USDA and EPA to Hold Three Public Meetings for Clean Water Action Plan - USDA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will co-sponsor three public meetings across the country this month on water quality. Agriculture Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment James R. Lyons and Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Thomas R. Hebert, along with EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Robert Perciasepe, will host these sessions scheduled for Atlanta, GA, on November 20; Columbia, MO, on November 21; and Sacramento, CA, on November 25.

The meetings are part of the initiative announced by Vice President Al Gore on October 18, 1997, the 25th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, to tackle the Nation's most serious water quality problems.

The meetings provide opportunities for USDA and EPA officials to hear the public's views about what the Federal Government should be doing to protect water quality and wetlands from runoff and associated forms of pollution in the Nation's cities and rural areas.

Information from the hearings will be used to help develop--by mid-February--a Clean Water Action Plan for the Nation to achieve three key goals: protect public health, prevent polluted runoff, and ensure community-based watershed management.

Information on the action plan is available on the World Wide Web homepages of both agencies at http://www.nhq.nrcs.usda.gov/cleanwater/ or http://www.epa.gov/cleanwater/.

Comments may be mailed by December 8 to Denise Coleman, USDA, NRCS, Room 6032, South Building, P.O. Box 2890, Washington, D.C., 20013, or to Robert Goo, Assessment and Watershed Protection Division (4503F), U.S. EPA, 401 M St., SW, Washington, D.C. 20406.

USDA Administrative Convergence - USDA's Administrative Convergence Action Team (ACAT) has presented to Secretary Glickman its options for administrative convergence. Comprising these options are the agencies' information technology, civil rights, human resources, management service, and financial management functions. The Secretary will make his recommendations for implementing administrative convergence based on the team's report.

During October, the ACAT World Wide Web Homepage received more than 2,200 hits from those curious about convergence.

National Marketplace for the Environment Conference - USDA was among the sponsors of the National Marketplace for the Environment Conference held at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., on November 18-20, to highlight environmentally preferable products, technologies, and services.

USDA exhibited products made from agricultural materials including crayons from soybeans and a natural absorbent made from cornstarch used in products ranging from diapers to fuel filters.

State Technical Committee Rule - The State Technical Committee rule was cleared by the Office of Management and Budget on November 18. The rule is expected to be published in the Federal Register within the next two weeks.

Agri-Women to Reap New Opportunity At World Conference - Jill Long Thompson, Under Secretary for Rural Development at USDA, announced that the Second World Conference on Women in Agriculture will be held in Washington D.C., June 28-July 2, 1998. Long Thompson is a member of the President's Interagency Council on Women, which is sponsoring the conference expected to draw 1,200 delegates from more than 40 countries.

"Rural women make up one fourth of the population of the world, yet they are largely unrecognized for the contributions they make," said U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, Chair of the President's Council on Women. "They play a major role not only in their individual communities, but in helping produce the food and raw materials that spur growth in the global economy. In some countries, women produce as much as 80 percent of the food supply."

"Whether managing the family farm or major ranches, working as farm laborers, running agricultural research laboratories, or serving as agricultural officials, women today can be found in every niche of agriculture," she said. "But many women still face major obstacles when they set out to fill roles that have traditionally been held by men."

For more information on the conference, contact USDA at: www.rurdev.usda.gov/rd/icwa or write Jill Long Thompson, 1400 Independence Ave, SW Room 211W, Washington, DC 20250-0107.

First National Mitigation Banking Conference - USDA and NRCS are among the sponsors of the First National Mitigation Banking Conference to be held at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C., April 6-7, 1998. Conference registration is being handled by the Terrene Institute, 4 Herbert St., Alexandria, VA 22305; phone: 703-548-5473; fax: 703-548-6299. For more information contact Gary Wooten, Watersheds and Wetlands Division, National Headquarters, at 202-690-1588, or send e-mail to gary.wooten@usda.gov.

President Signs Fiscal Year (FY) 1998 Agriculture Appropriations - On Tuesday evening, November 18, the President signed the Agriculture Appropriations for FY 98.

http://www.usda.gov/aarc/ - The Alternative Agricultural Research and Commercialization (AARC) Corporation homepage.

http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu - University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.

November - Native American Heritage Month

December 3-6 - 17th International Symposium of the North American Lake Management Society, Houston, TX. Contact Dr. Robert Doyle at 972-436-2215, or send e-mail to loyler@EX1.wes.army.mil, or contact Dr. Alan Groeger at 512-245-2284, or send e-mail to AG11@swt.edu.

December 6-10 - The 59th Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference, Milwaukee, WI. For information visit this Internet site: http://www.dnr.state.wi.us (see "Fish" or "Wildlife"), or call Alan Crossley at 608-275-3242.

December 8-12 - Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Workshop, Westin Crown Center Hotel, Kansas City, MO. For more information contact Larry Babich at 202-720-8770 or Judy Foland at 202-720-9482.

December 10-13 - National Organization of Professional Black Natural Resources Conservation Service Employees Sixth Annual Training Conference, "Bridging the Gap to the New Millennium: A Field of Dreams." Renaissance Atlanta Hotel-Concourse, One Hartsfield Centre Parkway, Atlanta, GA. Hotel reservations are due by November 25. Call 404-209-9999.

January 26-28, 1998 - National Conservation Buffer Initiative Science and Technology Conference and Workshops, San Antonio, TX. Contact the Conservation Technology Information Center at 765-494-9555, or visit the CTIC Web site at http://www.ctic.purdue.edu. The Web address for conference information is http://www.ctic.purdue.edu/Releases/BufferConf.html.

February 10-12, 1998 - "Managing Manure in Harmony with the Environment and Society," Soil and Water Conservation Society West North Central Manure Management Conference, Iowa State Center, Scheman Building, Ames, IA. Contact: Bob Ball, NRCS, Parkade Center, Suite 250, 601 Business Loop 70 West, Columbia, MO 65203. Phone: 573-876-0900.

May 23-28, 1999 - "Sustaining the Global Farm," 10th International Soil Conservation Organization (ISCO) Conference, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. For information contact ISCO conference organizers by telephone at 765-494-8683, by fax at 765-494-5948 c/o ISCO99, or by e-mail at isco99@ecn.purdue.edu. Send correspondence to ISCO99, Purdue University, 1196 SOIL Building, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1196. Check the ISCO Web site at http://soils.ecn.purdue.edu/~isco99 or http://128.46.135.45/~isco99.

"When the well's dry, we know the worth of water."

--Benjamin Franklin, (1706-1790), Poor Richard's Almanac, 1746.

NRCS This Week is issued weekly by the Conservation Communications Staff, NRCS headquarters, Washington, D.C., and posted on the NRCS Home Page at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov. Please send correspondence and material via e-mail to: nancy.garlitz@usda.gov or mail to Editor, "NRCS This Week," NRCS, P.O. Box 2890, Washington, DC 20013 or FAX to Editor, "NRCS This Week," 202-690-1221.

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