Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - May 3, 2002
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May 3, 2002
AMSA Ramps Up Initiatives on Wastewater Security Funding
As the House-Senate conference on H.R. 3448, The Bioterrorism Preparedness Act of 2001, continues, AMSA is ramping up efforts to ensure that funds for POTW vulnerability assessments and security upgrades are included in the bill. AMSA met this week with a bipartisan group of Senate Environment and Public Works committee staff to discuss POTW security needs. The House version of the bill provides $120 million for drinking water utility vulnerability assessments, but the availability of funds is conditional on all large systems performing vulnerability assessments and developing emergency response plans. The Senate version of the bioterrorism bill does not have any provisions on wastewater or drinking water security, but Senate conferees are open to including security language similar to that contained in H.R. 3448. The Senate is also considering wrapping two previously introduced water/wastewater security bills (S. 1593 and S. 1608) — which authorize significant funding for water/wastewater security research and development — into the bioterrorism bill, a move AMSA strongly supports. On a related note, AMSA’s Vulnerability Self Assessment Tool (VSAT), due out in June 2002, will provide POTWs with a low-cost, easy-to-use software package for comprehensive vulnerability assessments.Several AMSA members will represent the Association next week at an Office of Homeland Security (OHS) workshop convened in response to a presidential directive. OHS requested AMSA’s input into the key federal strategic plan to protect the nation’s critical infrastructure, including POTWs. AMSA is also participating next week in a Keystone Center roundtable of high-ranking government officials and industry leaders to discuss water/wastewater security issues. Visit http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/advocacy/sec_index.cfm to learn more about AMSA’s security efforts.
AMSA Gives Whitman Support on Trading, Sewer Overflows
In a letter this week to EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman, AMSA lent the Agency its support for its February 25, 2002 Water Quality Trading Policy Statement as well as for the sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) proposed rule plan that EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Tracy Mehan laid out in November. The letter points out that AMSA supports trading as long as it contains a “fair and equitable allocation of pollution reduction responsibilities among watershed sources,” including nonpoint sources. AMSA will also continue to support the Agency’s SSO plan as long as it does not deviate from Mehan’s recommendations for a single, workable rule with consistent national standards for controlling overflows. As the letter points out, “AMSA will oppose any attempt to break up the SSO rule,” adding that such “an approach would be fatal to the rulemaking process.” The letter is available on AMSA’s website at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/outreach/043002EPAletter.pdf.
Register Today for AMSA’s May Policy Forum
Hotel rooms are filling up for AMSA’s 2002 National Environmental Policy Forum & 32nd Annual Meeting — The 30th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act . . . Looking to the Future, May 18-22 in Washington, D.C.’s Marriott at Metro Center, so we urge you to make your reservations soon by calling 800/228-9290. With EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman giving a keynote address, Congress members, and high-level officials in attendance to discuss the wastewater treatment community’s key legislative and regulatory issues, this conference offers a unique opportunity to begin shaping the next 30 years of clean water policy. Register now for the conference at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/meetings/02nepf/.