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WaterNews for December 9, 2003G. Tracy Mehan, III 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
“Monitoring Is the Key” by G. Tracy Mehan IIIAssistant Administrator G. Tracy Mehan III wrote an article “Monitoring Is the Key” for the November issue of Water Environment & Technology published by the Water Environment Federation. Excerpts from the article are below: Better ambient water quality monitoring will enable us to ensure that resources are invested wisely to achieve clean, safe water for both humans and wildlife. Our nation's water monitoring and assessment programs are at a historic turning point. Although we have collected all sorts of data for years, we cannot - in a scientifically defensible way - describe the quality of U.S. waters today, quantify the progress made to date in cleaning up those waters, or note what remains to be done. It is time to take a long, hard look at our national water monitoring program and turn it in a new direction. 2004 National Forum in JanuaryOn Jan. 25-28, the annual National Forum on Contaminants in Fish will be held in San Diego. Public health and environmental professionals from Tribes, States, and other interested groups will gather to discuss many issues related to this topic. Sponsored by EPA, California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, this year’s Conference includes a full-day special session on Monday covering the Joint National Mercury Advisory. For more information and to register, please visit the conference website at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/fish/forum/2004/. Beach Currents Makes NewsEPA recently released the first issue of Beach Currents, a periodic newsletter promoting communication among state, tribal, and local public health officials about their efforts to protect our beaches. The first edition features the experiences of Maine, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin in developing their Beach Monitoring programs. Beach Currents is available online at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/beaches/currents/. The second issue will go out in March 2004, and we encourage beach management professionals to submit articles sharing their successes and challenges (contact Beth LeaMond at 202-566-0444). Second Delegation from China to visit EPAIn cooperation with the Office for International Activities, a second delegation from the People's Republic of China, including China's State Environmental Protection Administration, will visit EPA on Dec. 10 to discuss the Underground Injection Control (UIC) program. China has been particularly interested in establishing a pilot project to use deep wells for management of industrial waste. Their interest in the UIC program was piqued by an earlier Beijing visit to EPA Headquarters on Oct. 28, which provided us an opportunity to make in-depth presentations on the breadth of the program’s regulatory authority and implementation. These efforts should result in improved UIC program visibility and international coordination regarding important ground water contamination prevention efforts. For more information, please contact Bruce Kobelski at (202) 564-3888. Subscribe to WaterNewsPlease 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 listserv: Send an email message, leave the subject line blank, and address it to: 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.
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