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Water Headlines for February 26, 2008Benjamin H. Grumbles 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:
Mississippi River/ Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force Meeting in ChicagoThe Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force will hold its 16th public meeting in Chicago from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., February 28th, at the Intercontinental Chicago, 505 N. Michigan Ave. The task force is reassessing the 2001 Action Plan for Reducing, Mitigating and Controlling Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. The public continues to have the opportunity to comment on the revised 2008 Action Plan which will be presented at the 16th meeting for approval by the task force. The meeting will provide a forum for states in the region, whose nutrient contribution has recently been better defined, to weigh in on the action plan that has been designed to increase accountability and specificity. Physical changes to the river basin and complex interactions involving nutrient pollution, primarily nitrogen and phosphorous, carried to the Gulf of Mexico by the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers contributes to hypoxia, a "Dead Zone" with oxygen levels so low, it can not sustain marine life. Excess nutrients can come from runoff from developed land, atmospheric deposition, soil erosion, factory and wastewater treatment plant discharges and agricultural fertilizers. This year the hypoxic zone was the third largest on record - bigger than the State of Massachusetts. The Task Force, made up of state and federal officials, leads efforts to promote and support nutrient management in the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin and continues to work towards their goal to accelerate efforts to reduce the size of the zone through building strong partnerships, developing voluntary and regulatory approaches, and increasing national awareness. For more information on hypoxia and the meeting, visit http://www.epa.gov/msbasin EPA Seeks Public Comment on Possible Drinking Water ContaminantsEPA is asking for public comment on a list of 104 possible drinking water contaminants that may need to be regulated in the future to ensure the continued protection of drinking water. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, EPA includes on the draft Contaminant Candidate List (CCL) currently unregulated contaminants that are known or anticipated to occur in public water systems and which may require regulation. This draft CCL, which is the third such listing, lists 93 chemical contaminants or groups and 11 microbes, and describes the process and basis for selecting these contaminants. "EPA is casting a broader scientific net for potential regulation of chemicals and microbes in drinking water," said Assistant Administrator for Water Benjamin H. Grumbles. "EPA's proposed list of priority contaminants will advance sound science and public health by targeting research on certain chemicals and microbes and informing regulators on how best to reduce risk." The CCL process was established by the 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act as a mechanism to determine if new regulations are needed to protect drinking water. Under this process EPA conducts extensive research into the occurrence and health effects of the listed contaminants before issuing new regulations or standards. In developing the draft CCL 3, the agency implemented a new approach for selecting contaminants which builds upon evaluations used for previous lists and is based on substantial expert input early in the process and recommendations from a larger number of different groups including stakeholders, the National Research Council and the National Drinking Water Advisory Council. The draft list includes chemicals used in commerce, pesticides, biological toxins, disinfection byproducts, and waterborne pathogens. The agency evaluated approximately 7,500 chemicals and microbes and selected 104 candidates for the final draft list based on their potential to pose health risks through drinking water exposure. The comment period is open for 90 days beginning the day of publication in the Federal Register. Information on the CCL 3: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/ccl/ccl3.html EPA Helps Communities Increase Water System SustainabilityEPA is providing tools and timely information to help communities improve sustainability of their water systems. Two new documents that describe how EPA is carrying out efforts to help are the "National Capacity Development Strategic Plan" and "Analysis on the Use of Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Set-Asides: Promoting Capacity Development." EPA works with a number of partners, including organizations that provide technical assistance to small public water systems, to improve technical, managerial, and financial capacity of systems. "Our strategic plan and SRF report will help communities increase capacity for maintaining and sustaining their drinking water assets," said Assistant Administrator for Water Benjamin H. Grumbles. The "National Capacity Development Strategic Plan" describes how EPA, state drinking water programs, drinking water system owners and operators, and technical assistance providers will work together to achieve the objectives and anticipated outcomes of the national capacity development program. The strategy outlines how EPA and its partners will promote proactive communication and outreach to help ensure that water systems have the capacity to demonstrate long-term sustainability. Funding made available through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program can be critical in advancing capacity development programs at the state level. EPA's report titled "Analysis on the Use of Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Set-Asides: Promoting Capacity Development" provides information on how states have used their funds and will help state drinking water personnel, drinking water system owners and operators, and technical assistance providers to better understand how the DWSRF can support supporting capacity development programs and EPA's sustainable infrastructure initiative. For information about capacity development: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/smallsys/ssinfo.htm Gulf Program Seeks Entries for 2008 Gulf Guardian AwardsThe Gulf of Mexico Program is currently soliciting entries for the 2008 Gulf Guardian Awards Program. The entry forms for the award are available online at http://www.epa.gov/gmpo/gulfguard.html. The deadline for applications is May 1, 2008. The Gulf of Mexico Program partnership developed the Gulf Guardian Awards in 2000 as a way to recognize an honor the businesses, community groups, individuals, and agencies that are taking positive steps to keep the Gulf healthy, beautiful and productive. The Gulf Guardian Award exemplifies what the Gulf of Mexico Program stands for; innovative solutions that occur when we pool resources and look for creative ways to tackle the region’s complex coastal environmental challenges in ways that also positively impact our quality of life and economic well being. The Gulf Program recognizes annually a first, second, and third winner in each of the seven categories: 1) Business, 2) Government, 3) Civic/Nonprofit Organizations, 4) Youth/Education, 5) Partnerships, 6) Individual and 7) Binational, which jointly honors U.S/Mexico Partnership programs and projects. The Gulf of Mexico Program began in 1988 to protect, restore, and maintain the health and productivity of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem in economically sustainable ways. The Program is sponsored by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and is a non-regulatory, inclusive consortium of state and federal government agencies and representatives of the business and agricultural community, fishing industry, scientists, environmentalist, and community leaders from all five Gulf States. The Gulf Program seeks to improve the environmental health of the Gulf in concert with economic development. The Gulf of Mexico Program encourages you to apply for this prestigious award. To apply, go to the web address above and click on the “2008 Gulf Guardian Application” link. The application is available in English and Spanish. Please email your completed application to gulf.guardian@epa.gov. For more information, please call Diane Altsman at 228-688-7015 or LaKeshia Robertson at 228-688-1712. TMDL Knowledgebase Clearinghouse
Virginia Tech's Center for Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Watershed Studies has developed an on-line database to house selected TMDL-related information and documents in one central location. The searchable clearinghouse contains three types of resources: TMDL guidance documents, reviews and summaries of TMDL-related technical and trade literature, and state-by-state summaries of TMDL programs across
the nation. State summaries are updated regularly for all 50 states and include the approach and methodology used to develop TMDLs in that state. In total, about 500 documents are available within this database, which was funded, in part, by an EPA grant. The TMDL Knowledgebase Clearinghouse can be accessed via the Center's Web site at: http://www.tmdl.bse.vt.edu/site/knowledgebase/ Subscribe to Water HeadlinesPlease forward this message to your friends and colleagues who share an interest in water-related issues and would like to hear from EPA’s Office of Water. To subscribe to the Water Headlines listserve: Send an email message, leave the subject line blank, and address it to: In the body of the message write: Subscribe Water Headlines first name last name (Please leave one blank space between each word, do not include any other message, and use your actual name- i.e. Subscribe Water Headlines Robert Jones)
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