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October 6, 2000
AMSA Meets with EPA, Congress on Blending Policy
Meeting on Capitol Hill today with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials and the congressional delegations of two states, municipal officials and AMSA urged the Agency to allow publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) to continue the practice of "blending." Blending is the practice of slipstreaming or internally bypassing effluent within the treatment plant in order to protect biological treatment processes during periods of high flow. Municipal interests emphasized that EPA has historically allowed the "blending" of these flows with fully treated effluent as long as permit limits were met. EPA noted that it is currently evaluating the applicability of bypass provisions to the practice.In spite of long-standing Agency policy, some EPA Regions have recently reinterpreted the bypass provisions as a prohibition of blending. A regulatory and policy reversal on blending would severely impact POTWs, rendering treatment costs unaffordable and unnecessarily prohibiting a practice that fully complies with secondary treatment regulations. EPA noted that "NPDES authorities have considerable flexibility" to address different flow scenarios through the permitting process.
Due to the costs involved, the congressional delegations stressed that a change in EPA policy would necessitate the standard rulemaking procedure with thorough proposal and comment stages. EPA officials said that their evaluation would conclude in three months. AMSA will continue to play an active role in ongoing discussions on this issue and provide frequent updates to the membership through Fax Alerts, Regulatory Alerts and Regulatory Updates.
Key AMSA Conference Deadlines Rapidly Approaching
Register online and access complete information for the AMSA/Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies 2000 Legal Seminar – Developments in Water & Wastewater Law, November 2-3, 2000 in Phoenix, Ariz. And special Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act primers will be offered on Nov. 1. Visit AMSA’s web site – www.amsa-cleanwater.org and click on "AMSA/AMWA Law Seminar" for all the information needed to attend. Or go directly to the online registration form, which is posted at https://www.netstrategies.com/amsa/ 00LAWONLINEREG.cfm. Call the Sheraton Crescent Hotel at 602/943-8200 to make your reservations by October 11, 2000 to ensure the special conference rate of $159 single/double. Please feel free to contact AMSA’s Meetings & Conferences Manager Nirah Shapo at 202/833-8418 with any questions about the Seminar.The AMSA/EPA Pretreatment Coordinators Workshop will take place November 15-17, 2000 at the DoubleTree Hotel at Reid Park in Tucson, Ariz. Call the DoubleTree Hotel at 520/881-4200 by October 25, 2000 to reserve your hotel room at the special conference rate of $99/night for this one-of-a-kind workshop. The registration deadline is Nov. 1. Information and the online registration form for the AMSA/EPA Pretreatment Coordinators Workshop is prominently posted on AMSA’s web site, www.amsa-cleanwater.org. Go to www.amsa-cleanwater.org/mtgs/00pret.cfm for complete information, and register online at https://www.netstrategies.com/amsa/00pretonlinereg.cfm.
SSO Proposal Imminent . . . This week, the White House Office of Management & Budget cleared EPA to propose its sweeping sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) regulations. The proposal is expected to be signed as soon as next week. The National Office is preparing to engage the AMSA members and leadership in a thorough review and response to the proposal. As soon as the proposal is available, the National Office will issue a Regulatory Alert containing an initial analysis and a copy of the proposal.