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February 21, 2003 AMSA Fax Alert

Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - February 21, 2003

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February 21, 2003

T&I Committee to Mark Up Security Funding Bill Next Week
The Wastewater Treatment Works Security Act of 2003 (H.R. 866), which was introduced last week by House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee Chairman Don Young (R-AK), is expected to bypass subcommittee discussion and go straight to full T&I Committee markup next week. AMSA will also send a letter next week to Chairman Young in support of H.R. 866 and urging the swift passage of the bill through the U.S. House of Representatives. AMSA continues to urge the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee to use H.R. 866 as its model legislation for ultimate passage through the Senate. H.R. 866 mirrors last year’s bill, H.R. 5169, which in large part mirrored AMSA’s draft legislative language and which passed through the House unanimously last year as a direct result of the Association’s strong lobbying and advocacy efforts. H.R. 866 authorizes $200 million for POTWs to conduct vulnerability assessments and to pay for enhanced security at their facilities and requires that POTWs certify to EPA that they have performed a vulnerability assessment in order to obtain funds to make needed security enhancements. Critically, H.R. 866 does not require POTWs to file these assessments with EPA. The bill is available at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.r.00866:.

As EPA Prepares CSO/SSO Report to Congress
AMSA Urges Inclusion of Weak Link between Overflows, Illness
AMSA sent recommendations to EPA this week on its recently released report entitled Summary of the August 14-15, 2002, Experts Workshop on Public Health Impacts of Sewer Overflows. EPA’s Summary is important because of its potential impact on EPA’s upcoming draft sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) regulation and the Agency’s CSO/SSO Report to Congress (RTC) due for release in December. AMSA’s primary concern with the Summary is its omission of the experts’ discussion pointing out that the total impact of sewer overflows on public health is relatively minor and that funds would be better spent implementing a “national hand-washing program” rather than spending billions of dollars on trying to eliminate all sewer overflows. Absent inclusion of this key dialogue, the Summary portrays a misleading picture that consensus was reached regarding a connection between overflows and waterborne illness. To remedy this mischaracterization, AMSA urged EPA to amend the Summary to include this key dialogue. AMSA also voiced concern that EPA may cancel a key stakeholder meeting which was originally scheduled as a key follow-up to the Experts Workshop. AMSA suggested that such a meeting should be timed to follow AMSA’s upcoming National Environmental Policy Forum (May 17-21, 2003) in Washington, D.C., when many key stakeholders will already be in town. AMSA’s letter is available at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/outreach/02-20-03Experts.pdf.

AMSA Comments on EPA Hazardous Air Pollutant Proposal
AMSA submitted comments this week on EPA’s proposed National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) for Stationary Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE). AMSA recommended to EPA that POTWs be allowed to choose either percent reductions or final concentration limits as determined by an approved source test for all new, reconstructed or existing engine types irrespective of the control technique employed. Such a choice would be beneficial since public health impact depends not upon the percent reduction of NESHAPs, as called for by the proposal, but upon final concentrations of them. AMSA also pointed out that the rule’s continuous monitoring requirements would be overly burdensome and suggested that periodic monitoring provisions — as already agreed to by EPA and states as part of the Title V program — should serve as the continuous compliance criteria of the proposed regulation. Such a monitoring system would be less burdensome, less costly and equally reliable. AMSA’s comments are available at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/outreach/02-18-03NESHAP.pdf.