Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - April 30, 2004
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April 30, 2004
AMSA Participation in Developing International Standards for Wastewater Heats Up
The development of international standards for management practices related to drinking water and wastewater systems by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is now in full-throttle and could have broad domestic ramifications depending on how EPA and state regulatory bodies view these standards. AMSA has funded participation in the ISO process via the Association's Technical Action Fund. Most recently, the head of AMSA's ISO Advisory Committee, Stephen Hayashi, returned from representing AMSA and U.S. public wastewater treatment utilities at an ISO meeting in mid-April in Daejon, Korea. With the standards expected to be finalized by July 2005, several significant questions were discussed that could drastically affect how they ultimately appear. One key issue is the degree to which the drinking water and wastewater standards must resemble one another. At the moment, AMSA and the ISO Advisory Committee have sought to ensure the standards remain in outline form and are not proscriptive, while the drinking water document is far more comprehensive. Hayashi's efforts are supported by an Advisory Committee composed of AMSA member agencies. AMSA will be convening the Advisory Committee several times in the coming months to review the wastewater standard and will participate at an ISO meeting scheduled for September 27-29 in Rabat, Morocco. The Association will make key ISO documents available to members early next week on AMSA's Regulatory Correspondence and Outreach website (http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/reg_outreach.cfm).AMSA, Coalition Support Full Funding for Key USGS Program
AMSA and other key water and wastewater stakeholders met this week to discuss the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program and how the lack of federal funding for the project may undermine its objectives. The NAWQA Program is the primary source for long-term, nationwide information on the quality of streams, groundwater, and aquatic ecosystems. The information it generates is used by numerous federal, state, and local agencies, including EPA, for water quality management decisions. For the past three years AMSA has actively participated in efforts to encourage Congress to restore funding to the program following proposed cuts in the President's budget request. Funding for the NAWQA Program has not kept pace with rising inflation and nondiscretionary costs, creating a gap between what is actually needed and what is received annually. The current gap is estimated to be approximately $21 million. Significant downsizing of the program is already planned for this year, and without a significant infusion of additional funds to close the gap, the NAWQA program may have to make some cutbacks that could jeopardize the validity of the entire program. AMSA will work with other stakeholders to ensure Congress understands the importance of the program and the need for fully funding this project in FY 2005.AMSA Brief in California Supreme Court Supports Member City of Los Angeles
AMSA filed an amicus curiae brief this week in the California Supreme Court supporting member agency the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works in Cities of Burbank & Los Angeles v. State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). In the brief, AMSA addresses issues of long-standing importance to POTWs nationwide. First, AMSA's brief urges permitting authorities like the SWRCB to maximize their existing authority to include compliance schedules in POTW Clean Water Act permits when a POTW cannot immediately comply with a specific pollutant limit. Second, AMSA reiterates that permitting authorities are required to develop the "translators" they use to covert narrative water quality standards into numeric POTW permit limits through public notice and comment. AMSA's brief will be posted next week in the AMSA Litigation Tracker (http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/littrack/).