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WaterNews for August 17, 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:
Brent Fewell Named EPA’s Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for WaterBrent Fewell has been appointed as the principal deputy assistant administrator in the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water. As the deputy to Assistant Administrator for Water Benjamin H. Grumbles, Fewell is responsible for advising in the development and implementation of critical agency decisions related to national water policy. A native of Greensboro, N.C., Fewell joined EPA in September 2004 from the Pittsburgh office of the international law firm Jones Day. Fewell previously served as an environmental scientist with several consulting firms, where he advised clients on human health and ecological risk assessments, environmental permitting, compliance auditing and impact analyses. Fewell earlier focused on wetlands and endangered species during service with the National Wildlife Federation and North Carolina Wildlife Federation. He also worked for the National Park Service at Yellowstone National Park. Fewell graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Management from the University of Maine in 1988. He earned a Master of Environmental Management from Duke University in 1991, and a Juris Doctorate from Duquesne University in 1998, where he served on the law-review staff. Final 2006 Integrated Report Guidance ReleasedEPA has released the 2006 Integrated Report Guidance for states, territories, authorized tribes, and interstate commissions that help states prepare and submit Clean Water Act reports on their water quality. The document outlines development of biennial Integrated Reports (IR) that support EPA's strategy for achieving a broad-scale inventory of water quality conditions. Each IR will report on the water quality standards attainment status of all waters, document the availability of data and information for each waterbody, identify certain trends in water quality conditions, and provide information to managers in setting priorities for future actions to protect and restore the health of our nation's water resources. The IR Guidance, fact sheet, and highlights are posted on EPA's Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl/2006IRG . For more information contact Sarah Furtak at furtak.sarah@epa.gov or 202-566-1167. EPA Proposes New Test Methods for Wastewater and Sewage SludgeEPA is proposing new test methods that will lead to the detection of four types of bacteria in wastewater and sewage sludge. EPA's proposal centers on culture-based approaches to detecting enterococci and Escherichia coli (E. coli) in wastewater. Additional tests will identify salmonella and fecal coliform bacteria in sewage sludge. The bacteria are seen as "health indicators" that point to possible contamination and the need for further investigation and treatment. The new tests will yield results within 24 hours and provide treatment facilities with an indication of the effectiveness of their treatment techniques. Information about this and other water analytical methods are available at: http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/methods . Proposed Rule for Iron and Steel Manufacturing
In a Federal Register Notice, EPA is proposing to amend certain provisions of the effluent guidelines for Iron and Steel Manufacturing. Based on new information and analysis, the Agency is proposing to reinstate the provision authorizing alternative oil and grease limitations with one exception. The notice also proposes to correct errors in the effective date of new source performance standards. Comments must be received by September 9, 2005. To review the Federal Register Notice, visit: http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-WATER/2005/August/Day-10/w15834.htm. To Help Protect Public Health Additional Data Sought for 26 Drinking Water ContaminantsTwenty-six unregulated contaminants may be monitored by many U.S. drinking water suppliers under a new rule proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. This second cycle of the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 2) also proposes the use of several analytical methods to detect the contaminants. The data collected through the monitoring program is used to help EPA determine whether to regulate a contaminant in the interest of protecting public health. The monitoring will be conducted sometime during July 2007 through June 2009. It will provide the Agency with scientifically valid data on the occurrence of these contaminants in drinking water and help the agency assess the potential population being exposed to each contaminant and the levels of that exposure. The rule encompasses contaminants that are not regulated under existing law. EPA currently has regulations for more than 90 contaminants. The Safe Drinking Water Act requires EPA to identify up to 30 contaminants for monitoring every five years. The first cycle, UCMR 1, published in 1999, covered 25 chemicals and one microorganism. For general information on UCMR 2, please visit the EPA Safewater website at www.epa.gov/safewater/ucmr or call the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 800-426-4791, Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Eastern time. 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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