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January 14, 2005 AMSA Fax Alert

Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - January 14, 2005

January 14, 2005

AMSA Delivers ‘Action Plan’ for Sewer Overflow Control to EPA
AMSA sent a letter (http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/reg_outreach.cfm) and accompanying Action Plan this week to EPA’s Assistant Administrator (AA) for Water, Benjamin Grumbles, recommending necessary Agency steps to help ensure continued progress is made with regard to combined and sanitary sewer overflow control (CSOs and SSOs). The Action Plan comes in response to EPA’s August 2004 Report to Congress on the Impacts and Controls of CSOs and SSOs, which sends a clear message on what the federal government, through a meaningful partnership with states and municipalities, must do to ensure further progress in reducing overflows. The Association’s Action Plan urges EPA to achieve the mutual goals of reducing overflows through “sound enforcement and regulatory policy for CSOs” and “the need for a flexible SSO policy”. AMSA, through its Targeted Action Fund, is also working on a model SSO policy that will contain the specific language that municipalities believe is critical for a workable SSO program. The Association plans to share this proposal when it is completed in February 2005 with AMSA members, EPA and Congress. AMSA will also distribute its Action Plan to all members of Congress in the coming weeks to ensure that sound wet weather policies remain a national priority.

AMSA Urges EPA
to Finalize Pretreatment Streamlining Rule, Provide Timeline
AMSA sent a letter (http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/reg_outreach.cfm) to EPA’s AA for Water, Benjamin Grumbles, regarding its proposed pretreatment streamlining rule. The letter came as a follow-up to a December 20, 2004 meeting between the Association and the Agency on several clean water priority issues, including streamlining. In the letter, AMSA urges EPA to provide a timeline for finalizing the pretreatment streamlining proposal, as recently requested by EPA’s Office of Inspector General. The Association also reemphasized the need for flexibility in converting traditional concentration-based limits to mass-based limits and for revised definitions of nonsignificant or de minimis categorical industrial users, among other key issues. AMSA-supported changes would have no negative impact on the environment and would save wastewater utilities hundreds of millions of dollars a year to be redirected to more value-added environmental work. AMSA will share EPA’s response to the letter with members as soon as it becomes available.

AMSA encourages attendees to pre-register by January 19, 2005 for the Association’s upcoming Winter Conference, Sustainable Systems, being held February 1-4 in San Antonio, Texas. This will ensure that you are included in the conference Participants List. Hotel, agenda and registration information can all be conveniently accessed on AMSA’s website (http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/meetings/05winter/).

AMSA’s National Office will be closed Monday, January 17, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The Office will also be closed Thursday, January 20, due to government, street, metro and office closings throughout Washington, D.C. for the Presidential Inauguration. Staff will be monitoring their voice and e-mail off-site.