News & Announcements
 Study: BP discharges into Lake Michigan wouldn't harm environment - Author Bill Ruthhart - December 7, 2007
This Week in Washington
President Issues Veto Message for Water Resources Bill
President Bush this week issued his veto message for the Water Resources Development Act of 2007
(WRDA), which Congress sent to him on Sept. 24. The Act authorizes water resources projects to be
undertaken by the Army Corps of Engineers, including ecosystem restoration projects in the Florida
Everglades and hurricane protection projects in New Orleans. The final legislation was passed by a margin of
381-40 in the House of Representatives and 81-20 in the Senate. WRDA represents years of negotiating
between the Senate and House to finalize re-authorization legislation that was last enacted in 2000.
Congress tried to re-authorize WRDA in each of the last three sessions of Congress but was unable to agree
on a compromise. The Administration is opposing the bill primarily because of its price tag, which is estimated
at $23 billion over fifteen years. Among reform measures included in the Act are creation of the a Committee
on Levee Safety that would make recommendations for a national levee safety program; requirements for
independent technical reviews for Corps projects exceeding $45 million; and a safety review of construction
activities for flood and storm damage projects at the discretion of the agency’s Chief of Engineers. The Act
also authorizes projects that relate to water and wastewater municipal infrastructure projects. Given the
wide margins by which the legislation passed both chambers, it appears that a congressional override of a
presidential veto is likely.
New Report Details States' Wastewater Needs
A new report released Oct. 2 by Food and Water Watch, an advocacy group working to stop the corporate
control of food and water, details how states' wastewater needs are exceeding their available funding. In
Clear Waters: Why America Needs a Clean Water Trust Fund, the group examines trends in clean water
spending state-by-state, demonstrates the need for urgent action, and explains the benefits of establishing
a clean water trust fund. The report highlights that a majority of states are facing current and projected
wastewater infrastructure needs that far exceed available funding. For example, according to the report,
Minnesota's wastewater needs are more than five times its current funding capabilities and more than 90
times its 2007 federal allotment. The federal government is not meeting its obligations by funding the Clean
Water State Revolving Fund, the report said. The report is available at www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/pubs/reports/clear-waters-clean-water-trust-fund.
EPA To Hold Meeting of the Total Coliform Rule Distribution System Advisory Committee
EPA announced in the Oct. 1 Federal Register that it will hold a meeting of the Total Coliform Rule Distribution
System Advisory Committee (TCRDSAC). The TCRDSAC advises and makes recommendations to the agency
on revisions to the Total Coliform Rule (TCR), and on what information should be collected, research
conducted, and/or risk management strategies evaluated to better inform distribution system contaminant
occurrence and associated public health risks. Topics to be discussed in the meeting include available public
health information and how it relates to the TCR; how the TCR relates to other Safe Drinking Water Act
regulations, such as the Ground Water Rule; TCR implementation and compliance; and information on
distribution system issues that may impact water quality. The public meeting will be held on Wednesday, Oct.
17. Additional information is available at www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-MEETINGS/2007/October/Day-01/m19316.htm.
WERF Makes Funding Available for Research on Biosolids Pathogen Risk Assessment
The Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) is accepting proposals for research addressing
biosolids pathogen risk assessment and the effective communication of results. WERF anticipates funding of
approximately $250,000 - $500,000 for the first year of research. WERF wants this research to facilitate use
of biosolids pathogens risk assessment methodologies for the purpose of making them generally applicable
and available to potential users at the local, state, and national level. A complementary activity will be to
ensure that the best risk communications science and practices are available to communicate the results.
Proposals are due no later than Nov. 16. Additional information, including a complete request for proposals,
is available at www.werf.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Funding/OpenRFPs/default.htm.
Quote of the Week:
"You do not ask a tame seagull why it needs to disappear from time to time toward the open sea. It goes,
that's all."
- Bernard Moitessier, renowned French yachtsman, from The Long Way, 1971
This Week in Washington is provided by the Water Environment Federation, Alexandria, VA and is available
on-line at www.wef.org/GovernmentAffairs/TWIW.
