Small Water Systems Ask Congress for Help
8/20/2008 -
Rural and small drinking water utilities are asking Congress to investigate whether their communities have equitable access to the most innovative and economic drinking water treatment systems.
While the Safe Drinking Water Act requires the Environmental Protection Agency to identify affordable technologies for small and rural communities, current federal and private-sector policies on technology approval “may be limiting use of the most efficient and economical compliance technologies” to small communities that need it the most, said Mike Keegan of NRWA in a letter to leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Environment and Public Works panel.
Dawn Kristof Champney, president of the Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association also signed on to the letter, sent Aug. 8.
The action follows the experience of a small Kansas community that sought innovative technology from ClearValue, Inc., to comply with EPA’s total organic carbon and disinfection by-products standards. Before El Dorado, Kan., could use the service, however, the technology needs formal approval from NSF International, a private company. The company said it could not take such action under its protocol, despite favorable reports form EPA and other experts.
NSF International did not conclude that the technology was unsafe, they said. But it did say the designer could not prove future safety given unknown variables.”
Keegan and Champney said the decision shows major problems in the system. “It is inconsistent with the intent of the Safe Drinking Water Act that EPA would enact costly standards on many small communities, and then be able to remain silent on the effectiveness and safety of a promising and cost-effective technology that may allow for economical compliance with federal standards,” they said.
While federal law requires EPA to identify affordable technologies for small and rural communities, the process for approving such technologies lies outside EPA’s authority, Keegan and Champney noted.
“This federal program’s requirement for compliance technologies has resulted in a situation where small community water systems’ compliance options come under the control of corporations, which operate outside of federal authority and oversight.”
The letter went to four lawmakers that chair key House and Senate subcommittees. The advocates are looking for action after Congress returns from its August recess after Labor Day.
While the Safe Drinking Water Act requires the Environmental Protection Agency to identify affordable technologies for small and rural communities, current federal and private-sector policies on technology approval “may be limiting use of the most efficient and economical compliance technologies” to small communities that need it the most, said Mike Keegan of NRWA in a letter to leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Environment and Public Works panel.
Dawn Kristof Champney, president of the Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association also signed on to the letter, sent Aug. 8.
The action follows the experience of a small Kansas community that sought innovative technology from ClearValue, Inc., to comply with EPA’s total organic carbon and disinfection by-products standards. Before El Dorado, Kan., could use the service, however, the technology needs formal approval from NSF International, a private company. The company said it could not take such action under its protocol, despite favorable reports form EPA and other experts.
NSF International did not conclude that the technology was unsafe, they said. But it did say the designer could not prove future safety given unknown variables.”
Keegan and Champney said the decision shows major problems in the system. “It is inconsistent with the intent of the Safe Drinking Water Act that EPA would enact costly standards on many small communities, and then be able to remain silent on the effectiveness and safety of a promising and cost-effective technology that may allow for economical compliance with federal standards,” they said.
While federal law requires EPA to identify affordable technologies for small and rural communities, the process for approving such technologies lies outside EPA’s authority, Keegan and Champney noted.
“This federal program’s requirement for compliance technologies has resulted in a situation where small community water systems’ compliance options come under the control of corporations, which operate outside of federal authority and oversight.”
The letter went to four lawmakers that chair key House and Senate subcommittees. The advocates are looking for action after Congress returns from its August recess after Labor Day.
