EPA is soliciting Initial Proposals (IPs) from states, tribes, local governments, universities, non-profits, and other eligible entities interested in applying for federal assistance for Water Quality Cooperative Agreements under the Clean Water Act.
EPA headquarters intends to award an estimated $3.1 million to eligible applicants through assistance agreements ranging in size from $10,000 up to $500,000 for unique and innovative projects that address the requirements of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES) program with special emphasis on wet weather activities. Targeted wet weather activities include storm water, combined sewer overflows, sanitary sewer overflows, and concentrated animal feeding operations as well as projects that enhance the ability of the regulated community to deal with non-traditional pollution problems in priority watersheds.
From the IPs received, EPA estimates that 30 to 35 projects may be selected to submit full applications.
EPA's Office of Wastewater Management identified several other priority areas that it would like to fund:
• NPDES strategies to implement watershed-based efforts
• onsite/decentralized wastewater treatment systems
• management systems for water pollution control programs
• environmental management systems for water pollution control
• wastewater infrastructure security
• cooling water intake structures
EPA will consider IPs received by Dec. 30. IPs received after the due date, may be reviewed at EPA's discretion.
An organization whose IP is selected for possible federal assistance must complete an EPA Application for Assistance, including the Federal SF– 424 form (Application for Federal Assistance, see 40 CFR 30.12 and 31.10).
Standard Methods Rule
The Environmental Protection Agency has approved updated versions of analytical methods developed by the American Society for Testing Materials, "Standard Methods," the United States Geological Survey, and the Department of Energy for use in Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act compliance monitoring programs. EPA proposed these methods on January 16, 2001.
The final rule responds to adverse comments on the January 2001 proposed rule, approves updated versions of previously approved methods, and corrects typographical errors in the Code of Federal Regulations. No previously approved method is withdrawn.
EPA believes that approving multiple editions of the same method will benefit the regulatory and regulated community by increasing method selection flexibility, and by allowing the continued use of time-tested procedures.
The complete text of the Federal Register notice may be viewed or downloaded on the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/methods.
EPA Releases Radionuclides Manual
EPA has released a guidance manual to assist community water systems during the implementation of the Radionuclides Rule published in the Federal Register on December 7, 2000, (65 FR 76708).
Developed through a workgroup process involving EPA Regions, states, and stakeholders, the manual is organized as follows:
• Section I summarizes The Radionuclides Rule and presents a timeline of important dates.
• Section II addresses violation determination and associated reporting requirements and includes a violation table to assist States with compliance activities.
• Section III covers State Primacy Revision Requirements including a timeframe for application review and approval. This section also contains guidance and references to help States adopt new special primacy requirements included in The Rule.
• Section IV contains a series of "stand alone" guidance materials that will help States and CWSs comply with the new requirements.
To help explain the provisions of The Radionuclides Rule, this guidance also includes a series of illustrations based on hypothetical CWSs of all sizes. The illustrations appear in boxes throughout the document and are for illustrative purposes only.
