Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - February 15, 2002
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February 15, 2002
Seeking to Authorize $35 Billion over Next 5 Years
Senate Introduces Much-Anticipated Water Infrastructure Bill
The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee introduced today much-anticipated legislation that would authorize $35 billion in federal funding for water and wastewater infrastructure repair and replacement projects over the next five years. AMSA and other stakeholders are meeting this afternoon with EPW staff for a thorough "walk through" of the bill's provisions. This meeting will provide crucial details as to the nature of the $35 billion, such as the breakdown between grants and loans and the funds' target communities, and will help AMSA and the Water Infrastructure Network (WIN) determine positions on the new bill. AMSA will post the bill on the AMSA web site soon. We will keep the membership fully apprised of this exciting development through upcoming Alerts, Updates, and the Clean Water News.
AMSA Urges EPA to Support National Mercury Initiative
AMSA sent a key letter to EPA Administrator Whitman today urging EPA support for a multi-media, national initiative to reduce mercury levels in our nation's rivers, lakes, and streams. The letter notes that publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) are increasingly receiving mercury permit limits, and that more state legislatures are enacting stringent mercury discharge limits. The letter urges EPA to recognize that traditional end-of-pipe treatment will not be a solution because "POTWs are typically de minimis sources of environmental mercury" and "treating large volumes of wastewater to meet extremely low limits will be technically infeasible and/or cost prohibitive, and in most cases will provide no net environmental benefit." AMSA is seeking a broader national framework that better incorporates the complexities inherent in reducing mercury. AMSA will continue its efforts with EPA and Congress to develop such a national mercury strategy, and will keep AMSA members informed of our progress. See AMSA's letter at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/reg_outreach.cfm.
AMSA Engages Legal Clean Air Act Concerns on Behalf of POTWs
AMSA member agencies saw the fruits of years of effort this week when on February 12 EPA delisted sewage sludge incinerators (SSIs) from the scope of the Clean Air Act's (CAA) ยง112(d) technology-based maximum achievable control technology (MACT) program. EPA "concluded that the Sewage Sludge Incineration source category does not have any sources with the potential to emit HAP [hazardous air pollutants] at a level approaching major source levels." EPA's Federal Register notice is available at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legalalerts/leg02-3a.htm. EPA's delisting will allow AMSA to conclude its involvement with MACT litigation that the Sierra Club filed last summer. Also this week, AMSA moved to intervene in a Sierra Club lawsuit seeking CAA technology standards for urban sources of HAPs, including POTWs and SSIs. AMSA believes that POTWs and SSIs are not significant contributors of any of the HAPs of concern to EPA in urban areas. We will update members as this important legal case progresses.
- The first of four of AMSA's regional asset management workshops will be held Feb. 28 - March 1 in San Francisco, Calif., and attendance is limited to 100 people so register soon! Registration information for this and the three other asset management workshops is available at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org.