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Welcome to Water Online's review of the latest U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, resources, and activities related to the water, wastewater, and stormwater industries. EPA offices and programs covered in this installment are listed below. Click on an office or program name to go directly to that section of the article.

• Office of Water (OW)
  • Public Forums Scheduled On Chesapeake Bay Draft Strategy
  • Climate Ready Water Utilities Working Group
  • Draft WaterSense Specification For Weather-Based Irrigation Controllers
  • EPA Issues Rule To Reduce Water Pollution From Construction Sites
  • Water Sector Competency Model
• National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL)
• Upcoming Seminar On Nutrient Control At Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants
• Watershed Central: A New Interactive Management Tool
• Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Program
• ETV Verified Technologies
• Vendor Solicitations
• Upcoming Conferences and Meetings
• Other EPA News
  • U.S. EPA Directs Bay Area Wastewater Collection Systems To Protect San Francisco Bay From Sewage Discharges
  • EPA Issues Letter Of Decision On Iowa Water Quality Standards
  • City Of Akron, Ohio, Agrees To Improve Sewer System To Resolve Clean Water Act Violations
  • EPA Cites 14 Municipalities For Stormwater Violations
  • EPA Study Reveals Widespread Contamination Of Fish In U.S. Lakes And Reservoirs

Office of Water (OW)

Public Forums Scheduled On Chesapeake Bay Draft Strategy
A series of public forums will be held throughout December on the recently released draft strategy for restoring the Chesapeake Bay, a document required by a Presidential Executive Order issued in May 2009. The public forums will feature officials from multiple federal agencies including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Public feedback is important and valuable to the federal agencies. Comments may be submitted online at http://executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net by clicking on "provide comments." The public comment period runs through January 8, 2010. The draft strategy, also available on the website, will evolve through public comments, state consultations and agency revisions before the final strategy is published in May 2010. 

The public can also submit questions about the draft strategy by recording a 30-second or less video and uploading it to YouTube with a tag of "chesapeakebayeo." A selection of these video questions will be used at the public forums and for an online question-and-answer session with federal officials in January. People can also join conversations about the draft strategy on Facebook by visiting the Chesapeake Bay Executive Order page and clicking on discussions. Additionally, updates on Executive Order news are available through Twitter by following @chesapeakebayeo.

Public Forum Schedule
District of Columbia: Tuesday, December 1 - 7:00-8:30 pm
Penn Quarter Conference Center, 701 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20004 Watch a live webcast at http://executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net

Maryland: Wednesday, December 2 – 7:00-8:30 pm
National Aquarium in Baltimore (Auditorium), 501 E. Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD 21202

Delmarva Peninsula: Thursday, December 3 - 7:00-8:30 pm Wicomico County Civic Center (Midway Room), 500 Glen Avenue, Salisbury, MD 21804

West Virginia: Tuesday, December 8 – 7:00-8:30 pm
Holiday Inn Martinsburg, 301 Foxcroft Avenue, Martinsburg, WV 25401

New York: Thursday, December 10 – 7:00-8:30 pm
Holiday Inn Binghamton-Downtown Hotel, 2-8 Hawley Street, Binghamton, NY 13901

Pennsylvania: Tuesday, December 15 – 7:00-8:30 pm
Farm Show Complex & Event Center (Banquet Hall), 2301 North Cameron Street, Harrisburg, PA 17110

Virginia: Thursday, December 17 – 7:00-8:30 pm
Nauticus National Maritime Center (Auditorium), One Waterside Drive, Norfolk, VA 23510

Climate Ready Water Utilities Working Group
EPA recently convened a Climate Ready Water Utilities Working Group under the National Drinking Water Advisory Council. The working group's charge includes developing criteria for climate ready water utilities; conducting a gap analysis on climate change-related tools, training and products to address utilities' short- and long-term needs; and identifying mechanisms that would facilitate the adoption of climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies by the water sector. The working group will have its first of five in-person meetings on December 3-4, 2009 in Washington, DC. For additional information, see http://www.epa.gov/safewater/ndwac/#current or contact Lauren Wisniewski at wisniewski.lauren@epa.gov or 202-564-2918.

