Archives of NRWA:
June 2001:
In some parts of the world, QOT Is Not Just a Motto!
Click on the photo for the story!
RURAL WATER ON NPR 
On Wednesday, Steve King of
Maryland Rural Water Association appeared on National Public Radio to discuss
the Arsenic Rule. An NPR correspondent accompanied Steve on a tour of his
system, checking the impacts of the rule.
Click on the icon above to link
to the audio.
(Note: You may have difficulty accessing this audio during
high-usage periods.)
EPA Names Deputy
Administrator
Christie Whitman is praising the
confirmation of Linda J. Fisher as
her new
right-hand-woman....Click here for the
details!
Bill Banning MTBE Introduced
WASHINGTON — US
Sen. Harry Reid, ranking Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee,
unveiled bipartisan legislation Thursday, 24 May, with Sen. Robert Smith (R-NH)
to end the use of the gas additive methyl tertiary butyl ether
(MTBE). Click here for the story from
WaterTechOnline.com
The Real
Cost of Regulation
by John Stossel, Investigative Reporter,
ABC News
May 2001:
GREAT AMERICAN WATER TASTE TEST PICKS BEST WATER IN THE
USA
Steve Levy, Exec. Dir., Maine Rural Water
Assoc.; Steve Patterson, Chief of Staff, Sen. Blanche Lincoln, AR; Mark Dickey,
Exec. Dir., Iowa Rural Water Assoc.; Martha Scott Poindexter, Senate Agriculture
Appropriations Committee; Mike Garber, Office of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson,
TX
If you want to find
the best water in the nation, take a trip to Manning, Iowa. The West Central Iowa Water Association
took First Place Tuesday at the 2nd annual Great American Water Taste Test in Washington, DC...
Click here for the
details...
Click here to view CNN coverage of the Great American Water Taste Test
Idaho
Senator Gets Special Honors
from NRWA, Idaho
Idaho Senator Larry Craig was recognized for his efforts on behalf
of rural water on Tuesday....Click here for the story.
EPA Seeks Public Comments
On April 23, EPA requested public comment on a
proposal to delay the effective date for the Arsenic Rule until February 22,
2002. For an update, along with a history of EPA's rulemaking efforts
related to arsenic and the various technical and factual information associated
with those efforts...click here!
Bush
Plans New Lower Arsenic Level
President Bush has announced that the new
administration plans to set a much lower allowable arsenic level in the nation's
drinking water, although the decrease will fall short of that proposed by Bill
Clinton.
Click here for the latest story!
Rural Water Leadership in DC to Brief Congress
on
Rural Environmental Protection
Click on the icon for the story
and photos!
Environmental budget
released
President Bush's proposed 2002 budget allocates fewer funds to the
USEPA, but Administrator Christie Whitman said her agency will be able to carry
out its mission "efficiently and effectively."
Click here for more!
Clean
Water Needs Survey Begins
In a joint effort, EPA and States are collecting
water quality data for the 2001 Needs Survey report to Congress....
To learn more, click here!
April 2001:
"Bottled Water Costs More, So It Must Be Better,
Right?"
By Scott Hoober, Ellen Miller
Group
Arsenic Rule Withdrawn
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency Administrator Christie Whitman announced today that EPA will propose to
withdraw the pending arsenic standard for drinking water that was issued on
January 22. The rule would have reduced the acceptable level of arsenic in water
from 50 parts per billion to 10 ppb.
Click here for
the complete story!
George Hanson, Maryland
Rural Water Director
Represents Rural Water in
Interview
Click here to
listen.
Relaxing EPA Arsenic Rule Makes
Utah Water
Officials Happy
A few people are breathing a sigh of
relief — at least for now...
Click here for the story!
Reid,
Ensign Introduce Bill For Cleaner, Safer Drinking
Water
Nevada Senators have introduced legislation to provide federal aid to
small communities nationwide to safeguard drinking water quality and protect
public health...
Click here for the
complete story!
Click here to read the proposed
bill.
EPA
Chief Is Happy With President's Budget
U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman praised the President's
proposed $7.3 billion budget "for all it accomplishes for the nation and the
environment..."
Click here for the
story!
Innovative Wastewater
Plant Expansion May Include Largest Tank of its Kind in
U.S.
Daytona Beach’s latest wastewater
treatment expansion dwarfs a standard football
field...
Click here for the story and
photos!
Congressman
Visits NRWA Offices
On February 20, Oklahoma's 4th District Congressman J.C. Watts,
Jr. paid a visit to the NRWA offices in Duncan.
For the story,
click
here....
NGWA Forms
Strategic Institute for
Ground Water Science and
Technology
The National Ground
Water Association has established a strategic visioning institute of
internationally respected ground water professionals to define existing and
future ground water resource issues, put them in perspective, and analyze the
advantages and disadvantages of actions believed to be in the best interests of
humankind....
