Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - April 12, 2002
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April 12, 2002
AMSA Urges Member Support of Voinovich Substitute to S. 1961
AMSA is urging its members to support a substitute amendment to the Water Investment Act of 2002 (S. 1961), put together by Sen. George V. Voinovich (R-OH), which does not have many of the unnecessary requirements for funding contained in S. 1961. The Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee's markup of S. 1961 has been postponed until, at the very earliest, April 18, 2002 - so there is still time for AMSA members to call your Senators and make a difference on this key legislation. AMSA sent a letter this week to all EPW Senators supporting the Voinovich substitute and opposing another replacement amendment for S. 1961 from Senator James Jeffords (I-VT) that: 1) fails to focus on core infrastructure funding and would turn the clean water state revolving loan fund (SRF) into a funding source for non-wastewater projects; 2) places a host of additional hurdles in the way of receiving SRF funding, including requiring treatment works to develop EPA and state-approved asset management plans, rate structure plans, and other unneeded requirements; and 3) forces treatment works, which the state and EPA deem to be in "significant non-compliance" with the Clean Water Act, to accept an EPA Consent Decree before they can access SRF funds. The Jeffords amendment and the Voinovich substitute are available at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/faxalerts/041202a.pdf.
AMSA Meets with Senior EPA Staff on Plans for the SSO Rule
AMSA is opposing the environmental community's attempt to get EPA to bifurcate the SSO rule into two phases - the first phase addressing only reporting, recordkeeping, and notification procedures, and the second phase addressing any remaining issues such as the sewer overflow prohibition, satellite communities, and capacity management operation and maintenance (CMOM) plans. AMSA has maintained that an integrated rule package is in the best interests of the wastewater treatment community because it would address compliance and operation and maintenance issues holistically. Yesterday, AMSA staff met with Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water Ben Grumbles, Acting Assistant Administrator Diane Regas, and other Office of Water staff to reaffirm EPA's prior commitment to move forward with a single proposed rule, including a preamble discussion of regulatory alternatives to the unworkable zero overflow standard currently in the draft rule. AMSA will continue to work with EPA to ensure that the SSO proposal takes into full account the concerns of the wastewater treatment community.
Please Fill Out AMSA’s Wet Weather and Financial Surveys!
Please complete and return AMSA's 2002 Wet Weather Survey, which is critical to developing a more thorough understanding of how AMSA member agencies design their collection systems and treatment plants to handle wet weather flows. This information is vital to AMSA's ongoing regulatory negotiations with EPA on a reasonable sanitary sewer overflow rule and blending policy. Also, please complete AMSA's 2002 Financial Survey Questionnaire to help AMSA provide the most accurate picture of the wastewater community's management and financing tools and trends. The data provided will ultimately be organized into AMSA's triennial 2002 Financial Survey - an indispensable resource for utility managers and policymakers. These surveys are available online at www.amsa-cleanwater.org and www.amsa-surveys.org.
- Sign up now for the third of four asset management workshops AMSA is offering on this key area of concern to the wastewater treatment community. The workshop will take place in Atlanta, GA, April 25-26. These workshops have garnered broad interest, so register today by clicking on the homepage link at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/meetings/02regwork/.