Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - March 18, 2005
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March 18, 2005
AMSA,WEF and WERF
Hold Joint Briefing on Blending for Members of Congress
AMSA, along with the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF), held an informational briefing on blending this week on Capitol Hill. The briefing was organized with the support of Rep. John J. Duncan (R-TN), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. The briefing provided key Capitol Hill staff with municipal perspectives on the blending issue and countered the misstatements of the environmental activist community regarding blending’s environmental impacts. Dave Williams, AMSA Board Member and Director of Wastewater at the East Bay Municipal Utility District, Oakland, Calif., provided a presentation at the briefing on why blending is a need tool for treating peak wet weather flows and helped to set the record straight on pathogen-related issues. AMSA member Bill Elmore, Chief Operating Officer of the Knoxville Utilities Board, Tenn., also offered his expertise on the blending issue.Following the briefing, AMSA members met with Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) a senior minority member on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee who had signed the February 22 Dear Colleagues letter opposing EPA’s proposed blending policy. AMSA received a commitment from Rep. Pascrell to reconsider his position on blending and noted that he would not sign on to anti-blending legislation. Association members also met with staff from Rep. Duncan’s office to further discuss the blending issue. AMSA will be working with Rep. Duncan and the Subcommittee on a hearing that will help to provide additional information to Members of Congress on the blending issue in April.
The Association continues to be active in the legal arena on the blending issue, having filed a brief this week in the case of Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association v. EPA (http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/littrack/). Next week, AMSA members will meet with EPA General Counsel Ann Klee on blending. AMSA will continue to keep the membership updated on the blending issue.
AMSA Keeps Pressure
on EPA to Finalize Pretreatment Streamlining Rule
AMSA sent a letter (http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/advocacy/co/2005-03-17pretstrmltr.pdf) this week to Benjamin Grumbles, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Water, urging the Agency to incorporate two key items in its final pretreatment streamlining rule. These items are: 1) the flexibility to convert categorical, concentration-based pollutant limits to mass-based limits in order to allow industries to implement water conservation measures; and 2) the definition of a “non-significant” categorical industrial user. The Association believes that Pretreatment Control Authorities should have the flexibility to convert traditional, concentration-based categorical pollutant limits to mass-based limits in certain circumstances allowing these Control Authorities to promote water conservation for regulated industries. AMSA has also long-recommended that the Agency adopt a three-tiered classification system for categorical industrial users, with increasing amounts of oversight, to allow for an additional class of facilities that contribute minimally and have a good compliance history. The Association has advocated on behalf of these two issues since the streamlining effort began in 1996 and remains committed to providing EPA with the information it needs to include these important provisions in the final rule. As the letter states, “[t]hese two issues offer the greatest chance for reduction of burden for treatment and industrial facilities alike, while not allowing for any additional toxics to be discharged.” AMSA will alert the membership of any developments in the rulemaking effort.