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June 5, 1998
Asst. Attorney General Lois Schiffer Confirmed as Summer Conference Speaker
Lois Schiffer, Asst. Attorney General of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environmental and Natural Resources Division, has confirmed plans to provide the keynote address for General Session II of AMSA’s Summer Conference, Water Quality Criteria & Standards . . . Facing Challenges, Making Choices, on July 14-17. Schiffer’s presence will significantly contribute to the conference’s content and provide a prospective essential to any discussion on water quality criteria & standards reform. EPA is on the verge of publishing an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule Making (ANPRM) on the Water Quality Standards Regulation. Its publication will mark the beginning of a structured national dialogue on the future of water quality standards. AMSA’s Summer Conference will explore questions posed by the ANPRM, as well as a variety of other issues, and encourage dialogue among all stakeholders to promote continued protection and enhancement of our nation’s waterways using the best scientific information available. The advanced registration deadline for the Summer Conference is July 3. Review the full agenda for the Summer Conference online at: http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/mtgs/98smmr/info.cfm.
Summer Months Feature Other Not-to-be-Missed AMSA Meetings
On June 25-26, AMSA will host a workshop to assist POTWs with the development of a risk management plan (RMP) as required by the new risk management rule promulgated under section 112(r)(7) of the Clean Air Act. POTWS are required to file a RMP with EPA by next June and this workshop’s featured speakers will address all questions regarding this new requirement for POTWs that handle, produce, or store either chlorine, sulfur dioxide, anhydrous ammonia, methane, or propane above EPA’s threshold quantities. For more information on registering for the Risk Management Plan Implementation Workshop for POTWs (the advanced registration deadline is June 19) call AMSA at 202/833-2672, or visit the RMP page on the AMSA web site at: http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/mtgs/rmp/mtginfo.cfm.
Communicating environmental risks, effectively communicating the many reforms POTWS are undertaking due to competitive restructuring, and communicating the reality of everyday wastewater issues will be the focus of AMSA’s first-ever public affairs seminar, Risky Business . . . Effectively Communicating Risk, Reform, & Reality, on Aug. 31-Sept. 1. The featured speaker for the Providence, R.I. seminar is the nation’s preeminent expert on public outrage and environmental risk communication, Dr. Peter Sandman. Registration information for the seminar will be distributed to AMSA members in mid-June.
EPA Conducts Dioxin Peer Review Public Meeting
This Wednesday, EPA conducted a public, scientific peer review meeting on their April release document, "Inventory of Sources of Dioxin in the United States." The emissions inventory, developed and first published in Sept. 1994 as part of EPA’s draft dioxin reassessment, estimates releases of dioxin from anthropogenic sources. AMSA had conducted a scientific peer review of that document and also provided data on the presence of dioxin in biosolids samples and from sewage sludge incinerator exhaust gases. Based on data provided by AMSA and other sources, a number of significant revisions were made to the inventory. In particular, there has been a dramatic reduction in dioxin contributions to the environment from a variety of sources, most noticeably all types of incineration facilities, with an average reduction of 75% from 1988 to 1996. A key concern raised at the meeting was the uncertainty of proposing emission factors from sources based on limited data and whether there is a correlation between emissions and exposure. The dioxin inventory will be a major component of EPA’s final assessment scheduled for completion in 1999.