
	Water

Water Headlines for October 5, 2006

Benjamin H. Grumbles
Assistant Administrator
Office of Water

Water Headlines 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 Water Headlines:

New Strategic Plan for 2006-2011 now available
EPA Released Draft Guidance on use of Underground Injection Control Wells for Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide
EPA's Watershed Academy to sponsor Oct.11th Webcast on Getting Started in Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring
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New Strategic Plan for 2006-2011 now available

EPA recently forwarded to Congress and released to the public its Strategic Plan for 2006 - 2011. The new Strategic Plan is available on the internet at http://www.epa.gov/ocfo/plan/plan.htm. The document discusses important new challenges and opportunities that are likely to arise in the coming years and more clearly identifies the environmental and human health outcomes the public can expect. Goal 2 of the new Strategic Plan addresses goals and strategies for clean and safe water. Some aspects of the National Water Program, such as wetlands protection, and Great Waterbody Programs, are addressed in Goal 4 of the Plan titled "Health Communities and Ecosystems." The Office of Water and EPA Regional offices will be working closely with States, Tribes, and others to implement the new Plan in the coming years.

EPA Released Draft Guidance on use of Underground Injection Control Wells for Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide

Geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a promising technology that could help reduce global CO₂ emissions. Underground injection of CO₂ for the purposes of sequestration is covered by the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) under the Underground Injection Control (UIC) program and EPA is working closely with DOE to address technical and policy questions to enable safe and effective deployment of this technology. EPA is releasing a draft guidance to help facilitate state agencies to permit the Department of Energy's (DOE) Regional Partnership pilot projects, which will be injecting small volumes of CO₂ primarily for research purposes, as UIC Class V experimental technology wells. In order to provide permitting flexibility, the guidance discusses technical considerations that should be taken into account when issuing a project permit and strongly encourages permits to be designed in a way that maximizes relevant data gathering while still protecting underground sources of drinking water and human health. "Our guidance advances innovative technologies that can help reduce global CO₂ emissions, while protecting underground drinking water supplies and public health," said Benjamin H. Grumbles. "We're using regulatory tools under the Safe Drinking Water Act to be both protective and proactive." EPA is also carrying out a wide range of activities to help the Agency evaluate whether there is a need to develop new regulations for future commercial-scale CO₂ injection project. The document is available on the EPA web site at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/uic/wells_sequestration.html.

EPA’s Watershed Academy to sponsor Oct.11^th Webcast on Getting Started in Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring

EPA’s Watershed Academy sponsors free monthly Webcasts for watershed practitioners from around the globe. On Wed., Oct. 11^th, Linda Green of Rhode Island Watershed Watch and Danielle Donkersloot of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection will provide a primer on starting a volunteer water quality program. Instructors will discuss key steps to follow, questions to ponder, examples of success stories, and where the best resources are for further information. They will also introduce a tiered approach to ensure the best use of volunteer-collected data. The data use tiers are defined by the purpose of the program, the intended use of its data, and the intended data users. Also, participants will learn about World Water Monitoring Day, celebrated every Oct., to raise awareness about the importance of water quality monitoring (http://www.worldwatermonitoringday.org/ ). Registration for this Webcast will open on Oct. 4^th. Please visit http://www.epa.gov/watershedwebcasts/ for additional information.

The Nov. 29^th Webcast, Protecting Drinking Water Sources: Assessments and Opportunities, will feature Beth Hall from EPA’s Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water; Chris Crockett, Technical Advisory Work Group Chair for American Water Works Association and Manager of Watershed Protection for the Philadelphia Water Department; and Sheree Stewart, Source Water Coordinator, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Registration will open in mid-Nov. Please note that audio versions of past Webcasts are available for downloading at: http://www.epa.gov/watershedwebcasts/. Be sure to check out these free training seminars featuring national watershed experts!

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