Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - February 25, 2005
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February 25, 2005
AMSA Advocates
for Biosolids Partnership Funding, Requests Member Support
To ensure the National Biosolids Partnership (NBP) receives federal funding for its key biosolids management programs in fiscal year 2006, AMSA sent a letter to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees urging Congress to fund the program at the requested $1 million level. The Association has also provided public agency members whose Senators and Representatives sit on these Committees with sample letters (http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/leg_outreach.cfm) seeking their support for the requested funding. Contacting your member of Congress is critical given the Administration’s effort to tighten federal purse-strings. Also, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on VA-HUD & Independent Agencies will soon begin to discuss the fiscal year 2006 budget for EPA making the time to raise this critical issue now. This funding is critical to ensure that the NBP’s core program for implementing environmental management systems for biosolids has the support it needs to continue to make progress. For more information about the NBP’s programs, visit their website (http://biosolids.org/).AMSA Urges Members
to Contact Congress to Fully Fund EPA’s CWSRF Program
Senators Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) and James Jeffords (I-VT) sent a letter to the Chairman and Ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee seeking to restore funding for EPA’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) to the fiscal year (FY) 2004 level of $1.35 billion. The Senators state that ‘the proposed cuts would have a devastating impact on the ability of [their] states and communities to continue upgrading wastewater infrastructure and meeting Clean Water Act requirements.” AMSA is working on its own, and via a broad coalition, to ensure full funding for the CWSRF and urges its members to contact their Senators and Representatives to add their voice to this initiative. This funding request comes on the heels of the Bush Administration’s proposed FY ’06 budget which seeks to cut the CWSRF from $1.09 billion to $730 million (see FaxAlert 2-18-05 at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/faxalerts/021805.cfm).Deadline to Apply
for AMSA’s 2004 Peak Performance Awards Nears
Eligible facilities have until March 3, 2005 to submit their applications for the Association’s 2004 Peak Performance Awards. The program recognizes utilities for their excellence in wastewater treatment as measured by their compliance with their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit requirements. Honorees will be recognized at the Awards Luncheon during AMSA's 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting, May 2, 2005, in Washington, DC. For more detailed information refer to Member Update 05-01 (http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/membership/mu05-01.cfm) or contact Shawnita Dickens at sdickens@amsa-cleanwater.org or 202/833-1449.May Policy Forum,
AMSA Annual Meeting Agendas Now Available Online!
AMSA is pleased to announce that the agenda for the first-ever AMSA/WEF National Clean Water Policy Forum and the Association’s 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting are now available online (http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/meetings/05nepf/). The 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting will be held May 1-2 and the Policy Forum will follow on May 3-4, both at the Marriott at Metro Center. Space is limited, so make plans to attend now. Reserve your hotel room today by calling the Marriott at Metro Center, 202/737-2200, to ensure the special room rate of $219 single/double. The deadline for hotel reservations is April 28, 2005. Online conference registrations are also available online (www.amsa-cleanwater.org and www.wef.org).