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.

EPA Seeks Public Comment on Possible Drinking Water Contaminants
EPA announced in the Feb. 21 Federal Register that it is requesting public comments on a list of 104 possible contaminants that may need to be regulated to ensure the continued protection of drinking water. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), EPA is required to include currently unregulated contaminants that are known or anticipated to occur in public water systems and which may require regulation on the draft Contaminant Candidate List (CCL).  The draft list issued this week, the third one from EPA, contains 93 chemical contaminants and 11 microbes and describes the process and basis for their selection.  In developing the draft CCL 3, the agency implemented a new approach for selecting contaminants which builds upon evaluations used for previous lists and is based on expert input early in the process and recommendations from a larger group including stakeholders, the National Research Council, and the National Drinking Water Advisory Council.  The draft list includes chemicals used in commerce, pesticides, biological toxins, disinfection byproducts, and waterborne pathogens.  Comments must be received by May 21.  Additional information on the CCL 3 is available at www.epa.gov/safewater/ccl/ccl3.html. 

Members Selected for New EPA Agricultural Advisory Committee
On Wednesday, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson announced the appointment of 30 people to the newly formed Farm, Ranch, and Rural Communities Advisory Committee.  The committee was formed as part of Johnson’s ongoing effort to strengthen relations with the agriculture community and will advise EPA on environmental policy issues.  The committee will initially focus on three primary issues: how EPA policies on climate change and renewable energy affect the agriculture community and how the agricultural industry can aid in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; the development and implementation of an environmental strategy for managing waste from livestock operations; and the development of an approach to advancing sustainable agriculture, protecting the environment, and addressing communication between agricultural and environmental interests.  The members were selected from a pool of over 200 applicants and represent large and small farmers, ranchers, rural suppliers and processors, agriculture marketers, and academics who study the impact of environmental issues on agriculture.  The first meeting will be held March 13 and 14 in Washington, DC.  Additional information and a list of appointed members are available at www.epa.gov/agriculture/frrcc/.

EPA Will Not Set Effluent Limits for Drinking Water Treatment Plants
As reported in the Bureau of National Affairs’ (BNA) Daily Environment Report on Thursday, EPA has decided to halt work on establishing effluent guidelines for drinking water treatment plants.  In the 2004 Effluent Guidelines Plan, EPA announced its intent to set limits to address the direct discharge of drinking water treatment residuals, including suspended solids, aluminum salts, organic matters, arsenic, and others, to surface water and the indirect discharge of residuals to wastewater treatment plants.  EPA spokesman Dale Kemery told BNA the decision was made because “higher priority technology-based rules that were added to the effluent guidelines program since 2004.”  Under the Clean Water Act, EPA is required to develop national industrial technology-based regulations to limit the amount of pollutants that are discharged to surface waters or sewage treatment plants. The Act also requires EPA to identify industries not currently regulated that may be discharging “more than trivial amounts of toxic or ‘nonconventional’ pollutants, such as nutrients,” according to their web site.  Background information on EPA’s initial plan for setting limits for drinking water plants is available at www.epa.gov/waterscience/guide/dw/. 

Mayor Bloomberg Signs Stormwater Management Legislation
On Feb. 19, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed into law legislation requiring the city to develop a sustainable stormwater management plan.  The legislation requires New York City to conduct a study of stormwater best management practices, determine the estimated costs and benefits of each practice, and provide a plan for implementation.  The city office must develop a draft plan by Oct. 1 and submit a final plan by Dec. 1.  After the plan is released to the public, a 30-day comment period will follow and public forums will be held as the plan is implemented.  Starting in 2010 the plan must be reviewed and revised at least every four years.  New York City discharges approximately 27 billion gallons of untreated combined sewage and stormwater each year.  Text of the bill is available at this link..

EPA Releases Toxic Release Inventory to the Public 
EPA announced on Feb. 21 that information on the 2006 reporting year is now available as part of the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) database and nation-wide chemical releases into the environment are down by two percent from 2005.  The 2006 reporting year is the earliest release of the data in the 20-year history of the program due to improvements in electronic reporting and data processing.  TRI is an on-line electronic database that contains detailed information on releases of nearly 650 chemicals and chemical categories from about 23,000 industrial and federal facilities.  The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 established the program, which was expanded in 1990 to include data on toxic chemicals treated, recycled, and burned for energy recovery under the Pollution Prevention Act. Information about the 2006 reporting year is available at www.epa.gov/tri/tridata/tri06/index.htm.  A brochure that provides an overview of the 2006 data is available at www.epa.gov/tri/tridata/tri06/brochure/brochure.htm.

EPA General Counsel Announces Plans to Resign
On Thursday, EPA General Counsel Roger Martella announced plans to resign this spring.  Martella has been working as the EPA general counsel since August 2006 and was officially confirmed to the post by the U.S. Senate in March 2007.  Prior to joining EPA in 2005, Martella worked in the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. 

Online Competition for Water and Sanitation Announced
Arlington, VA-based Changemakers.net and the Global Water Challenge are conducting an online competition entitled, Tapping Local Innovation: Unclogging the Water and Sanitation Crisis.  The top three winners will receive a monetary prize, while corporate and philanthropic sponsors gain access to new ideas, groups, and projects designed to make the goal of universal access to safe water and sanitation a reality.  Proposals are due by March 26.  For more information, visit www.changemakers.net/en-us/competition/waterandsanitation.

Quote of the Week:
I have no other view than to promote the public good, and am unambitious of honors not founded in the approbation of my Country.
 -George Washington

To receive This Week in Washington via e-mail, contact Martha Ravenhill at mravenhill@wef.org.