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News and resources from the Environmental Protection Agency

Handbook to help water utilities plan for sustainability

EPA has released a comprehensive handbook to help water utilities build sustainability considerations into their planning. Planning for Sustainability: A Handbook for Water and Wastewater Utilities will help utilities ensure that water-infrastructure projects, including those funded through the state revolving-fund programs, are sustainable and support the long-term sustainability of the communities these utilities serve.  

The handbook represents an important milestone in EPA’s ongoing efforts to help ensure the sustainability of the nation’s water infrastructure based on the agency’s clean water and safe drinking water infrastructure sustainability policy, which was issued in September 2010. In developing the handbook, EPA worked closely with a number of utility and state program managers around the country. The handbook describes four core elements where utilities can explicitly build sustainability considerations into their existing planning processes. Each element contains relevant examples from utilities around the country and other implementation tips for utilities to consider.

Get the handbook at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/sustain/sustainable_systems.cfm.

Fact sheet on Ground Water Rule compliance

EPA has a new fact sheet about simultaneous compliance under the Ground Water Rule. It is the latest in a series of guidance documents intended to provide a simple and straightforward description of the rule, critical deadlines and requirements for drinking water systems and states, and information on monitoring requirements.

Find it at http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/gwr/upload/final_draft_gwr_sc_factsheet_9-21-11_1.pdf

Guide to regulations for surface water systems

EPA has developed a new “plain-English” guide to its group of Surface Water Treatment Rules.

The guide presents an overview of the SWTR’s requirements as well as attachments that provide a detailed description of the rule requirements for water systems according to system size and filtration status.

Find the guide at http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/swtr/upload/SWTRPlainEnglishGuideFinal.pdf

Help for communicating with the public in an emergency

A new EPA document helps water and wastewater professionals prepare for communication during and after an emergency situation. The report identifies the most important elements the public wants and needs to know and highlights some of the common challenges in managing public perception.

Get the report at http://cfpub.epa.gov/si/si_public_record_report.cfm?address=nhsrc/si/&dirEntryId=240476

EPA releases strategy to protect people’s health and the environment in communities overburdened by pollution

WASHINGTON (EPA)–Last fall, EPA released Plan EJ 2014, a three-year, comprehensive plan to advance environmental-justice efforts in nine areas, including rulemaking, permitting, enforcement, and science. Plan EJ 2014 aims to protect people’s health in communities overburdened by pollution, to empower communities to take action to improve their health and environment, and to establish partnerships with local, state, tribal and federal governments and organizations to promote sustainable communities where a clean environment and healthy economy can thrive. 

“Far too often, and for far too long, low-income, minority and tribal communities have lived in the shadows of some of the worst pollution, holding back progress in the places where they raise their families and grow their businesses,” said Lisa F. Garcia, senior advisor to the EPA Administrator for Environmental Justice. “[The] release of Plan EJ 2014 underscores Administrator [Lisa] Jackson’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that all communities have access to clean air, water and land, and that all Americans have a voice in this environmental conversation.”

Plan EJ 2014 is EPA’s strategy to meet the mandate of Executive Order 12898, “Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations,” which states that each federal agency, with the law as its guide, should make environmental justice part of its mission.

EPA, along with its federal partners, will continue to conduct outreach, education, stakeholder forums and listening sessions as it moves forward to implement EO 12898 and Plan EJ 2014. EPA will issue annual reports documenting the progress toward meeting the commitments outlined in Plan EJ 2014. The annual reports will be made available to the public through EPA’s website.

Plan EJ 2014: www.epa.gov/compliance/environmentaljustice/plan-ej/index.html

More information on environmental justice: http://epa.gov/environmentaljustice/

Updated online water-quality standards guidance

EPA has updated the online version of its water-quality standards handbook (http://epa.gov/wqshandbook) to make it more user-friendly and improve transparency by providing links to EPA’s most recent policy documents. The handbook is a compilation of EPA’s guidance on the water-quality standards program and provides direction for states, territories and authorized tribes in reviewing, revising and implementing water-quality standards. Look for the “updated information” boxes located throughout each chapter for links to recent policy and guidance as well as links to documents referenced in the handbook text. 

EPA has also consolidated its online water-quality standards policy and guidance reference library (http://epa.gov/wqslibrary), which includes relevant water-quality standards policy and guidance documents. The library is sortable by document title, issue date, topic and EPA publication number. 

New green infrastructure website

EPA’s Office of Water has released its new Green Infrastructure website to better communicate the “what, why, and how” of green infrastructure to municipalities, developers, and the general public. Green infrastructure uses vegetation, soils and natural processes to manage water and create healthier urban environments. The website is a one-stop shop for resources on green infrastructure that features improved navigability and up-to-date content. 