Click here for the
story.
Illinois Senator
Introduces Law to Ban MTBE
The controversial gasoline oxygenate MTBE would be banned in three
years under a new bill...
Click here for the
story!
"DOMENICI INTRODUCES LEGISLATION
TO BLOCK NEW
ARSENIC REGS"
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Pete Domenici has
introduced legislation to halt last-minute Clinton administration arsenic
standards for drinking water, regulations he deems as potentially financially
devastating to New Mexico and "lacking a foundation of sound
science."
Click here for the
story...
"U.S. Sets Hearings on Rules for Large
Farms "
The EPA is proposing a rule that attempts to control
non-point source water pollution....
Click here for the
story.
"NRWA
Implements Source Water in Nine States"
The National Rural Water Association has implemented
a program that is designed to build consensus between multi-jurisdictional
authorities to implement protective and preventive measures within highly or moderately susceptible drinking
water sources....
For the complete story,
click here.
"Arsenic Rule Delayed"
President Bush has issued an
order that, among other things, halts publication of new environmental rules in
the Federal Register and also places a 60-day stay on any regulations
that were published, but have not yet taken effect. See
"Bush Sets Agenda for
Federal Rules"
"Arsenic at 10 ppb -
Final"
On
1/16/2001, the final rule governing the regulation of arsenic in drinking water
was signed... See "Arsenic
Final"
"State of the
Art Thinking on Regulatory Issues"
A PowerPoint
Presentation
by
Dr. John Regnier
It
"Pays" Utility to Listen
Meeting people and
making friends at the Minnesota Rural Water Association Annual Conference was a
real highlight, but something happened that changed Dennis Healy's mind about training sessions
forever..
Safe Drinking Water Act
Regulations Review
Learn what is happening with radon and other proposed
regulations by viewing a PowerPoint presentation. See "SDWA
Review"
December
2000:
CHLORINE CERTIFICATION
The EPA Office of Pesticides is proposing a rule
that would require water and wastewater operators who utilize gaseous chlorine
for disinfection to be certified as Pesticide Applicators. The following is an
NRWA draft response to the proposed rule:
Patrick Doback (7508C)
USEPA
1200 Pennsylvania
Ave.,NW
Washington, DC 20460
Re: Docket Number OPP-34180B
There is very little
evidence presented that demonstrates that chlorine used for drinking water and
waste water applications should be designated for restricted use. There is no
indication of the number of operators impacted by this proposal, there is no
cost information presented, and there is no assessment of the benefit derived
from requiring water and waste water operators to be certified as pesticide
applicators. The OPP should do its homework and present a reasonable case for
taking such action. The water industry expects that any new requirement be
supported by a foundation of information that demonstrates need, cost and
benefit.
Water operators are required to be state certified in every state in the
nation. This certification covers
every phase of treatment including disinfection. It is common certification practice for
training and testing to include chlorine safety, handling, emergency procedures,
health effects and every other aspect of the use of chlorine. These requirements fall on every level
of operator from entry level to multi-million gallon treatment plants. Gaseous chlorine has been used in
the drinking water industry for over one hundred years. New certification requirements are not
called for.
Most small communities only have a part time operator who has other jobs
such as street and road maintenance, garbage collection, animal control, etc.
NRWA’s estimate for this new requirement indicates that between 15000 and 25,000
small system operators across the country will be required to become certified
pesticide applicators. This total assumes that only one operator will be
required for each community water
and waste water system plant and does not include any back-up pesticide
applicators for shift situations. It also assumes a small number of contract
operators responsible for multiple plants and that an operator responsible for
both water and wastewater need only one pesticide applicator certification. The
figure would swell drastically if some of the assumptions are incorrect and if
we include any non-community water systems
now using chlorine.
Small water systems
have a limited budget to work with and therefor, any additional requirement
could have a major financial impact on them. It is difficult for small
communities to afford the cost and time to send an operator to an off-site
training. In the very small communities, many operators must pay for the
training out of there own pocket because of the limited community resources.
These
same small systems are having to meet over the next three to five years, seven
new major regulations in addition to revised operator certification and capacity
development requirements. All of the new rule requirements will be incorporated
into certification requirements and continuing education credits needed to
maintain certification. This will require even more off site training.
We do
not believe it is prudent to have water operators certified as “pesticide
applicators”based on the perception of the media and the general public. A few
years ago there was a major national effort by an environmental group to inform
the public about pesticides in the drinking water. The Environmental Working
Group(EWG) published a report whose title was “Weed Killers By The Glass.” Under
this new requirement the water industry becomes even more vulnerable to
misguided groups such as the EWG. One can envision the media field day taken at
the cost of public trust in their drinking water if this requirement is
maintained as proposed.
We believe that the
existing state certification requirements for both drinking water and waste
water operators adequately covers the use and safety of chlorine.