Click Here to see previous Fax Alerts.
May 21, 1998
May Policy Forum a Huge Success
AMSA's 1998 National Environmental Policy Forum and 28th Annual Meeting held in Washington this week gave those in attendance a first-hand look at many important legislative and regulatory developments affecting the wastewater industry. Highlights of the meeting included the following:
EPA Commits to Reconvening SSO Federal Advisory Committee
On Monday, AMSA representatives met with Bob Perciasepe, EPA's assistant administrator of the Office of Water and Steven Herman, assistant administrator of the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. The meeting was requested by AMSA and other municipal representatives of EPA's SSO Federal Advisory Committee (FACA) to discuss concerns regarding the derailed FACA process and substantive issues relating to EPA's recent draft SSO strategy Ablueprint.@ AMSA called on EPA to commit to reconvening the FACA prior to the finalization of a national SSO strategy, and began a substantive dialogue with Perciasepe, Herman, and other high-level program and enforcement officials over concerns with liability defenses for unavoidable SSOs and the allowance of permitted wet weather facility discharges at less than secondary treatment. As a result of the meeting, EPA has committed to reconvening the FACA after completing its internal agency discussions, and working with AMSA to resolve remaining technical and legal issues.
Perciasepe and Herman Release Memo on CSO Policy Implementation
During his keynote address at the Forum , Bob Perciasepe remarked that he and Steven Herman would be sending a Amotivational memo@ to regional water management division directors and state directors on implementing the national CSO Control Policy. The following day, the memo was released and discussed at AMSA's Legal Affairs Committee meeting. A copy of the memo has been forwarded to members of AMSA's Wet Weather Issues Committee and will soon be available on AMSA's web site under Regulatory Outreach, within the Legislative, Regulatory, & Legal Affairs section of the Member Pipeline.
Members Urged to Voice Support for Clean Water and Biosolids Funding
At Tuesday's Legislative Breakfast, Professional Staff Members Carolyn Apostolou and Frank Cushing of the Senate and House Appropriations Subcommittees with jurisdiction over EPA provided members with valuable insight into the current appropriations process that will determine how much funding is allocated to support the inter-agency Clean Water Action Plan and the National Biosolids Partnership. Both said that the appropriation subcommittees have no disagreement on the themes and ideas behind the Plan and stated that clean water is, indeed, viewed as a priority. They stressed, however, that other environmental priorities and non-environmental initiatives are competing for limited funds. In light of these competitive interests, Apostolou and Cushing encouraged AMSA members to voice their support for the Plan and the biosolids initiative during this critical appropriations decision making process by contacting their Representatives. Today, Legislative Alert 98-4, was forwarded to AMSA members urging them to contact the listed Senators and Representatives who have a major impact on the decision to fund projects about the Code of Management Practices.
National Biosolids Partnership Develops Code of Management Practices Framework
On Wednesday, AMSA, WEF, and EPA held a National Biosolids Partnership meeting with the newly formed Steering Committee comprised of various stakeholder groups. Development a comprehensive framework for a Code of Management Practices, one of the key projects of the Partnership, was discussed at length. It was agreed that the Code of Management Practices will: establish a series of broad, aspirational goals and commitments that would govern the management of biosolids programs; provide a series of technical and operational practices that determine how facilities go about achieving goals and objectives; develop a voluntary national standard; and include third party oversight to help ensure the Code's acceptance in the public arena. The next meeting of the Steering Committee is scheduled for July 11 during WEF's Biosolids Speciality Conference in Bellevue, WA.