The Young Professionals Seminar: Pump Stations: Critical Components to Your Collection Systems
The event took place on September 19, 2007 at Purdue University's Stewart Center. 56 professionals were in attendance. The seminar included information on the process of Planning, Design, Funding, Permitting and Construction fro sanitary system infrastructure projects. The content of the seminar was directed to students and young professionals interested in learning more about this process. The following are the presentations from the seminar:
- Pump Stations: Critical Components to Your Collection Systems
- Case Study: Pear River CSO Project
- IWEA Pump Station Seminar: Contractors Perspective
- West Lafayette Wastewater Treatment Utility
- The Nuts and Bolts of Lift Station Design
- Tapping into the State Revolving Fund Loan Program
Indiana Water
Environment Association's
Public Education Committee Adopt a School Program
At Work
Michigan City, Indiana. Knapp Elementary School fourth graders got a chance to
get out of the classroom and get their hands dirty testing water samples and
learning about water quality on September 24, 2007 with a chemist, during a
field trip to Striebel Pond Flood Control Facility.
Michigan City Sanitary District chemist, Kathleen Janatik, who is also a
volunteer for the Indiana Water Environment Association Public Education
Adopt A School Program, set up a temporary lab under a pavilion and mentored
70 students on the water cycle, saving water, from rain to drain, what is
wastewater and bugs-microscopic organisms lecture and basic directions for use
of Water Environment Federation’s (WEF) Water Monitoring Kits.
Students were grouped into teams, choosing their own team name and proceeded
to march 3/4 mile to the small bridge sampling site at Striebel Pond. Each
student had a part in the job of collecting the water sample. Once they
returned to the make-shift-field laboratory each team completed testing for
pH, Dissolved Oxygen, Temperature, and Turbidity. Each team documented their
data in their booklet. Jodi Wilson, their teacher will assist students to
report their findings online at the world water monitoring day website; www.worldwatermonitoringday.org.
Keeping Your Head Above Water in the Regulatory World
On August 15, the IWEA Government Affairs Committee hosted its annual summer workshop
in Indianapolis. Featured speakers included IDEM Assistant Commissioner Bruno Pigott, IDEM
Wet Weather Section Chief Cyndi Wagner and Janet McCabe of Improving Kids’ Environment.
During the conference, Mr. Pigott announced that IDEM soon will take three non-rule policy
documents to the Indiana Water Pollution Control Board. Those non-rule policies deal with
IDEM’s existing use interpretation, CSO-related bypasses and CSO treatment facilities. The
Government Affairs Committee has been working with IDEM staff since last November on all
three issues. IWEA will post the new policies to its website once they are published by IDEM.
Mr. Pigott also noted that Gov. Mitch Daniels has asked James Barnes of Indiana University’s
School of Public and Environmental Affairs to review IDEM’s permit process in light of the BP
Whiting refinery controversy. Bruno Pigott indicated that IDEM continues to work on permits,
including those on Lake Michigan. However, permittees should expect increased scrutiny and
longer public comment periods. "The process will be slow and more deliberative," he said. Here’s
a link to the Indianapolis Star story on the Barnes permit review:
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007708140401
Jack Dillon of South Bend, Fred Andes of Barnes & Thornburg and Rosemary Spalding of
Spalding & Hilmes provided attendees with valuable advice on negotiating CSO orders and
decrees. Some key advice: Keep the focus of the order or consent decree narrow, simplify
milestones and reporting requirements, define how compliance will be measured at the end,
educate the agencies about your story, and above all, don’t take it personally.
The workshop presentations can be found on the IWEA website by clicking here. For more
information or to be added to the Government Affairs Committee e-mail distribution list, contact
Jodi Perras at perrasjodi@comcast.net.
Click the links to view conference schedule and speaker presentations:
NACWA Meets with EPA on Financial Capability Issues
NACWA met with Jim Hanlon, Director of EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management, on June 18 to discuss
the clean water community’s concerns with the Agency’s current approach to conducting financial capability
assessments. NACWA provided an overview of its Targeted Action Fund (TAF) project to develop guiding
principles on what should be considered when evaluating whether a community can afford a particular water
quality-related program. Currently, local conditions, like poverty rates and a community’s economic outlook,
are only included as part of a broad grouping of "additional considerations." They are not included in the
scoring process, which relies heavily on median household income, and have historically not been a factor in
making final determinations on what is affordable.
