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WaterNews for July 30, 1998WaterNews is a weekly on-line publication that announces publications, policies, and activities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water. Inside this week's WaterNews: 1) Fourteen American Heritage Rivers Designated by President ClintonToday President Clinton announced the designation of 14 rivers across the country as "Heritage Rivers." This designation will translate to federal assistance in protecting and restoring the waterways. The designations will cover the Cuyahoga River in Ohio; the Blackstone and Woonasquatucket Rivers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island; the Lower Mississippi River in Louisiana and Tennessee; the Upper Susquehanna and Lackawanna Rivers in Pennsylvania; the Connecticut River, which runs from northern New Hampshire to Long Island Sound; the Detroit River in Michigan; the Hanalei River in Hawaii; the Hudson River in New York; the New River in North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia; the Rio Grande in Texas; the Potomac River in the mid-Atlantic region; the St. Johns River in Florida; the Upper Mississippi River, from Minnesota to Illinois; and the Willamette River in Oregon. Each river will be assigned a "river navigator," a federal employee who will help communities identify available federal programs and grants. Cities and towns along these rivers will be able to tap programs to help fight pollution, build greenways and paths and protect watersheds. For more information about the American Heritage Rivers, go to http://www.epa.gov/rivers. 2) Federal Advisory Committee Recommends Changes In TMDL ProgramOn July 28, a Federal Advisory Committee on the Clean Water Act's Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program sent a report to EPA's Administrator with 170 recommendations for improving the program. The TMDL program focuses on identifying and restoring the nation's polluted waterbodies, ensuring that they attain and maintain water quality standards. A TMDL is a quantitative assessment of water quality problems and contributing pollutants. It specifies the amount a pollutant needs to be reduced to meet water quality standards. The recommendations, generally representing broad agreement across the 20-member committee, suggest new policy directions in some areas, while endorsing approaches consistent with current practices in other areas. EPA is in the process of developing proposed revisions to existing TMDL regulations and guidance, and, as part of this process, will carefully review and consider the committee's consensus recommendations. A fact sheet and the full report are available on the Internet at: http://www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl/advisory. 3) Announcement of Meeting on Water Quality Standards and Water Quality CriteriaEPA and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) will co-host three public meetings to discuss water quality standards, water quality criteria, and implementation, including development of nutrient criteria strategy and national criteria plans. The first meeting will be held August 27-28, 1998 in Philadelphia, PA. The purpose of the public meetings is to provide a structured discourse on the future of the water quality criteria and standards program. More information is available on the Internet at: http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/announce/watrqlty.html. Please 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 listserve:
A welcome message will appear in your email box once you are officially subscribed. WaterNews will be sent to you at the end of each week. If you encounter difficulties subscribing to this list server or if you would like to be taken off the WaterNews list server at any time, please send your E-mail address to Gloria Posey at Posey.Gloria@epa.gov.
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