Draft WaterSense Specification For Weather-Based Irrigation Controllers
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its Draft WaterSense Specification for Weather-Based Irrigation Controllers on November 19, 2009, marking the first irrigation product to be considered for the WaterSense label. More information on the specification, which will be open for public comment through January 18, 2010, is available at www.epa.gov/watersense/specs/controltech.htm 

When the specification is finalized, homeowners and irrigation professionals can use WaterSense labeled irrigation controllers that create or modify irrigation schedules to meet landscape water needs based on real-time weather data. Replacing a standard clock timer controller with a WaterSense labeled controller could save more than 11,000 gallons of water per year. If every home with an automatic irrigation system were to install a WaterSense labeled irrigation controller, it would save nearly 150 billion gallons per year across the United States, as well as more than $400 million in homeowners' utility costs. 

WaterSense is an EPA partnership program that seeks to enhance the market for water-efficient products and services. WaterSense is both a label for products and a resource to help people use water more efficiently. Learn more at www.epa.gov/watersense

EPA Issues Rule To Reduce Water Pollution From Construction Sites
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today issued a final rule to help reduce water pollution from construction sites. The agency believes this rule, which takes effect in February 2010 and will be phased in over four years, will significantly improve the quality of water nationwide. 

Construction activities like clearing, excavating and grading significantly disturb soil and sediment. If that soil is not managed properly it can easily be washed off of the construction site during storms and pollute nearby water bodies. 

The final rule requires construction site owners and operators that disturb one or more acres to use best management practices to ensure that soil disturbed during construction activity does not pollute nearby water bodies. In addition, owners and operators of sites that impact 10 or more acres of land at one time will be required to monitor discharges and ensure they comply with specific limits on discharges to minimize the impact on nearby water bodies. This is the first time that EPA has imposed national monitoring requirements and enforceable numeric limitations on construction site stormwater discharges. 

Soil and sediment runoff is one of the leading causes of water quality problems nationwide. Soil runoff from construction has also reduced the depth of small streams, lakes and reservoirs, leading to the need for dredging. 

More information: http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/guide/construction

Water Sector Competency Model
Recent reports indicate that over 30% of the water and wastewater professionals will be retiring in the next 5-7 years. To address this growing concern, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water has collaborated with the Water Environment Federation, the American Water Works Association, and the Department of Labor to develop the Water Sector Competency Model. A competency model is one of the tools used by the Department of Labor to provide a clear description of what a person needs to know and be able to do (such as knowledge, skills and abilities) to perform well in a specific job, occupation or industry. 

Having this model in place will help promote the water sector and ensure its recognition as a high growth/ high demand green job sector among other federal agencies, job seekers and academic institutions. For more information: http://www.careeronestop.org/competencymodel/default.aspx

For more information on the EPA Office of Water, visit www.epa.gov/ow.

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National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL)

Watershed Central: A New Interactive Management Tool
EPA recently launched a new web site called "Watershed Central" to help watershed organizations and other stakeholders find key information they need to implement watershed management decisions. The Watershed Central site includes guidance, tools, case studies, and data resources that integrate EPA programs to help users share information, analyze data, and initiate, or strengthen their own watershed efforts.

Watershed Central was developed to bridge the gap between user needs and the variety of resources offered by EPA and other groups. The result is an interactive web-based resource that helps users locate the information they need, including environmental data, watershed models, guidance documents, nearby local organizations, technical resources, and funding. A unique feature of Watershed Central is the "Watershed Central Wiki" — similar to Wikipedia — which allows registered users to submit case studies, tools, local approaches to watershed management, lessons learned, and success stories. To ensure that user needs are met and information is up-to-date, three teams were established — a Content Team, a User Team and an Information Technology (IT) Team. Team members and participants are solicited from within and outside EPA. In addition, as a feedback mechanism, EPA has sponsored regional workshops where participants are introduced to Watershed Central and encouraged to collaborate on improving the information it contains. The Watershed Central teams and other participants utilize the wiki site as a forum for discussing and vetting information for inclusion on the Watershed Central public web site. 

