WaterNews for December 5, 1998

WaterNews 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) Two New Drinking Water Standards
2) Compliance Program for Pork Producers
3) Tribal Strategy for Public Health and Water Resources Protection

1) Two New Drinking Water Standards

Today, President Clinton announced two new drinking water standards which will strengthen protections from bacteria, viruses and other microbes and reduce exposure to chemicals that can potentially cause health problems. For the first time public water systems will be required to directly address Cryptosporidium, which can cause a range of health problems from gastrointestinal distress to life-threatening illness. New public health standards also will reduce exposure to potentially harmful chemicals formed when disinfectants are used to purify drinking water. Approximately 140 million Americans will experience improved water quality due to these new standards.

For additional information, visit EPA's Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water website at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/mdbp/mdbp.html .

2) Compliance Program for Pork Producers

EPA and the National Pork Producers Council announced a voluntary compliance program that will allow pork producers who promptly disclose and correct violations under the Clean Water Act to receive a smaller civil penalty. This program complements the work called for in the EPA/USDA Unified Draft AFO Strategy and will help to reduce water quality and public health threats to the nation's waterways posed by pork-producing operations.

Additional information is located at http://es.epa.gov/oeca/ore/porkcap/ on EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance website.

3) Tribal Strategy for Public Health and Water Resources Protection

Last week, EPA's Office of Water released a strategy for protecting public health and water resources in Indian country. The goal of the strategy is to create partnerships with Tribes to protect human health and aquatic ecosystems in Indian country through the development and implementation of clean water and safe drinking water programs. The EPA's Office of Water Tribal Strategy is part of an overall agency goal to ensure that specific Tribal commitments for environmental protection are met in Indian country.

To view the Tribal Strategy visit EPA's Office of Water website at http://www.epa.gov/water/strategy/ .

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