Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - July 14, 2006
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for the FaxAlert ArchiveJuly 14, 2006
NACWA Committees to Review Draft "Daily Load" Memo in Seattle
Next week NACWA's Water Quality and Legal Affairs Committees will review a draft EPA memo discussing the implications of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s April 25 ruling in Friends of the Earth v. EPA on the national total maximum daily load (TMDL) program. The court held that all TMDLs must specify daily pollutant loadings as opposed to monthly, seasonal, or annual loads. In the draft, the Agency states: "EPA recommends that all future TMDLs and associated load allocations and wasteload allocations be expressed in terms of daily time increments. However, EPA does not believe that the Friends of the Earth decision requires any changes in the way wasteload allocations are currently implemented in NPDES permits." EPA also states it plans to develop guidance on expressing loads in TMDLs for various pollutants. NACWA plans to provide input to EPA following NACWA’s 2006 Summer Conference in Seattle.NACWA Comments
in Support of Los Angeles’ Biosolids Management Efforts
NACWA provided comments (http://www.nacwa.org/getfile.cfm?fn=2006-07-13biocmts.pdf) this week in support of EPA Region 9’s Underground Injection Control Program Draft Permit for Los Angeles County, California (http://www.epa.gov/region9/water/groundwater/uic-docs/final-draft-permit-la-bioslurry.pdf). For the City of Los Angeles, a NACWA member, underground injection provides a sound biosolids management option in addition to the City’s practice of beneficially reusing biosolids via land application. The injection option is also of heightened importance in the wake of the recent move by Kern County voters to ban the land application of L.A.’s biosolids on city-owned farmland in the County. As the letter states, “NACWA not only believes that L.A. is in the best position to determine how to manage its biosolids, but also that EPA Region 9’s rigorous literature and data review demonstrate the overall safety and effectiveness of the injection well technology. As the draft permit notes, the project would fully meet the Underground Injection Control requirements of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, §124.8.” The City is also reviewing its legal options in the wake of the Kern County land-application ban and NACWA stands ready to assist as these efforts move forward.NACWA Participates in
Two-Day Facilitated Session on Water Sector Security Plan
NACWA is taking a leading role, along with drinking water associations, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and EPA officials, in developing and drafting the Sector Specific Plan (SSP) for the water sector. NACWA staff and NACWA Board Member, Billy Turner, of Columbus, Georgia participated in a two-day facilitated session at EPA’s Headquarters that resulted in significant progress toward the development of the SSP, which takes an all-hazards approach to identifying the sector’s security vision, goals, initiatives, and needs. This week’s sessions were productive and led to a consensus on the sector’s security goals and a workable definition of what constitutes the water sectors’ key assets. With DHS’ announcement June 30 that the NIPP was complete, work on the SSP must be finished by December 31, 2006. NACWA will discuss this effort at the Security & Emergency Preparedness Committee next week in Seattle and will continue to provide members with updates as this effort progresses.EPA Webcast to Feature Benefits of Watershed-Based Permitting
EPA is holding a "Benefits of Watershed-Based NPDES Permitting" webcast on July 19, 1:00-3:00pm Eastern Time. The webcast will discuss the benefits of watershed-based permitting, present an explanation of the process and several mechanisms to implement watershed-based permitting, and outline how EPA will encourage this approach. For those unable to participate in the webcast because of travel to NACWA’s Summer Conference or for any other reason, the presentations and audio will be available on EPA’s website (http://www.epa.gov/owow/watershed/wacademy/webcasts/).