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WaterNews for October 20, 2000WaterNews 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) Joint Policy to Protect and Restore Watersheds on Federal LandsOn October 18, 2000, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt announced a unified policy to protect water quality and aquatic ecosystems on federal lands. The policy will serve as a framework for federal land and resource management focused on watersheds. The new Watershed Approach to Federal Land and Resource Management will guide the protection of water quality and aquatic ecosystem health through the reduction of polluted runoff, the improvement of natural resources stewardship, and an increase in public involvement in watershed management on federal lands. A major action of the President's Clean Water Action Plan, the policy calls on federal agencies to work together and with states, tribes, local governments, private landowners, and other interested parties to take a watershed approach to federal land and resource management. The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Interior are joined by the Departments of Commerce, Defense, and Energy; EPA; Tennessee Valley Authority; and the Army Corps of Engineers in establishing and carrying out the new policy. 2) House Hears Wetlands TestimonyRobert H. Wayland, III, Director of EPA's Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds, testified before the House Committee on Government Reform on October 6, 2000. Mr. Wayland's testimony focused on the strong commitment of EPA and partners to protect and restore wetlands with fairness, flexibility and effectiveness. He described the improvements to EPA policies and programs that have been initiated and completed over the last several years and which are being implemented today. The testimony described the importance of wetlands to our nation, the history of destruction of these resources before their many values were recognized and protections enacted, and the Clean Water Act provisions pertaining to wetlands, and it elaborated on the policy initiatives developed and undertaken as a consequence of the Administration's 1993 wetlands plan. For a full copy of the testimony, visit http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/testfnl.html on the Internet. 3) Notice of Data Availability on Arsenic in Drinking WaterEPA is requesting public comment until November 20, 2000, on new risk information on arsenic in drinking water. Since proposing new regulations for arsenic in drinking water on June 22, 2000, EPA has received this new risk information which the Agency is considering during the development of the final regulation. For more information, visit http://www.epa.gov/safewater/ars/proposalfs.html on the Internet. 4) Draft Guidelines for Management of Onsite/Decentralized Wastewater SystemsEPA has developed draft voluntary management guidelines for onsite wastewater systems, such as septic systems, that can be adapted for local conditions. The draft guidelines were developed with input from the public and private sectors stakeholders in response to recurring onsite system failures and associated public health and water resource risks. The guidelines describe a series of five progressive management tiers and key program elements for each tier. The tiers range from programs that maintain simple system inventories and provide basic information on maintenance to programs that own, operate, and manage systems in a manner similar to centralized sewage treatment plants. Local communities can use the guidelines to develop a program tailored to local conditions, adjusting for water resource sensitivities, the types of systems in use, system densities, and the availability of operation/maintenance services. EPA will be taking public comment for 60 days. For a fact sheet on the draft guidelines and additional information, visit http://www.epa.gov/owm/decent/whatsnew.htm on the Internet.
**************************************************************** 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: * Send an email message, leave the subject line blank, and address it to: waternews-join@lists.epa.gov * 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. 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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