April 30, 2010

Calling recycled water a critical part of a comprehensive water strategy, ACWA Executive Director Timothy Quinn testified in favor of three federal bills on recycled water projects at a Senate subcommittee hearing April 27.

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Congressman Dennis Cardoza (D-18), and Congressman Jim Costa (D-20) sent a letter to Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke today asking for flexibility in the implementation of the NMFS biological opinion.

The Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General released a scientific analysis of perchlorate on April 19.  The IG report criticized EPA for relying on an “outdated single chemical risk assessment approach.”  Perchlorate is only one of several chemicals that stress the thyroid’s ability to uptake iodide.  The IG office conducted a cumulative risk assessment to evaluate the risk to thyroid function from multiple stressors.  Results from this analysis led the office to conclude that setting a drinking water standard lower than 25 ppb wo

Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Ranking Member James Inhofe (R-Okla.) of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee circulated a letter to their Senate colleagues announcing their work on a new WRDA bill on Tuesday April 20. 

Senators were asked to submit their priority water resources requests to the Environment and Public Works Committee staff by May 18, 2010.  ACWA members interested in pursuing WRDA projects should contact Senators Feinstein and Boxers’ offices for more information.

Chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, James Oberstar (D-Minn.), released the new House version of the Clean Water Restoration Act today. The new bill, now called America’s Commitment to Clean Water Act (ACCWA), attempts to restore the definition of waters of the U.S. to its previous regulatory definition in 2001. The bill also codifies an exemption for wastewater systems and defines groundwater separately.