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November 4, 2005 NACWA Fax Alert

Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - November 4, 2005

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November 4, 2005

EPA Lauds NACWA/NRDC Blending Guidance
as ‘Great Proposal’ at Hot Topics Breakfast

NACWA members gathered this week in Washington, D.C., to hear from key EPA officials at the Association’s annual Hot Topics Breakfast during WEFTEC 2005. Those in attendance heard updates on critical wastewater issues from Jim Hanlon, Director of EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management (OWM), and several other high-level EPA staff. Hanlon offered encouragement regarding the recently released NACWA/NRDC blending policy (http://www.nacwa.org/getfile.cfm?fn=2005-10-27pww.pdf) saying that "this is a very high quality product” and that “a great proposal has been put on the table." While Hanlon offered strong praise for the guidance, he also noted that EPA must follow Agency protocol when reviewing such documents, including gauging other interest groups’ concerns and conducting a full interagency review – often a time-consuming procedure. To help move the process along, NACWA and NRDC will continue to discuss the proposed guidance with critical stakeholder organizations, including the Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators (ASWIPCA) and the National League of Cities (NLC) in order to garner their support. Other issues discussed by EPA staff at the breakfast included, total maximum daily loads (TMDLs), utility management and security and emergency preparedness, all topics on which NACWA continues to take a leadership role. More details on the breakfast will be available in NACWA’s October Regulatory Update.

NACWA White Paper on Pharmaceuticals Discusses Research Gaps, Options for Next Steps
NACWA released its report, Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in the Environment: A White Paper on Options for the Wastewater Treatment Community (
http://www.nacwa.org/getfile.cfm?fn=PCP_White_Paper.pdf) this week. The white paper summarizes findings presented at an EPA conference on pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the environment, held August 23-25, and lays out some of the thinking and impressions of several NACWA member agency representatives who attended the meeting. The white paper details current research on PPCPs and the major data gaps that exist; explains the increasing public and media attention this issue is receiving; and, warns of a potential sleeping giant whose future is being guided by a battle between the “precautionary principle” and sound science. The paper delves into information about the nature and types of chemicals at issue, and includes an explanation of how they end up in U.S. waterways. The paper also looks at some of the research being conducted by EPA and university scientists, along with strategies in addressing PPCPs. The white paper makes a strong case that any approach to address this challenge must be firmly rooted in sound science and not dictated by anxiety over hypothetical risks that may never materialize.

NACWA would like to acknowledge the hard work of its Water Quality Committee leaders, Chair, Norm LeBlanc, chief of technical services, Hampton Roads Sanitation District, Virginia Beach, Va., and Vice Chair, Keith Linn, environmental specialist, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Cleveland, Ohio, along with several other agency members who attended the meeting and provided NACWA with their input. A list of these individuals can be found in the Acknowledgements section of the white paper.

NACWA Encourages Member Input on WERF Asset Management Survey
The Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) has distributed its Condition Assessment and Performance (CAP) survey (http://www.zoomerang.com/recipient/survey-intro.zgi?p=WEB224N2QK2GUN). The survey will be used to identify and document asset management tools used by the wastewater industry and to provide guidance on how to incorporate them into a utility’s management philosophy. NACWA encourages its members to participate in this confidential survey. The final deadline to complete the survey is November 9, 2005.