NACWA and EPA also discussed the draft report from EPA’s Environmental Financial Advisory Board
(EFAB), which closely mirrored some of the approaches taken in NACWA’s guiding principles. While EPA
seems comfortable with some of the EFAB recommendations, NACWA does not anticipate that the Agency
will make any major changes to its existing guidance and instead will likely make some minor changes to
‘freshen’ the concepts and assumptions that have changed since the document was issued in 1997. A new
policy issued by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), indicating that OMB will
review significant guidance documents developed by EPA and other federal agencies, appears to be a
major consideration for EPA and may impact the extent of any revisions to the financial capability guidance.
NACWA’s work on its guiding principles is nearly complete and the final document will be made available to
the membership soon. The workgroup that has overseen the development of the principles will be preparing
some additional text to better explain how the principles and associated materials may be used by individual
utilities.
Science Advisory Board Report on Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Problem
U.S. EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) is now preparing to release a draft report on the Gulf of Mexico
hypoxia problem. The report recommends, among other things, nutrient reductions of 40-45% and
wastewater treatment plant upgrades to achieve limit of technology levels for nitrogen and phosphorus. The
report’s recommendations specifically discuss controls for the major treatment plants (over 1 MGD) in the
Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin (MARB), which would include plants discharging to the Ohio, Missouri,
Platte, Arkansas, and Tennessee river systems. The draft version that NACWA reviewed is available on the
SAB’s website (http://www.epa.gov/sab/panels/hypoxia_adv_panel.htm).
Inflow and Infiltration Information Available in WEF Private Property Virtual Library
Members dealing with infiltration and inflow (I/I) issues from private laterals may be interested in a new
virtual library being offered by the Water Environment Federation (WEF). The recently launched online
library lets utilities compare what they are doing to control I/I from private laterals to other communities from
across the country (http://www.wef.org/privateproperty). The Water Environment Research Foundation
(WERF) is assisting WEF in the continued collection of information on private lateral programs and on
conveyance system issues areas.
Report from EPA Recreational Water Quality Criteria Experts Workshop Released
The proceedings from the March 2007 EPA workshop on the development of new, scientifically-based
recreational water quality criteria to protect human health were released on June 15
(http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/criteria/recreation/). The report summarizes the experts’ findings in seven
topic areas and outlines near-term research needs that could be accomplished in two to three years to
support development of new or revised criteria by 2012.
Wastewater Certification Rule
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is in the process of updating and rewriting the Wastewater Certification Rules. Below are the documents pertaining to this undertaking. IDEM has invited IWEA to be a part of this process. Therefore, Lynn Newvine and Herb Corn have asked the public to review the rules and submit suggestions and/or comments to help them with developing the new documents.
To submit a suggestion and/or comment to Herb Corn and Lynn Newvine click here.
| 327 IAC 5-22 |
Rule 22. Classification of Wastewater Treatment Plants; Examination and
Certification of Operators |
| 327 IAC 8-12 |
Rule 12. Classification of Community Public Water System and Nontransient
Noncommunity Public Water System Treatment Plants and Distribution Systems;
Examination and Certification of Operators |
The Water Environment Federation supports the relief agencies working to provide
needed resources and to bring clean water and sanitation to victims of the
tsunamis in Asia. WEF encourages you to contact the agencies below for updates
on the situation and to learn how you can contribute to this greatly needed
humanitarian effort.
Center for
International Disaster Information
U.S. Agency
for International Development
American Red Cross
Water for
People
Contributions to the American Red Cross can be made instantly at www.amazon.com
IWEA
and the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns (IACT)
Release a White Paper: " Reducing Sewer Overflows:
The Obstacles Faced by Indiana Municipalities Working
to Improve Water Quality" 
The
IDEM Response
Does your wastewater
plant have to meet new Rule 6 guidelines? Click
here and find out.
(This
application requires Adobe Acrobat to read. If you
do not have this installed, you may download and
install it for free).
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