WaterNews for December 2, 2003

G. Tracy Mehan, III
Assistant Administrator
Office of Water

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

• EPA Launches First Electronic Permit Application
• Watershed Nutrient Task Force Meeting Held on Nov. 19th in St. Louis
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EPA Launches First Electronic Permit Application

The Office of Water, in cooperation with the Office of Environmental Information, has developed an electronic, completely paperless, online permit application system. The new system is designed for use by construction companies that need coverage under EPA's NPDES stormwater program. This free electronic stormwater application, also known as the Stormwater Notice of Intent or eNOI, was developed by EPA to meet the objectives of the President's eGov Initiative. G. Tracy Mehan III, EPA's Assistant Administrator for Water, said, "We wanted to use 21st century technology to make the stormwater permit application process easier for businesses to navigate and complete in a timely manner. We think the new eNOI system does just that."

The eNOI system will save construction companies time and money with a simple, fast, and accurate application process. Currently, the eNOI system is available in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Idaho, Alaska, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, many of the territories, Indian country and other areas where EPA is the NPDES permitting authority. You can learn more about the new system at www.epa.gov/npdes/enoi. Another important feature of the system is that it provides, for the first time ever, public access to stormwater NOIs. Using the search features at http://www.epa.gov/npdes/noisearch, the public now has real-time access to important information that may affect them. Over the coming months, EPA plans to add additional features to the eNOI system and make it available to the states that operate the NPDES stormwater permitting program under delegated authority. For more information, please contact Nikos Singelis, Office of Wastewater Management, at singelis.nikos@epa.gov.

Watershed Nutrient Task Force Meeting Held on Nov. 19th in St. Louis

The Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force met Nov. 19 in St. Louis, MO. G. Tracy Mehan III, chair of the Task Force, led the group through a daylong update of the progress towards reaching the goal of the 2001 Action Plan. Ten followup actions were agreed to by the Task Force for completion prior to their next meeting. Overall, the meeting invigorated all that were present to continue working towards the goal of reducing the size of the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico Also, on Nov. 20, 2003, the St. Louis Dispatch published an Op-Ed by G. Tracy Mehan III on how "Restoring Wetlands Could Reinvigorate Dying Areas in Gulf of Mexico" (this Op-Ed is posted at: http://www.epa.gov/msbasin/inthenews.htm).

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