Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - August 2, 2002
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August 2, 2002
AMSA Urges EPA to Stay Course and Propose New TMDL Rule
Following up on discussions that took place with EPA officials at AMSA’s July Conference in Portland, Ore. — at which the Agency raised the possibility of not moving forward with a new watershed rule and instead keeping the 1992 total maximum daily rule (TMDL) as the operative rule — the Association has met Agency officials in an effort to ensure that EPA proceeds with a watershed rule proposal. AMSA met on Monday with EPA Assistant Administrator for Water, Tracy Mehan, along with a number of point and nonpoint source advocates, to emphasize to Mehan that the implementation and listing provisions expected in the watershed rule are critical to the overall success of the TMDL program. AMSA also met today with Stephanie Daigle, Chief of Staff of EPA’s Office of Policy, Economics and Innovation, to persuade the Agency of the watershed proposal’s significance to water quality. AMSA will meet with Office of Management and Budget officials next Friday to continue its advocacy on behalf of the watershed rule.
Senator Smith Introduces Wastewater Infrastructure Bill
In a move that offers alternative water/wastewater legislation to Sen. James Jeffords’ (I-VT) Water Investment Act of 2002 (S.1961), Senator Robert Smith (R-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, introduced S.2813 this week. An initial review of S.2813 reveals that this bill would reverse some of the unnecessary regulatory burdens on municipalities contained in S.1961, which AMSA has opposed. For example, instead of requiring municipalities to undergo state and/or EPA review of asset management plans, rate structure plans and restructuring options, to receive clean water state revolving fund (CWSRF) funding in excess of $500,000, S.2813 opts for requiring municipalities to certify that they have performed the above to receive the funding. While S.2813 provides the same funding levels for the CWSRF and drinking water SRF as S.1961 ($20 billion and $15 billion respectively over five years), it does not, however, provide the more than $1 billion in sewer overflow grants over six years contained in S.1961. AMSA will perform a detailed review and analysis of S.2813 next week and will provide AMSA members with more information as it becomes available.
AMSA Meets with Russian Commission on Wastewater Issues
Several AMSA members met with a Russian commission appointed by President Putin of Russia to make recommendations on the structure of intergovernmental arrangements (local/state/federal, public/private), including how these arrangements affect the wastewater collection and treatment sector. Present at this meeting on behalf of AMSA were James Canaday, Engineer-Director at the Alexandria Sanitation Authority, Va.; Michael Marcotte, Director, Water Utilities Department, Dallas, Tex.; and Cyrus Jones, Leader, Legal and Regulatory Affairs Team, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, D.C.
Register for AMSA’s VSAT™ Training Workshops
The release of AMSA’s Vulnerability Self Assessment Tool for wastewater (VSAT™wastewater) has been highly successful and, accordingly, AMSA is offering two pilot online training opportunities to its members to familiarize POTW leaders with the key features of VSAT™wastewater. The workshops will be held Wednesday, Aug. 14 (12:30 - 4:30pm EST) and Tuesday, Aug. 20 (9:00am - 1:00pm EST), 2002. Because they are online, you can participate from the comfort of your own office. A fee of $125 per dial-in is being charged to cover the costs associated with internet conferencing, telephone services and staff resources. Additional VSAT™wastewater training will be made available this fall, free of charge, by the Water Environment Federation via funding provided by EPA. Also, if you experienced difficulty registering the AMSA software, those problems have been worked out so please try to register it again. A fact sheet about VSAT™ and the upcoming workshops is attached with this FaxAlert and is also available at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/faxalerts/080202a.pdf.