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WaterNews for April 13, 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:
EPA Testifies on Lead in D.C. Drinking WaterOn April 7, 2004, Acting Assistant Administrator Benjamin Grumbles and Regional Administrator Donald Welsh (Region 3) testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on EPA efforts involving lead in drinking water in Washington, D.C. Welch described Region 3's actions to help correct current problems. Grumbles explained EPA actions to review compliance with the 1991 Lead and Copper Rule nationally, work with states and localities on lead in drinking water at schools and day-care facilities, and plan workshops and other efforts to review possible changes to existing guidance and rules. Testimony is available at http://www.epa.gov/water/speeches/040704_grumbles.pdf or http://www.epa.gov/water/speeches/ EPA Proposes Methods UpdateEPA proposed changes to procedures under Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act compliance monitoring programs on March 6. Published in the Federal Register, the proposal approves several new analytical methods for compliance monitoring and withdraws other EPA methods. The Agency proposed new sample collection procedures, general analytical requirements for multi-analyte methods, and method flexibility requirements for its Clean Water Act programs. In particular, we seek feedback on the microbiological alternate test procedure guidance document and will accept comments until June 7, 2004. For more information or to review the Federal Register notice, visit the Agency’s web site at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/methods/update2003/. New Version of AQUATOX Is AvailableEPA’s Office of Water has released an enhanced version of AQUATOX, a user-friendly simulation model for aquatic ecosystems. It will help users evaluate and illustrate the causal links between the chemical and physical environment and the living systems that inhabit our waters. AQUATOX can predict the fate of pollutants and their effects on the ecosystem. While it’s been available for several years, the enhanced Release 2 allows a more complete and realistic representation of the ecosystem. AQUATOX is a valuable tool for ecologists, biologists, water quality modelers, and anyone involved in performing ecological risk assessments. You can download AQUATOX Release 2 and accompanying documentation at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/models/aquatox/. CD-ROMs and hard copies of the documentation will soon be available from the National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP) at 1-800-490-9198 or from the Water Resources Center at 202-566-1729. Upcoming Indicator WorkshopEPA will hold an “International Workshop on Coliphages as Indicators of Fecal Contamination in Water and Other Environmental Media” at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Crystal City, Virginia, on April 20-21. Participants will review the latest scientific information on this topic and the current status of coliphage detection methods 1601 and 1602. The workshop will feature a presentation of the data from a three-year EPA multi-laboratory field study conducted in four U.S. regional aquifers. To get input from coliphage virologists and microbiologists from around the world, invited experts will discuss unique aspects of coliphages as indicators, the methods used to detect them, and the results of the field study. For further technical information about the meeting, contact Dr. Nena Nwachuku by calling 202/566-1116 or sending her an e-mail to nwachuku.nena@epamail.epa.gov. You can get further information about registration, location, and accommodations by contacting Susan Bjork of The Cadmus Group at 617/673-7166 or by e-mail at sbjork@cadmusgroup.com 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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