Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - October 1, 2004
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October 1, 2004
AMSA Testifies
Before House Subcommittee on Clean Water Act Enforcement
Christopher M. Westhoff, AMSA Secretary and Assistant City Attorney, Public Works General Counsel for the City of Los Angeles, Calif., presented testimony (www.amsa-cleanwater.org/advocacy/testimony/2004-09-30cwtestimony.cfm) yesterday on behalf of AMSA at a House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment hearing on citizen enforcement of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The hearing was designed to look into a troublesome trend – where citizen suits are filed against clean water facilities when the alleged violations already have been the subject of state enforcement action. Westhoff and other witnesses testified that some citizen suits run counter to Congress’ intent that that they be a secondary source of enforcement, brought only when regulators completely fail to enforce against CWA violations. Westhoff noted that where regulators are not enforcing the CWA, citizen suits can play an important role. However, he stated that duplicative third party lawsuits cost cities millions of dollars in attorneys fees – reducing the funds available to spend on environmental and water quality improvements. Westhoff told the Subcommittee that “where Congress’ intended prime CWA enforcer has done or is doing its job, municipalities need protection from redundant third party lawsuits that will raise the cost of clean water services.” The Association will work with the Subcommittee and Congress to ensure that Congress’ original intent regarding citizen suits becomes a reality.ISO Makes Headway on
Draft Standard Report, AMSA Provides U.S. Wastewater View
Through AMSA’s Targeted Action Fund (TAF), the Association sent key representatives of its ISO Advisory Committee to participate in a meeting of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in Rabat, Morocco, this week. Representatives from 18 countries met to continue the development of voluntary international guidelines for the management and assessment of water and wastewater services. AMSA represented the U.S. delegation and the interests of clean water agencies as it urged the Committee to ensure that the final ISO guidelines provide flexibility for utilities in how they manage and assess their services. In Rabat, AMSA provided further explanation and clarification on its August 10, 2004 comments (www.amsa-cleanwater.org/advocacy/comments/2004-08-09ISON149.pdf) on the most recent version of the ISO wastewater standard. The Association proposed edits that would harmonize the wastewater and drinking water services standard to avoid unnecessary confusion while maintaining their unique characteristics. In line with AMSA’s comments, it is expected that the guidelines will recommend a “plan-do-check-act” continual improvement approach similar to the ISO 9000 series standards and a methodology for assessment through the use of performance indicators. ISO will work over the coming months to prepare an updated draft for formal comment. AMSA will provide comments on this draft and anticipates attending the next ISO meeting scheduled for January 24 – 28, 2005.
- Monday, October 4 is the deadline to receive the special room rate of $121 per night (single/double) for AMSA’s 2004 Pretreatment Coordinators Workshop, October 27-29, in Norfolk, Va. Call the Norfolk Waterside Marriott today, at 800/228-9290, to reserve your room. For agenda and registration information, visit www.amsa-cleanwater.org/meetings/04pret/.
- The newly-formed Water Sector Coordinating Council (WSCC) held its first meeting this week. The Council will serve as a policy, strategy and coordination mechanism, with the goal of reducing and eliminating significant water-related homeland security vulnerabilities through interactions with the federal government and other critical infrastructure sectors. Additional detail on this ‘inaugural’ WSCC meeting will be available in the upcoming issues of the Wastewater Sector Security Link and the October Clean Water News.