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WaterNews for April 26, 2005Benjamin 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:
Progress Reported on President’s Wetland Gain InitiativeOn April 21, 2005, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued a report on efforts of 6 Federal agencies, including EPA, to meet President Bush’s Earth Day 2004 challenge of restoring, improving and protecting 3 million acres of wetlands by 2009. CEQ reports an overall gain of 832,000 acres (restored, improved, protected) over the past year, through nonregulatory stewardship programs, while also underscoring the importance of Clean Water Act tools to achieve “no net loss” of wetlands. EPA Celebrates American Wetlands Month in MayEPA will join others across the nation to celebrate American Wetlands Month in May, for the 15th year, with events highlighting the importance of protecting wetlands. The theme for the celebration is “Pays to Save Wetlands “ and focuses on the many economic values of wetlands, such as flood control and improving water quality. The calendar of nationwide events can be found at http://www.iwla.org/sos/awm/events The Environmental Law Institute, nonprofits, the EPA and other Federal agencies will honor the winners of the annual National Wetlands Awards on May 20, in Washington, D.C. The awards honor individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to wetlands conservation, research or education projects at the Regional, State or local level. Assistant Administrator Benjamin Grumbles will make an appearance at Wetlands Awareness Day at Huntley Meadows Park in Fairfax County, VA, to help celebrate the 20th anniversary of the park. EPA and other Federal employees will partner with the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program on May 7 to clean up a wetland at Dyke Marsh on the Potomac River. International Migratory Bird Day will be celebrated at the National Zoo on April 30-May 1. For more about wetlands protection and how you can take part in the celebration see www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands. NPDES Permits Program Overview Course in Salt Lake City in JuneA NPDES Permits Program Overview course for permitees – including new and emerging issues – is scheduled for June 14 – 15, 2005 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Co-Sponsored by USEPA, Water Environment Federation, & Water Environment Association of Utah, the program is designed to provide attendees with a strong understanding of the purpose of the NPDES program as well as the mechanics for developing, issuing, and implementing an NPDES permit. The permit development and issuance process requires a significant investment of resources for both the permitting authority and the permit holder. The objective of this course is to increase understanding by both the permit holder and permit writer as a means to help reduce permit issuance time and lead to increased permit compliance. You can find more information, including registration information and an agenda at
EPA Seeks Nominations for 2005 Clean Water Act Recognition AwardsThe Office of Water is now accepting nominations for the 2005 Clean Water Act Recognition Awards. The awards recognize municipalities and industries for outstanding and innovative technological achievements in wastewater treatment and pollution abatement programs. Awards are presented for outstanding and noteworthy projects or programs in the following categories: operations and maintenance (O&M) at publicly-owned wastewater treatment facilities; biosolids management; pretreatment programs; storm water management; and combined sewer overflow (CSO) controls. The awards will be presented during the Water Environment Federation’s Technical Exposition and Conference (WEFTEC) scheduled for Monday, Oct. 31, 2005 at the Washington Convention Center, in Washington, DC. Organizations that wish to be nominated should contact their State water pollution control agency or EPA regional office to get copies of the guidance, forms and submission deadline dates. You can find more information about the awards and a list of contacts at www.epa.gov/owm/mtb/intnet.htm. 2005 National Forum on Contaminants in FishJoin your colleagues on Sept. 18-21, 2005, in the Baltimore, MD Inner Harbor to learn about the latest issues regarding chemical contaminants in fish at the 2005 7th Annual National Forum on Contaminants in Fish. Forum attendees include health and environmental officials from state, tribal, and federal agencies and others interested in presenting and discussing issues related to assessing and managing potential health risks associated with dietary exposure to bioaccumulative chemical contaminants in fish. The agenda will focus on state, tribal, and federal activities related to managing health risks and benefits of consuming fish. General sessions for the 2005 Forum include:
For program information, please visit the Forum website at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/fish/ or contact Jeff Bigler, USEPA at (202) 566-0389 or bigler.jeff@epa.gov. Updated Drinking Water Lab Certification Manual Now AvailableEPA's Office of Water has completed the fifth edition of the Manual for the Certification of Laboratories Analyzing Drinking Water, last updated in March 1997. This technical manual describes criteria and procedures that EPA uses in evaluating laboratories for certification. The manual was revised to address the recently promulgated drinking water regulations and methods. You can find the guidance on our web site at www.epa.gov/safewater/labcert/labindex.html. For information concerning this guidance, contact Caroline Madding at (513) 569-7402. 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 listserve: 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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