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WaterNews for January 11, 2005Benjamin Grumbles WaterNews is a weekly on-line publication that announces publications, policies, and activities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water. In This Week’s WaterNews:
EPA Official to Sign Partnership Agreement to Cut Water PollutionAssistant Administrator for Water Benjamin H. Grumbles will host a signing ceremony to announce a long-term, voluntary effort to strengthen management of septic systems at the local level on Wednesday, Jan. 12, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Proper management of septic systems is critical to protecting human health and the environment. One-quarter of American homes use septic treatment systems, and a third of all new development in the U.S. use them. Joining Grumbles in the signing ceremony are Allen R. Frischkorn, Jr., Exec. Director, National Association of Towns & Townships; Bruce Fox, President, National Association of Wastewater Transporters, Inc.; James Balsamo, President, National Environmental Health Association; Rick Phalunas, Interim Executive Director, National Environmental Services Center; Raymond Peat, President, National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association, Inc.; Randy Adams, Executive Director, Rural Community Assistance Partnership, Inc.; William J. Bertera, Executive Director, Water Environment Federation; and Kitt Farrell-Poe, Chair Elect, Consortium of Institutes for Decentralized Wastewater Treatment. EPA will work closely with these organizations over the coming years to raise awareness, build local capacity, and distribute technical information to help local officials ensure better management of septic systems. For more information contact Joyce Hudson at 202-564-0657 or visit the website http://cfpub.epa.gov/owm/septic/home.cfm Agency Taking Steps to Improve Water EfficiencyOver the past four years, EPA's Environmental Science Center (ESC) in Fort Meade, MD has been able to save nearly 5.9 million gallons of water, the equivalent of approximately $14,000 in avoided water costs. In 2002, the facility developed a water management plan to address two major issues: 1) reverse osmosis monitoring and 2) cooling tower and boiler water control. By identifying areas for improvement, and making some minor changes, the facility has been able to reap significant benefits in water and cost savings. Other EPA water efficiency efforts include an initiative to develop an environmental management system for all EPA headquarters facilities, and a potential labeling program for water efficient products as part of the Office of Water’s focus on sustainable water infrastructure. For more information on ESC's achievements, see www.epa.gov/greeningepa/news/pdf/dec_04_508.pdf (PDF, 4 pp., 132KB). More information on EPA's EMS development is available at http://www.epa.gov/ems/federal/index.htm.
Upcoming Public Meeting on the proposed Stage 2 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts RuleEPA is holding an all-day public meeting to discuss developments in areas of recent research and how findings relate to the proposed Stage 2 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rule on Jan. 18, 2005, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Eastern time. The meeting will be held on the first floor of the East Building of EPA Headquarters in Room 1153. The address is EPA East, 1201 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington DC. A list of recent research can be found on the Agency’s website at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/stage2/index.html. For more information on the meeting, contact Sarah Bahrman at 202-564-2335 or send an e-mail to bahrman.sarah@epa.gov. Draft National Whole Effluent Toxicity Guidance Available for CommentEPA released its draft National Whole Effluent Toxicity Implementation Guidance for public review and comment for 60 days. The draft guidance document provides recommendations to states and EPA regional offices on implementing whole effluent toxicity (WET) testing in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. The draft WET Guidance is available on EPA's web site at www.epa.gov/npdes/permitbasics. Comments may be submitted through Feb. 28, 2005 in a variety of forms (paper, electronic, etc.) to the EPA Docket Center, Docket ID # OW-2004-0037. For more information on submitting comments, visit www.epa.gov/edocket. "After the Storm" Television Program to Air on The Weather Channel in January"After the Storm" will air on The Weather Channel (TWC) on Sunday, Jan. 16, 2005, at 7:30 pm EST. "After the Storm" is a ½ hour television special about watersheds co-produced by the Agency and TWC in 2004. Additional showings of the program are scheduled on TWC for: Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2005 at 7:30 pm EST EPA owns full rights to the program and EPA encourages watershed groups and others to work with their local cable and other TV stations to air the program, which can be shown in whole or in part. (If only part of the program is aired, it should be stated that the program was co-produced by EPA and The Weather Channel.) VHS copies of the program as well as broadcast quality Beta SP tapes are available free from the National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP) at 513-489-8190 or 800-490-9198 or by sending an email to ncepimal@one.net. Please visit EPA's Web site at http://www.epa.gov/weatherchannel/ for more information about this video program. Subscribe to WaterNewsPlease forward this message to your friends and colleagues who share an interest in water-related issues and would like to hear from EPA's Office of Water. To subscribe to the WaterNews listserv: Send an email message, leave the subject line blank, and address it to: In the body of the message write: Subscribe WaterNews firstname lastname (Please leave one blank space between each word, do not include any other message, and use your actual name- i.e. Subscribe WaterNews Robert Jones) A welcome message will appear in your email box once you are officially subscribed.
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