Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - March 26, 2004
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March 26, 2004
AMSA Members Meet with EPA to Urge Progress on SSO Rule
AMSA members David Williams, Chair of AMSA’s Wet Weather Issues Committee and Director of Wastewater at the East Bay Municipal Utility District, Oakland, Calif., Lisa Hollander, Chair of AMSA’s Legal Affairs Committee and Assistant General Counsel at the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Cleveland, Ohio, and Marty Umberg, Chair of AMSA’s SSO Workgroup and Sewer Chief Engineer at the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, met with Jim Hanlon, Director of EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management and key staff to discuss the future of the Agency’s Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) rule. Urging EPA to explore alternatives to an outright prohibition on all SSOs, AMSA provided the Agency with its SSO Legal Issues White Paper (http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legalalerts/2004-01-12SSOWhitePaper.pdf), which documents how EPA could develop a national regulatory program for controlling SSOs, via the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permitting process. AMSA suggested that EPA model its approach to SSOs in part on the Agency’s 1994 Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Control Policy. EPA made it clear that work on the SSO rule would not begin again in earnest until its work on the blending policy is complete. The Agency is reviewing the thousands of comments received on the blending proposal and EPA's current plans are to make a decision this summer. AMSA will continue to work to support an eventual SSO regulatory package that is both environmentally-sound and cost-effective for publicly owned treatment works.Supreme Court Delivers Surprising Opinion in Water Transfer Case
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered its opinion in South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) v. Miccosukee Indian Tribe of Florida, stopping short of fully resolving the complex issues in the case. The High Court instead sent the case back to the lower courts for further factual evaluation. In their analysis, the Justices found that water management structures which merely transfer water from place to place may in fact require National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits -- if the structures transfer water between different bodies of water. The Court could not determine based on the information before it, however, whether the Everglades pumping station at issue in the case was operating within a single water body or between two different waterbodies. This factual question will have to be resolved before the lower courts in Florida.AMSA and member agency the New York City Department of Environmental Protection's 2003 amicus brief in the case clearly impacted the Justices' analysis. Consistent with the position advocated in our brief, the Court noted that "numerous amici warn that [requiring NPDES permits of all water movement structures] would have significant practical consequences" and "thousands of new permits might have to be issued." The Court's opinion is posted on the AMSA Member Pipeline and additional details on the decision will be included in a forthcoming Legal Alert.
- This week AMSA forwarded a copy of the National Biosolids Partnership (NBP) Annual Report (http://biosolids.policy.net) to its membership. The report showcases the NBP’s 2003 accomplishments, lays out an action plan for 2004, and highlights the benefits of the NBP’s Environmental Management Service (EMS) program.