Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - June 14, 2002
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June 14, 2002
AMSA Weighs in on Behalf of POTWs in “Defining” TMDL Suit
With support from AMSA’s Board of Directors and Technical Action Fund (TAF), AMSA sought permission this week from the D.C. Court of Appeals to file an amicus brief in Friends of the Earth v. EPA. Activists are asserting in this suit that TMDLs can be expressed only in daily loads and are pursuing this narrow definition in similar cases nationwide. If their interpretation prevails, unfavorable precedent would be set for POTWs affecting their ability to meet TMDLs for many pollutants. AMSA’s position is that TMDLs have been and should be construed more broadly, to include monthly, seasonal and annual loads. For example, annual loads are also essential for POTWs to serve new and growing populations. If AMSA's motion is granted, the Association will file a joint brief with member agency, the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority. The motion is available on AMSA’s site at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/littrack/061102AMSAMotion.pdf.
EPA Issues Data Notice on Biosolids, AMSA to Comment
EPA published a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) this week on the Part 503 standards for land applied biosolids, summarizing new data on the levels of dioxins in biosolids and EPA’s revised risk assessment for dioxin and dioxin-like compounds for land applied biosolids. EPA’s data show that the cancer risk to highly-exposed populations is in the range of acceptable risks, and that no measurable change in risk would occur by requiring POTWs to meet EPA’s proposed dioxin in land applied biosolids limit of 300 parts per trillion. AMSA is working with TAF support to review the new data and risk assessment. Members should provide comments by August 23, 2002 to Chris Hornback at chornback@amsa-cleanwater.org. More information on the NODA will be made available via a Regulatory Alert next week. The NODA is available at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-WATER/2002/June/Day-12/w14761.pdf.
AMSA Members Take to the Hill on Federal Security Funding, Trading
Paul Pinault, AMSA’s President and Executive Director of the Narragansett Bay Commission in Povidence, R.I., and John C. Farnan, Chair of AMSA’s Wastewater Infrastructure Security Task Force and General Superintendent of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District in Chicago, Ill., met with House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee staff to discuss federal security funding legislation for POTWs. T&I staff are gathering information on security funding needs for POTWs and demonstrated a marked interest in AMSA’s Vulnerability Self Assessment Tool (VSAT), due to be released later this month. AMSA’s Task Force will be having a follow-up conference call on Monday as the Association continues its effort to obtain meaningful security funding legislation for POTWs.In other Hill action, Thomas R. Morgan, AMSA Vice President and General Manager of the Montgomery Water Works and Sanitary Sewer Board, testified in a hearing on water quality trading before the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, applauding EPA’s use of innovative watershed approaches, including trading. Morgan cautioned the Subcommittee, however, that for a watershed approach to be successful it must cut across media (water air and hazardous waste) and take into account the full gamut of drinking water and wastewater issues in order to cut down on the regulatory burden POTWs face. The testimony is at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/faxalerts/061402a.pdf.
Reserve Your Hotel Rooms Now for AMSA’s July Conference!
Rooms at the Hilton Portland for AMSA’s Summer Conference — Controlling Wet Weather Overflows . . . Challenges and Solutions — in Portland Ore., July 16 – 19, 2002 are filling up fast so please call the hotel at 503/226-1611 by the June 21st deadline to guarantee the special conference rate of $159 single/double. With EPA preparing to issue key sanitary sewer overflow, blending and watershed rules, this conference is very timely so register today by visiting www.amsa-cleanwater.org.