Search

Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - March 10, 2006

Click Here
for the FaxAlert Archive

March 17, 2006

Session on
Pandemic Preparedness Added to Policy Forum Agenda

Today NACWA and the Water Environment Federation (WEF ) added a briefing focusing on pandemic influenza preparedness to the agenda of the May National Clean Water Policy Forum. The briefing, Pandemic Preparedness for Public Utilities, will take place on Monday, May 1 from 4:00 – 5:00 pm and precede the Forum’s Welcoming Reception. An update on Water is Life and Infrastructure Makes it Happen initiative, originally scheduled for this time slot, will take place later in the Policy Forum program.

The possibility of an influenza pandemic caused by H5N1, and avian strain of the flu virus, is real and has serious implications for clean water utilities. It is estimated that a pandemic outbreak in the U.S. could cause up to 40% absenteeism in the nation’s workforce – making planning and preparedness essential. An upcoming Member Update will provide utilities with both important information and a checklist to support service continuity planning – and the May briefing will provide the latest in planning and preparedness developments. We encourage you to visit www.nacwa.org to register for the 2006 National Clean Water Policy Forum and urge you to make your hotel reservations prior to the April 7 cut-off date.

NACWA Participates in
Biosolids Conference, Shows Benefits of Collaborative Efforts

Marking the need to collaborate on like-minded initiatives affecting the clean water community, NACWA staff participated in the Water Environment Federation’s (WEF) Residuals and Biosolids Conference this week. Ken Kirk, NACWA’s Executive Director, delivered a keynote address that stressed the importance of the NBP’s environmental management system (EMS) program and urged attendees to explore the benefits of becoming a participating agency. The Association also provided an overview of its soon-to-be-released biosolids handbook, Biosolids Management: Options, Opportunities & Challenges, and highlighted several of the Association's ongoing biosolids initiatives. The Conference also focused on a number of EPA activities, including a new effort to update the Agency's 1979 sewage sludge manual. Rick Stevens of EPA's Office of Science and Technology indicated that EPA's targeted national sewage sludge survey is now slated to begin in May and include analyses for some emerging pollutants, in addition to nine pollutants from the original list of 15 identified for further study in 2003. The Association will continue to represent the wastewater treatment community’s perspective on the broad range of biosolids issues.

EPA to See
Potential Funding Cuts to Science and Technology Programs
The House Committee on Science held a hearing this week to discuss the Administration’s proposed funding cuts to EPA’s Office of Research & Development (ORD). The Committee is largely united in the need to ensure increased funding for ORD, which conducts about 80 percent of the Agency’s research and development activities. The Administration, however, is proposing a 6 percent ($38 million) cut to ORD in FY ’07, an effort opposed in a bipartisan letter signed by over 20 Science Committee members and sent to Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle (R-IA). NACWA supports the Committee’s efforts and believes that this funding is critical.

The Association also participated this week in an EPA-organized meeting on the proposed cuts. David Bloom, Director of EPA's Office of Budget in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, said that although the funding amount may shift when the House and Senate Appropriations Committees take up the legislation, the Administration is locked into these cuts. The Administration did, however request an additional $9 million for research on the implications of nanotechnology, an issue in which NACWA has become increasingly engaged. Acknowledging the important role of valid science, NACWA actively supports increased funding for research and development through federal legislation, including that which is included in H.R. 4560, the Clean Water Trust Act. Appropriations action on EPA’s FY 2007 budget is currently slated for May 4 and NACWA will continue to weigh in on this and other budget-related issues as it progresses.