Water Headlines for November 15, 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:

• Listening Session on Exploring Bottled Water as an Alternative Compliance Option
• PISCES Award Winners Announced at CIFA Conference
• Watershed Tool of the Month
• December Meeting of Detection & Quantitation Committee
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Listening Session on Exploring Bottled Water as an Alternative Compliance Option

EPA is holding a listening session to explore the possibility of using bottled water as an alternative compliance option for chronic contaminants regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The purpose of this meeting is to identify information and data needed for EPA to evaluate the effectiveness of bottled water as an alternative compliance option for non-transient, non-community water systems. Under SDWA, bottled water is allowed for use in very limited situations such as in emergency situations or as a temporary measure under variances and exemptions. There is no statutory prohibition on the use of bottled water to achieve compliance. However, bottled water is prohibited by regulation for use by a public water system to achieve compliance with a maximum contaminant level (MCL). The listening session will be held in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, December 12, 2006, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Registration will open at 8:00 a.m., at RESOLVE, Inc., 1255 23rd St., NW, Suite 275, Washington, DC 20037. Interested participants from the public should contact Jennifer Moller at Moller.Jennifer@epa.gov or call 202-564-3891 to receive additional details. There is no charge for attending this workshop as an observer, but seats are limited, so register as soon as possible. To request accommodation of a disability, please contact Jennifer Moller, preferably at least 10 days prior to the meeting, to give EPA as much time as possible to process your request.

PISCES Award Winners Announced at CIFA Conference

On November 13, the 2006 winners of the Performance and Innovation in the SRF Creating Environmental Success (PISCES) Award were announced at the national meeting of the Council for Infrastructure Finance Authorities (CIFA) in Philadelphia, PA. The CWSRF PISCES Awards highlight successfully designed projects that further the goal of clean and safe water with exceptional planning, management, and financing. The 2006 Awards were presented to outstanding projects while the 2005 Awards were presented to outstanding state programs. For additional information, including a list of award winners, visit: http://www.epa.gov/owm/cwfinance/cwsrf/2006pisces.htm.

Watershed Tool of the Month

New on-line Watershed Course for Broadcast Meteorologists
Watersheds: Connecting Weather to the Environment

A new on-line course, Watersheds: Connecting Weather to the Environment, provides a unique opportunity for American Meteorological Society (AMS) Sealholders and certified broadcast meteorologists to learn about watersheds and earn credit toward their continuing education requirements. The course is now available on the Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training (COMET ®) distance learning website at: http://www.meted.ucar.edu/broadcastmet/watershed/. It was developed by NEETF and COMET® through a grant from the U.S. EPA.

The course is a primer on how weather events relate to the health of a watershed, and how the public can take simple actions to protect watershed health. The on-line curriculum, while intended for meteorologists, is also highly useful for land use managers, teachers, community leaders, and others interested in learning more about watersheds. It contains a collection of graphics that make it easy for meteorologists and others to explain watersheds visually.

The course complements an on-going effort by NEETF called Earth Gauge™, http://www.earthgauge.net/, which provides environmental tips appropriate to the three-day forecast for 55 television markets and more than 80 participating meteorologists, reaching 130 million viewers. These tips are written and designed to allow weather broadcasters to integrate them into their on-air weather reports . The effort is part of a broader initiative to promote broadcast meteorologists as “station scientists” who can expertly cover environmental and science content. For more information, contact Sara Espinoza at NEETF at: espinoza@neetf.org .

December Meeting of Detection & Quantitation Committee

A meeting of the Federal Advisory Committee on Detection and Quantitation Approaches and Uses in CWA Programs will be held on December 6-8, 2006, in Arlington, Virginia. The Committee will discuss uses for quantitation and detection results, setting measurement quality objectives for detection and quantitation limits, and examining matrix effects in analytical methods. The Committee will also begin to discuss an outline for its final report and recommendations. For more information, contact Marion Kelly (202/566-1045) or visit EPA's web site at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/methods/det/index.html.

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