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January 17, 2003 AMSA Fax Alert

Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - January 17, 2003

January 17, 2003

AMSA Releases Two New VSAT™ Security Software Tools
AMSA released two new Vulnerability Self Assessment Tools (VSAT™) this week, one for joint water/wastewater utilities (VSAT™water/wastewater) and another for small and medium size water utilities (VSAT™water). VSAT™water/wastewater provides valuable online vulnerability assessment capabilities to utilities providing both wastewater treatment and water supply services, while VSAT™water provides the same capabilities for small to medium size public and private water utilities. Both tools were funded by EPA and are available to water and wastewater utilities free of charge. The tools provide a user-friendly approach to evaluate, prioritize and remediate vulnerabilities based upon five key utility assets – physical plant, information technology, knowledge base, employees and customers. To order the software, visit www.VSATusers.net — a web site dedicated to the suite of VSAT™ software tools.
EPA Releases Water Quality Trading Policy
EPA released its national water quality trading policy this week, providing publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) nationwide a voluntary program to help meet regulatory obligations under the Clean Water Act via a flexible, market-based approach. POTWs have the ability to trade on an intra-plant basis within a single POTW, on an inter-plant basis with other POTWs or industrial dischargers, or point sources such as farms. AMSA member and Vice President, Thomas “Buddy” Morgan, General Manager, Montgomery Water Works & Sanitary Sewer Board, Montgomery, Ala., is playing an integral role in pilot-testing a watershed-based, water quality trading program in support of EPA’s initiative. While AMSA applauds the trading policy for offering an innovative means to address nonpoint pollution, the Association cautions that much more work remains to be done to rein in nonpoint sources. AMSA will continue to work with EPA on the implementation of the trading policy and will urge the Agency to fully address the issue of nonpoint source pollution. EPA’s trading policy is available at http://www.epa.gov/owow/watershed/trading/tradingpolicy.html.
AMSA, DC Water Agency File Joint Brief in Key Clean Water Case
AMSA and member agency the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority filed a joint amicus brief yesterday in the D.C. Circuit Court case, Friends of the Earth (FoE) v. EPA, in which citizen groups assert that total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) must be expressed in 24-hour daily load form. A ruling in favor of FoE would have serious implications, most notably precluding the implementation of EPA’s combined sewer overflow (CSO) policy — a plan designed to improve water quality nationwide. AMSA’s brief also highlights the fact that under EPA regulations, TMDLs may be expressed in any form appropriate to the pollutant of concern – including in monthly, seasonal, or annual loads. As the brief points out, FoE’s position could disrupt the efforts of the nearly 800 cities nationwide to comply with the Clean Water Act’s CSO provisions, an outcome AMSA views as untenable. The joint brief is available at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/temp/01-16-03WASA_Amicus_Brief_v3.pdf.

There are less than three weeks left to register for AMSA’s 2003 Winter Conference, The Evolving Public Utility . . . Leading the Workforce of Today, February 4-7, 2003, at the Eldorado Hotel in Santa Fe, N.M. AMSA urges you to review the agenda and register online as soon as possible for the 2003 Winter Conference on AMSA’s web site at www.amsa-cleanwater.org/meetings/. We look forward to seeing you in Santa Fe!