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WaterNews for July 6, 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:
Agency Proposes Federal Standards for BeachesOn July 1, EPA took an important step forward in fulfilling the Administration’s commitment to further protect the quality of the Nation’s beaches. EPA proposed more protective health-based federal water quality standards for states and territories bordering Great Lakes or ocean waters which have not yet adopted these standards. The Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Heath (BEACH) Act of 2000 requires each state and territory with coastal recreation waters to adopt health-based bacteria standards that are “as protective of human health as” EPA’s 1986 criteria for bacteria. The Act also requires EPA to promptly propose regulations for states and territories that fail to adopt these criteria by April 10, 2004. EPA expects to publish a final rule later in 2004, after we have received and responded to public comment. Learn more about the beach protection program and this proposal by visiting www.epa.gov/beaches/ or to read the press release at http://www.epa.gov/newsroom/#map Getting In Step with Phase II - A workshop for city and county stormwater managersEPA recently held two successful and well attended Getting In Step With Phase II workshops. Participants in these two day workshops received in-depth training on several of the Phase II minimum measures, including education, outreach and public involvement, illicit discharge detection and elimination, and construction and post-construction. There is still time to sign up for one of the remaining six workshops (listed below). The agenda for each workshop varies depending on the needs of communities in that area. This workshop series is a collaborative effort among many experts in the field, including EPA's Office of Wastewater Management and Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watershed, the Center for Watershed Protection, and Tetra Tech, Inc. For more information, visit www.epa.gov/npdes/gettinginstepwithphase2 New Orleans, Louisiana -- July 7 - 8, 2004 EPA Responds to Sierra Club PetitionOn June 25, the Agency announced its decision not to establish federal water quality standards for portions of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers because the involved states have or are taking appropriate actions to assure the same outcome. On February 26, 2003, the Ozark Chapter of the Sierra Club submitted a petition requesting this action. EPA agrees with the Sierra Club that the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers are valuable resources that must be protected. The Agency is denying their specific request but committing to several actions. This decision is based on EPA’s evaluation of current water quality standards, existing scientific knowledge for each pollutant of concern, and whether the affected states are revising water quality standards that would address potential concerns. Final Rule for Aquaculture ReleasedOn June 30, EPA finalized a rule to establish wastewater controls for concentrated aquatic animal production facilities (known as fish farms). The regulation applies to about 245 facilities that generate wastewater from their operations and discharge that wastewater directly to waters of the United States. When these requirements are applied in NPDES permits, they will help reduce discharges of conventional pollutants (mainly Total Suspended Solids), non-conventional pollutants (such as nutrients, drugs and chemicals) and toxic pollutants (metals and PCBs). Learn more about the rule by visiting EPA’s Internet site at www.epa.gov/guide/aquaculture/. Join Leaders at the Asset Management ConferenceFor the first time The International Water Association is conducting one of it's Leading Edge Conferences in the United States. The Leading Edge Asset Conference will be held July 26-27, 2004 in San Francisco, CA. Some of the top experts from both the United States and abroad will attend the conference. Steve Allbee, in the Office of Water, served as a member of the steering committee which is bringing the conference to the United States. He can be reach at 202-564-0581. For more information on the conference visit www.lea2004.iwa-conferences.org 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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