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WaterNews for January 21, 2004Benjamin Grumbles WaterNews is a weekly on-line publication that announces publications, policies, and activities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water. In This Week’s WaterNews:
Water Quality Standards for Puerto RicoEPA is issuing water quality standards that establish a designated use for swimming, in addition to criteria for bacteria levels, for the following waters in Puerto Rico: Mayaguez Bay, Yabucoa Port, Guayanilla and Tallaboa Bays, Ponce Port, San Juan Port and all coastal waters from 500 meters seaward to a maximum of 3.0 miles seaward (the coastal ring). Puerto Rico plans to collect and analyze data over the next year to determine whether the swimming use is attainable in these waters. If the Commonwealth demonstrates that the use can not be attained or designates the waters for swimming in accordance with EPA's regulations, EPA will approve the action and publish a rulemaking withdrawing the federally promulgated standards. For information concerning today's final rule, contact Wayne Jackson at 212-637-3807 (e-mail: jackson.wayne@epa.gov) or Claudia Fabiano at 202-566-0446 (e-mail: fabiano.claudia@epa.gov) The public record for this action has been established and is located at EPA's Region 2 offices in New York and Puerto Rico: 290 Broadway, New York, New York, 10007, and 1492 Ponce De Leon Avenue, Suite 417, Santurce, Puerto Rico, 00907. It can be viewed between 9:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. Ask for Water Quality Standards for Puerto Rico, ID No. OW- 2003-0072. You can also find this document on the EPA Internet at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr. EPA Participates in First National Student SummitBenjamin Grumbles, Acting Assistant Administrator for Water, was a featured speaker at the First National Student Summit on Ocean Issues held on Jan. 14-16 in Washington, D.C. “It’s very encouraging to see the young leaders of tomorrow so interested in the future of our oceans and coasts. I enjoyed hearing their recommendations,” said Grumbles. About 100 top high-school students from around the country presented their concerns and recommendations about ocean and coastal issues to senior science experts, policy makers, and federal officials. Coastal America, comprised of EPA, eleven other federal departments, and the Executive Office of the President sponsored this event. EPA's Issues New NPDES Permit Writers' Guidance Manual for CAFOsEPA issued on Dec. 31, 2003, a new guidance manual to aid permit writers responsible for issuing National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits to concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). The guidance manual is available electronically on the Internet at www.epa.gov/npdes/caforule. EPA will be printing the manual and distributing it directly to permitting authorities and other interested parties. Copies will also be available this month from EPA’s Water Resources Center at 202-566-1729; the document number is EPA-833-B-04-001. For further information contact Nina Bonnelycke at (202) 564-0764 or via email bonnelycke.nina@epa.gov Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement Comment Period ExtendedThe Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Office of Surface Mining, and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection have agreed to extend the public comment period on the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on Mountaintop Mining/Valley Fills in Appalachia an additional 15 days, ending Jan. 21, 2004. Released on May 29, 2003, the document is the result of a 5-year collaborative effort of the Federal and State agencies to prepare a programmatic evaluation of alternatives for improving the environmental review under the Clean Water Act, Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, and Endangered Species Act of proposed mountaintop coal mining operations in Appalachia. Written comments should be postmarked no later than Jan. 21, 2004, to John Forren, U.S. EPA (3ES30), 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103. Comments may be e-mailed no later than Jan. 21, 2004 to EPA at mountaintop.r3@epa.gov. Symposium on Integrated Monitoring & Assessment for Effective Water Quality ManagementThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) will jointly sponsor with the EPA’s Office of Research and Development, Council of State Governments (CSG), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) a three and a half day symposium on Integrated Monitoring & Assessment for Effective Water Quality at the Hotel Viking in Newport, Rhode Island on May 3-7, 2004 . Abstracts for Platform and Poster presentations are being accepted no later than Jan. 30, 2004. Details about the Submission of these Abstracts can be found on the Symposium’s Web site at http://www.csg.org Information regarding Registration, Program Agenda, and submissions of Abstracts can be found on the EMAP Symposium’s Web site. For further information contact Brian D. Melzian, Ph.D. at (401) 782-3188 or Amanda Mays at (859) 244-8236 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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