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November 7, 2003 AMSA Fax Alert

Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - November 7, 2003

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November 7, 2003

EPA Releases Proposed Blending Policy, AMSA to Comment
EPA released its proposed guidance on blending this week and, in line with AMSA's position on this issue, reaffirmed the Agency's long-standing but unwritten policy that blending is an environmentally beneficial method used by publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) to address peak wet weather flows. As expected by AMSA and its Wet Weather Issues Committee, which took the lead on advocating for a blending guidance, the substantive portion of EPA's proposal states that blending does not constitute a prohibited bypass and should be authorized in a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit if six key "principles" are followed. These principles are spelled out in a Special Edition FaxAlert that was distributed to members this week and is available on AMSA's website at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/faxalerts/110403.cfm.

The substance of the guidance and its potential implications on EPA and Regional enforcement efforts, as well as on AMSA's ongoing lawsuit on the blending issue, Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association, et al v. Horinko, will be discussed in greater detail via a Regulatory Alert that will be distributed to members next week. This upcoming Alert will also seek input from those public agency members of AMSA that blend in order to ensure that AMSA's comment effort appropriately voices their concerns. The guidance is available at http://www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/blending_policy.pdf.

In the wake of the blending guidance's release, AMSA also sought to ensure that the voice of POTWs was heard in the media. Although many media accounts sought to misrepresent EPA's blending guidance as a regulatory roll-back, AMSA was quoted in numerous newspapers, including USA Today, the Associated Press, the LA Times, the Seattle Times and the Cleveland Plain Dealer stating that the guidance was simply a clarification of a long-standing EPA policy, which in fact improves water quality and ensures compliance with the Clean Water Act and permit requirements. Also, Mike Marcotte, Chief Engineer/Deputy General Manager at the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority - an AMSA member - appeared on behalf of the Association on CNN's Headline News broadcast this week in an effort to ensure balanced coverage in their report on the blending issue. These stories will be available next week for review on the AMSA in the News website at
http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/advocacy/news.cfm.

AMSA's Law Seminar Enjoys In-Depth Discussion of Key Clean Water Issues
AMSA's 2003 Developments in Clean Water Law Seminar took place this week in Miami, Fla., and enjoyed high attendance and many highlights. Given the rainy weather that hit the conference this week it was perhaps appropriate that the Wet Weather Panel was well received, exploring issues ranging from consent decrees in combined and sanitary sewer communities to the recently released blending guidance [see story above]. William Anderson, Regional Counsel of the Enforcement and Accountability Division of EPA Region IV in Atlanta, Ga., addressed attendees, noting that one of the first things that POTWs facing consent decrees should do is to read AMSA's Wet Weather Consent Decree Handbook. Other interesting topics discussed included a focus on the Everglades in Florida and the competing but inter-connected issues of water quality and water quantity. A more in-depth discussion of the Law Seminar will be available in an upcoming Clean Water News.

  • There is still time to register for the 2003 AMSA/EPA Pretreatment Coordinators Workshop, November 19-21, 2003 at the Renaissance Madison Hotel in Seattle, Wash. To register today, visit AMSA's Conference & Meetings website at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/meetings/03pret/.