事业经理和污水监管机构进行了一项全国性调查，询问这两个人群对监管和创新特定方面的看法。调查结果显示，两组之间的广泛共识是资金和能力、监管关系、监管环境中的复杂性和不一致是促进城市污水部门创新的主要障碍和机遇。虽然公用事业经理认为监管的几乎所有方面都比监管者更强的障碍和机会，但两组对它们的排名相似。这些结果是污水监管机构和市政污水公用事业管理者之间共同点的有希望的证据，并提出了鼓励创新的关键杠杆点的共同观点。值得注意的是，监管机构和公用事业经理都没有将降低监管严格度视为鼓励部署新技术的有效方式。相反，我们的调查结果表明，改善公用事业经理和监管机构之间的关系和沟通，