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<DIV><SPAN class=082162217-20122005><FONT face="Book Antiqua">Might be good to
find out how stakeholders on pharmaceutical issues can have some input in the
implementation of this, particularly in light of the pharmaceuticals being found
in treated effluent....</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=082162217-20122005><FONT
face="Book Antiqua"></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=082162217-20122005><FONT face="Book Antiqua">From Waste News,
December 20</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=5>Congressman introduces bill to aid
wastewater treatment operations<BR></FONT></STRONG><FONT face=Arial
size=2> <BR>Dec. 19 -- A Congressman has introduced legislation that would
establish a trust fund to improve wastewater treatment facilities. </FONT>
<P>Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., R-Tenn., introduced the Clean Water Trust Fund Act
on Dec. 15 that would provide an assured source of funding to help local
wastewater treatment operators upgrade their infrastructure. The bill would
provide about $7.5 billion annually and help address the U.S. EPA’s estimated
clean water funding gap of about $400 billion over the next 20 years, according
to the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, a trade association that
supports Duncan’s measure.
<P>The legislation also provides funding to address water quality issues in
critical regional waters and to improve and protect wetlands and fisheries.
<P>``We have to do more to protect and enhance our clean water and wastewater
systems for the future,’’ Duncan said. ``We know our nation’s water
infrastructure is getting very old. In fact, it is common in older systems to
find pipes that were laid as far back as the 1800s.’’
<P>Duncan, who chairs the House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee,
has presided over hearings that included testimony from municipal wastewater
treatment agencies about the funding problems they face.
<P>NACWA Executive Director Ken Kirk called Duncan’s measure a bold move to
address an infrastructure funding crisis.
<P>``The Clean Water Trust Act will help control sewer overflows, enhance
fisheries and wetlands, encourage research, spur new technologies, enhance
investment in small and rural utilities, and protect critical regional waters
such as the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of Mexico,’’ Kirk said.
<P>The NACWA is a national trade association representing hundreds of the
nation’s publicly owned wastewater treatment utilities.
<P>The measure also has the support of numerous other trade and professional
associations representing manufacturers, building contractors, engineers,
fishermen, and fish and wildlife agencies.</P></DIV></BODY></HTML>