Watershed Central is a cooperative development effort among EPA's Office of Research and Development (National Risk Management Research Laboratory), Office of Water (Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds), and Office of Environmental Information. This growing and changing program is part of EPA's ongoing commitment to the protection of human health and the environment. 

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Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Program

ETV Verified Technologies
The ETV Program has verified the performance of 421 innovative environmental technologies that can be used to monitor, prevent, control, and clean up pollution. For a full list of ETV verifications, visit http://www.epa.gov/etv/verifiedtechnologies.html.

Vendor Solicitations
ETV centers issue periodic solicitations for vendors and collaborators interested in verification. For a list of active ETV vendor solicitations, please visit www.epa.gov/etv/vendorswanted.html, or contact the appropriate ETV center (see www.epa.gov/etv/contacts.html).

Upcoming Conferences and Meetings

• The 20th Annual Association of Environmental Health and Sciences (AEHS) Meeting and International Conference on Soils, Sediments, Water, and Energy will be held in San Diego, CA. This conference provides a forum for the environmental science community to exchange information on technological advances, new scientific achievements, and the effectiveness of standing environmental regulation programs. Heather Rectanus, Battelle, will represent the ETV Materials Management and Remediation Center and will present, "Technology Performance Verification Testing through the U.S. EPA Environmental Technology Verification Program." For more information, visit http://www.aehs.com/conferences/westcoast/index.htm.

For more information on the ETV, visit www.epa.gov/etv.

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Other EPA News

U.S. EPA Directs Bay Area Wastewater Collection Systems To Protect San Francisco Bay From Sewage Discharges
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered seven municipal sewage collection systems in the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) to take steps to work with EPA and EBMUD to address inadequately treated sewage discharges from EBMUD Wet Weather Facilities to the San Francisco Bay. 

The November 2009 administrative orders apply to Oakland, Emeryville, Piedmont, Berkeley, Alameda, Albany, and the Stege Sanitary District (which serves Kensington, El Cerrito and the Richmond Annex section of Richmond). Read the full release here.

EPA Issues Letter Of Decision On Iowa Water Quality Standards
EPA has approved 79 use designation changes and disapproved 71 use designation changes from Iowa's August 2008 submittal of revised water quality standards. The revised standards support recreational activities and protect aquatic life uses in Iowa. In a previous action on March 22, 2009, EPA approved designated use changes for 83 water bodies.

EPA's Nov. 24, 2009, decision letter provides a more detailed description of EPA's review and the basis for this action. The decision letter is available at www.epa.gov/region07/news_events/legal. Read the full release here.

City Of Akron, Ohio, Agrees To Improve Sewer System To Resolve Clean Water Act Violations
The city of Akron, Ohio, has agreed to make extensive improvements to its sewer system to reduce or eliminate sewage overflows that have long polluted the Cuyahoga River and its tributaries, the Justice Department, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state of Ohio announced.

The consent decree, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, is subject to a 60-day public comment period and approval by the federal court. A copy of the consent decree and a summary of the agreement are available on the Justice Department Web site at http://wwww.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html. Read the full release here.

EPA Cites 14 Municipalities For Stormwater Violations
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has cited 14 municipalities in Pennsylvania and Maryland for stormwater violations, nine of which are within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Read the full release here.

EPA Study Reveals Widespread Contamination Of Fish In U.S. Lakes And Reservoirs
A new EPA study shows concentrations of toxic chemicals in fish tissue from lakes and reservoirs in nearly all 50 U.S. states. For the first time, EPA is able to estimate the percentage of lakes and reservoirs nationwide that have fish containing potentially harmful levels of chemicals such as mercury and PCBs.

For more information, visit: http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/fishstudy. 

For more information on local fish advisories, visit: http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/fish/states.htm. Read the full release here.

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SOURCE: EPA