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WaterNews for September 29, 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:
Pretreatment Streamlining Rule FinalizedEPA finalized the Pretreatment Streamlining Rule which revises how industrial and commercial facilities manage their wastewater discharges before sending it on to publicly owned treatment works for final treatment. The pretreatment program requires manufacturing dischargers to use treatment techniques and management practices to reduce or eliminate the discharge of harmful pollutants that could compromise municipal treatment plant processes or contaminate waterways. “This rule helps reduce paperwork and increase incentives for water conservation, while maintaining important water quality protections,” said Assistant Administrator for Water Benjamin H. Grumbles. EPA estimates the rule will save 240,000 employee hours or $10.1 million annually currently expended on pretreatment requirements. The pretreatment streamlining rule updates the National Pretreatment Program which has been in place for more than 30 years. Details about the pretreatment streamlining rule are at www.epa.gov/npdes/pretreatment. Administrator Reaffirms Indian PolicyEPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson reaffirmed the EPA Indian Policy at the National Tribal Operations Committee meeting on Sept. 26, in Arlington, Virginia. EPA was the first federal agency to adopt a formal Indian Policy in 1984. EPA recognizes that the United States has a unique legal relationship with tribal governments based on the Constitution, treaties, statutes, Executive Orders, and court decisions. This relationship includes a recognition of the right of Tribes as sovereign governments to self-determination, and an acknowledgment of the federal government’s trust responsibility to Tribes. EPA works with Tribes on a government-to-government basis to protect the land, air, and water in Indian country. Information about EPA’s American Indian Environmental Office is at http://www.epa.gov/indian/. The Administrator also formally recognized Calvin Murphy, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, for his three years of dedicated leadership as chair of the National Tribal Caucus. Mississippi River Basin Nutrients Science Workshop to be held in St. LouisEPA’s Office of Water is hosting a 3-day scientific workshop from October 4-6, 2005, in St. Louis, Missouri to assess the state of the science regarding the fate and effect of nutrients in large rivers in the Mississippi River Basin. This workshop will review the available science from government, academia, industry and environmental organizations and will seek to identify the best and most expedient approaches to developing nutrient water quality standards to protect the basin and the Gulf of Mexico. This will help improve the understanding of the science surrounding nutrients in large river systems, and how those nutrients may affect those water systems. Following the workshop a report summarizing all deliberations and findings will be available. EPA expects the report will establish a clear road map for a collaborative effort that will lead to the setting of standards and possible approaches for improving nutrient management in the Mississippi River Basin. For more information visit: http://epa.gov/owow/msbasin/news/index.htm.
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