The site offers a wealth of publications and tools developed by EPA, state and local governments, the private sector, nonprofit organizations, and academic institutions. The site emphasizes the multiple environmental, social, and economic benefits associated with green infrastructure. The site also provides access to the latest research developed by EPA’s Office of Research and Development.

Visit the site at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/greeninfrastructure

Other news and resources

New Drinking Water Advisory Communication Toolbox

A new document, developed jointly by many organizations, helps systems communicate with the public.

The toolbox complements the EPA’s Public Notification Handbook and provides a protocol and practical guide for communicating with stakeholders and the public about water advisories that are based upon research and identified practices. The toolbox focuses on water systems and addresses the spectrum of situations that generate drinking water advisories (also called notices, alerts and orders).

This project was a collaborative effort among the Centers for Disease Control, EPA, American Water Works Association, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA), and the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA).

Find the toolbox at http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/pdf/emergency/drinking-water-advisory-communication-toolbox.pdf

Market research group: U.S. restaurant goers drinking more tap water instead of buying beverages

Tap water is one of the fastest-growing beverages ordered at U.S. restaurants, whereas revenue-generating beverages have been declining over the past five years, according to foodservice market research conducted by The NPD Group. Tap-water servings currently represent 8 percent of the 50 billion beverage servings ordered at restaurants, according to NPD’s CREST® service, which continually tracks consumer use of restaurants.

Over the past five years, while restaurant traffic is down one percent, there has been a six percent drop in total beverage servings excluding tap water at restaurants, a decline of 2.7 billion servings, according to a recently release NPD report. Tap water servings have increased by 2.8 billion servings since 2006. The report, which includes a custom survey of 5,500 adults, finds that the decline in beverage orders at restaurants is driven by the largest categories — carbonated soft drinks and brewed coffee— which represent 49 percent of all beverage servings. Although iced tea, a long-established beverage, is growing, other growth categories tend to be newer drinks like smoothies, iced/frozen/slushy drinks, and specialty coffee drinks.

“Although the economy and high unemployment are factors in tap water’s upswing and beverage-servings declines, some beverages, like carbonated soft drinks, were declining prior to the recession,” says Bonnie Riggs, NPD restaurant industry analyst and author of the report. “A key learning from this report is that much of the declines in beverage servings are tied to the price/value relationship the consumer perceives.”

According to the report, free refills were among a variety of reasons consumers gave for ordering tap water instead of other beverages. One of the many reasons consumers gave for not ordering carbonated soft drinks and other non-growth beverages was the cost of these drinks.

New resources library on the RCAP website

Does your water system need some guidance on starting a large project in your community? Are you in the dark about watershed protection and need some background information? Do you need a template for a rate-increase letter?

In the past few months, RCAP has created and developed an online library of resources for water systems in small, rural communities. It contains a variety of materials on many subjects and is an ideal place to start when embarking on a major initiative or when making changes or improvements to your water system. The resources are hands-on, providing practical tools, as well as informational and educational, explaining and giving guidance on practices.

The library can be searched using either keywords or filters. The filter method allows you to find resources according to topic, creator, audience and format.

The library includes:

• RCAP’s series of new guides for small systems
• Links to other websites, such as sections on the EPA website that provide resources for small systems
• Past articles from RCAP’s electronic newsletter (the eBulletin, now called A Drop of Knowledge). Each offers advice or assistance on a specific topic.
• Practical items such as templates, checklists and how-tos.

The resources library is now a major section of the RCAP website. Find it under Publications & Resources on the main menu.

The resources library is one of several ways that RCAP provides services and informational products to communities. RCAP not only offers in-person, customized assistance and training in communities, but it also provides publications and periodicals and access to information for systems to run effectively and efficiently.

RCAP Executive Director testifies on Capitol Hill

RCAP Executive Director Robert Stewart testified April 25 before the House Rural Development, Research, Biotechnology, and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee of the Agriculture Committee. The subcommittee hosted the first in a series of hearings on the upcoming Farm Bill reauthorization. There were two panels focusing on the programs in the Rural Development Title. Stewart testifed on the second panel, along with other witnesses that work in the rural utility field. The hearing was an opportunity to look at the RD programs authorized by the Farm Bill and see how they can be improved to work more effectively for communities.

For the full text of Stewart's testimony, go to www.rcap.org/node/956

 

Get Rural Matters electronically and save a tree

In an effort to reduce postage costs and respect the environment by having to print fewer copies of the magazine to mail, Rural Matters is now offering an electronic-only subscription. When you sign up, you will be sent an email with a preview of each new issue’s contents, and you will be able to click through to read the article or the full issue online at www.rcap.org.

To change your subscription to email delivery, please provide your current mailing information (so we know what postal address to remove from our mailing list) and your email address at www.rcap.org/RMmailtoemail

Your subscription will then be converted to email-only.

If you previously requested an online-only subscription, please re-submit your request.