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December 12, 2003 AMSA Fax Alert

Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - December 12, 2003

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December 12, 2003

AMSA Meets with EPA,
Provides Recommendations on Pretreatment Streamlining
AMSA met this week with key EPA staff to urge the Agency to continue its efforts to finalize the long-awaited Pretreatment Streamlining Rule. Guy Aydlett, Water Quality Director for the Hampton Roads Sanitation District, Virginia Beach, Va. and Richard Sustich, Assistant Director of Research and Development, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, Chicago, Ill., Chair and Vice Chair respectively of AMSA’s Pretreatment and Hazardous Waste Committee, told Agency staff of the Association’s continued support for the rule. Due to limited EPA staff resources, no action has been taken on the Agency’s 1999 proposal until recently. Due in part to AMSA’s consistent advocacy on behalf of this initiative, the Agency recently made a commitment to finalize the rule by September 2004. During the meeting, Aydlett and Sustich described point by point AMSA’s position on each key streamlining provision. EPA indicated that the Agency would take AMSA’s position into consideration, but singled out the issue of short-term pH excursions which remains contentious and may not be addressed in the final rule, citing a lack of data. AMSA will be sending a letter (http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/reg_outreach.cfm) today to key EPA officials, outlining the Association’s recommendations for a final Pretreatment Streamlining Rule.

Key Senators Seek
AMSA Input on Wastewater Funding Legislation
Key Senators on the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee are currently in the discussion phase of developing legislation for water and wastewater next year. The Senators acknowledged the need for increased funding for water and wastewater and have made it a top priority when Congress reconvenes after the winter recess. AMSA recently received a letter, signed by EPW Chair James Inhofe (R-OK), Ranking Member James Jeffords (I-VT), Michael Crapo (R-ID), and Bob Graham (D-NC), asking the Association for recommended changes to improve the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF). The letter (http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/leg_outreach.cfm) asked AMSA for descriptions of problems with the SRF members would like to see corrected and any suggested changes. AMSA will be requesting member input on this effort in a future Legislative Alert and will continue to seek a long-term funding solution.

AMSA Suite of Vulnerability
Self Assessment Tools Wins Advance America Award
AMSA’s Vulnerability Self Assessment Tool (VSAT™) suite of security software has been elected to the American Society of Association Executives' (ASAE) 2004 Association Advance America Honor Roll. The VSAT™ tools provide public water and wastewater utilities with a free and easy-to-use qualitative risk assessment methodology that helps utilities determine potential vulnerabilities, prioritize them and ultimately mitigate risks to their plant assets, employees and customers. The category under which this honor was awarded was ASAE’s Ethical, Technical or Professional Standards Category, which helps establish standards for products and services to ensure safety, optimum performance, and consumer protection. AMSA is proud to be recognized by ASAE for its work on VSAT™ and recently announced a new upgraded version (2.2) of the suite of software tools. Visit the VSAT™ website to download the updated version of the VSAT™ software tool (www.vsatusers.net)