WaterNews for November 30, 2004

Benjamin Grumbles
Acting 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.

In This Week’s WaterNews:

1. Great Lakes Declaration To Be Signed
2. National Meeting on Lead in School Drinking Water
3. Coral Reef Task Force Meeting To Be Held in Miami
4. Subscribe to WaterNews

1. Great Lakes Declaration To Be Signed

Dozens of government officials and Tribal representatives will convene on Friday, Dec. 3, in Chicago to sign a Great Lakes Declaration and a framework document for the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration. Officials in attendance will include members of President Bush’s cabinet, United States senators and congressmen, state senators and representatives, and Great Lakes governors, Tribes, and mayors.

The Great Lakes Declaration is an intergovernmental pledge of support to develop a strategy to further protect and restore the Great Lakes through the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration process. The Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Framework outlines the process for developing a Great Lakes restoration and protection strategy. The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. at the Hilton Chicago Hotel. Attendees Include: EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt, Secretary Tom Ridge, Jim Connaughton, Governor George Pataki, Governor Jim Doyle, Governor Bob Taft, Governor Rod Blagojevich, Senator Richard Durbin, Congressman Vernon Ehlers, Congresswoman Judy Biggert, Congressman Mark Kirk, Congressman Rahm Emanuel, Congressman Thaddeus McCotter, Frank Ettawageshik, Chairman, Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians and fifteen other Tribal leaders, Mayor Richard Daley (Chicago, Ill.), Mayor Scott King (Gary, Ind.) Mayor Jerry Irby (Marquette, Mich.), Mayor George Heartwell (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Mayor Herb Bergson (Duluth, Mich.), Mayor Jack Ford (Toledo, Ohio), Mayor Richard E. Filippi (Erie, Pa.), Mayor Tom Barrett (Milwaukee, Wis.), Mayor Gary Becker (Racine, Wis.), Mayor Dave Ross (Superior, Wis.), and others. For information go to http://www.epa.gov/.

2. National Meeting on Lead in School Drinking Water

EPA with support from the Department of Education, is bringing together experts and officials for a one-day workshop on preventing and reducing lead in drinking water at schools and child-care facilities on Tuesday, Dec. 7, at the Wyndham Washington Hotel in Washington, D.C. This is the 5th in a series of workshops that EPA has convened to exchange ideas, opportunities, and challenges concerning the Lead and Copper Rule. The public is invited to observe the workshop, but attendance is limited and registration is required. To register by phone, please contact Sarah Koppel at 202-564-3859, or register by e-mail at koppel.sarah@epa.gov. To read the announcement visit http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-WATER/2004/November/Day-09/w24922.htm.

3. Coral Reef Task Force Meeting To Be Held in Miami

The Office of Water is embarking on a process under the Clean Water Act to develop biological assessment methods and biological criteria for coral reefs. As a result, EPA is holding a Coral Reef Task Force meeting on Thursday, Dec. 2, in Miami, Fl. Benjamin Grumbles, Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water, will be the featured speaker.

By 2006, EPA expects to issue methods for states, tribes, and territories of use to establish narrative or numeric criteria to protect the biological quality for these valuable ecosystems. Biocriteria for coral reefs will help EPA and its partners better assess water quality and the biological health of coral reefs. We will be able to better identify at risk reefs and better determine how they need to be restored to support healthy ecosystems. For more information on coral reefs visit http://www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/coral/taskforce.html.

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