This Week in Washington is a weekly publication of the Water Environment Federation’s Government Affairs department. It provides updates on the latest legislative and regulatory developments that affect the water and wastewater communities.

October 21, 2005

Provided by the Water Environment Federation, Alexandria, VA

EPA Extends Comment Period for the Preliminary 2006 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in the October 26 Federal Register that it is extending the comment period for the Agency's completed 2005 annual review and pending 2006 annual reviews of existing effluent limitations guidelines and pretreatment standards under the Clean Water Act (CWA) sections 301(d), 304(b), 304(g), and 307(b), and the Preliminary 2006 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan under CWA section 304(m).  EPA is also extending a second comment period on the draft Strategy for National Clean Water Industrial Regulations (“draft Strategy'') (67 FR 71165; November 29, 2002).  EPA noticed the start of these comment periods on August 29 (70 FR 51042).  In response to requests from several stakeholders, this action extends both comment periods for 30 days.  EPA must receive your comments on or before November 28.  To view the Federal Register notice, visit: http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-WATER/2005/October/Day-26/w21367.htm.  (SJH)

EPA Releases Results From Gulf Water Sampling
On October 21, EPA announced test results from water samples collected in the Gulf by the Agency’s research vessel, OSV Bold.  The data was collected from September 27 through October 2 at monitoring stations in the river channels and nearshore waters surrounding the Mississippi Delta. The agency monitored 20 areas to determine whether fecal pollution from flooded communities had spread into these waters.  All 20 monitoring stations tested showed that at the time the water was appropriate for primary contact recreation.  EPA tested for both Enterococcus and Clostridium perfringens; however, the current results are only for Enterococcus because Clostridium analysis takes more time.  At four stations, Enterococcus was detected from 10 to 53.1 per 100 ml, which is below the marine water standard of 500 per 100 ml and the freshwater standard of 151 per 100 ml.  The test results are available at http://www.epa.gov/katrina/testresults/water/index.html#surface, and information about EPA's survey vessel the Bold is available at http://www.epa.gov/bold.  (SRT)

City of Lawrence, KS Department of Utilities Receives NBP Certification of Biosolids EMS.
The National Biosolids Partnership (NBP), an alliance of  WEF and the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) with advisory support from USEPA, announced on October 24 that the City of Lawrence Department of Utilities, Lawrence, Kansas, became the tenth wastewater agency in the nation to be certified and admitted to the Partnership’s environmental management system (EMS) for biosolids program.  Lawrence Department of Utilities (Lawrence) is one of more than 80 wastewater agencies participating in the NBP EMS for biosolids program.  As the tenth wastewater agency certified and admitted into the NBP EMS program, Lawrence’s achievement recognizes that the agency has been independently verified as having an effective biosolids environmental management system.  Lawrence’s biosolids EMS was independently verified on October 12 to conform to the NBP’s EMS guidance.  The EMS verification signifies that Lawrence meets the requirements for certification and admittance to the NBP EMS program and supports excellence in biosolids management practices, exceeds regulatory compliance obligations, and provides meaningful opportunities for public participation.

For more information on the Lawrence Department of Utilities’ Biosolids EMS program, visit: http://www.lawrenceutilities.org/Biosolids.shtml. For more information on the NBP EMS program, visit: http://www.biosolids.org. Additional information relating to a planned November 30, 2005 EMS celebratory event in Lawrence, KS will be posted on the NBP and Lawrence Department of Utilities’ web sites at a later date. (SJH)

NBP Releases EMS Communications Brochure
The National Biosolids Partnership released a new brochure on October 25 to promote the benefits of its environmental management system (EMS) for biosolids program.  The eight-panel EMS Communications Brochure is designed as a companion piece to the NBP Annual Report and Biosolids EMS Success Stories Brochure and will be part of a campaign to encourage other agencies to develop and implement a biosolids EMS program.  The brochure outlines the need for wastewater agencies to better manage biosolids through the Partnership’s EMS program and includes costs, benefits, efficiency improvements, resources available through NBP, and how to join the EMS program.  The brochure is located in the NBP EMS Program, Media & Public, and Technical Resources sections of the web page. To view the brochure, visit: http://biosolids.org/docs/NBP_EMS_Commun_Brochure.pdf. (SJH)
 

Quote of the Week: “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.”    ~Albert Einstein

This Week in Washington is provided by the Water Environment Federation, Alexandria, VA. To receive This Week in Washington by e-mail, contact Lisa Jones, (703) 684-2400 ext. 7741, ljones@wef.org. For more information on this week's stories, please contact the WEF staff whose initials appear at the end of the item in which you are interested. TW –Tim Williams (703) 684-2437, twilliams@wef.org; SRT - Sharon Thomas, (703) 684-2423, sthomas@wef.org; SJH - Sam Hadeed (703) 684-2418, shadeed@wef.org; PS-Patricia Sinicropi (703) 684-2416, psinicropi@wef.org. This Week in Washington is available on-line at http://www.wef.org/PolicyAction/USGovernmentAffairs/TWIW/.