WaterNews for December 16, 1999

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. EPA celebrates the 25th Anniversary of the Safe Drinking Water Act
2. EPA Proposes Standard for Dioxins in Biosolids

1. EPA celebrates the 25th Anniversary of the Safe Drinking Water Act

Today is the 25th Anniversary of the Safe Drinking Water Act. Signed on December 16, 1974, the Safe Drinking Water Act created the first-ever national mandatory program to protect public health through drinking water safety efforts. Twenty-five years later, the Act has matured into a comprehensive, fully-integrated, and flexible law. EPA and partners hosted a futures forum today to discuss the future of safe drinking water. EPA has published an information kit and two reports: "Twenty-Five Years of the Safe Drinking Water Act: History and Trends" and "Twenty-Five Years of the Safe Drinking Water Act: Protecting Our Health from Source to Tap." For more information, visit http://www.epa.gov/safewater/sdwa25/ on the Internet.

2. EPA Proposes Standard for Dioxins in Biosolids

EPA is proposing a standard for dioxins in biosolids. Biosolids are treated sewage sludge --the byproduct of municipal wastewater treatment -- and can be recycled and applied as a fertilizer, disposed of in surface disposal units, or incinerated. Today's proposal sets a limit of 300 part per trillion toxic equivalents for dioxins in biosolids that are to be recycled and applied to the land as fertilizer. Facilities preparing biosolids for land application would also be required to follow new monitoring, record keeping and reporting requirements for dioxins in biosolids that are to be land applied. Based on risk assessment results, the proposed rule does not contain additional limits for dioxins in biosolids that are being placed in surface disposal units or incinerated. A fact sheet and a pre-publication version of the Federal Register notice are available at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/biosolids on the Internet.

**There will be no WaterNews next week. It will resume on December 30, 1999. Happy holidays!**

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