To: Members & Affiliates
From: National Office
Date: March 24, 1999
Subject: The Cost of Clean... Meeting Water Quality Challenges in the New Millennium
Reference: MU 99-4

AMSA is pleased to present you with a pre-publication copy of the text and graphics for the Cost of Clean . . . Meeting Water Quality Challenges in the New Millennium, a follow-up to AMSA's influential 1994 report, outlining the nation's infrastructure and water quality needs for the new millennium. This collaborative effort between AMSA and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) articulates the message that massive funding gaps are jeopardizing the nation's wastewater infrastructure and compromising our water quality future. The Cost of Clean also illustrates the funding dilemma facing AMSA members across the country as they work diligently to maintain existing wastewater treatment programs, and at the same time, meet a variety of new challenges.

The new Cost of Clean will be released at a press conference in Washington, DC on March 31. AMSA's President Michele Plá and WEF's President Rhonda Harris will be joined by other local elected and appointed officials for the event. The report issues a call for action to build on the emerging dialogue on our clean water funding future. Multiple copies of the printed publication, along with a list of frequently asked questions and answers, will be forwarded to you next week.

Deliver the Cost of Clean Message to Policy Makers at Home . . .
We urge you to deliver this urgent message to your congressional delegation during their congressional district work period, March 27-April 5. Make sure your national representatives have the facts on the Cost of Clean and are informed of what needs to be done to maintain and improve our nation's water quality.

Next week, you will receive a special edition FaxAlert with a Cost of Clean press release. We encourage you to take the message to your local media to notify them of the report's findings.

. . . And in Washington, DC
AMSA's 1999 National Environmental Policy Forum & 29th Annual Meeting, May 22-26, 1999, presents AMSA members with the perfect opportunity to meet face-to-face with their congressional delegations and EPA in Washington to discuss the water quality community's needs as outlined in the Cost of Clean report. We urge you to make plans now to attend the Policy Forum and visit your Members of Congress. Prior to meetings with policy makers, members will be briefed on up-to-the-minute policy developments and given additional materials to focus their discussions with decision makers. We hope that you will take this opportunity to make your mark on national environmental policy that will affect the wastewater treatment industry for years to come. Visit AMSA's web site at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org for additional on the 1999 Policy Forum.

If you have any questions on the Cost of Clean. . . Meeting Water Quality Challenges in the New Millennium, please contact John Millett, AMSA's Manager of Communications and Public Affairs, at 202/833-4651.

ATTACHMENT: