AWWA JAW59501

This bimonthly roundup features highlights of the hottest news stories of recent months that include: US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) released an extensive package of interim guidance documents called the Response Protocol Tool Box (RPTB): Planning for and Responding to Contamination Threats to Drinking Water Systems designed to help water utilities plan and respond to intentional acts of contamination; utility experts identify top security funding needs such as improving the security of distribution and computer control systems in utilities serving high-density areas and critical facilities such as military bases and key government facilities; the city of Dinuba, California received a $6.4 million MTBE settlement from several major oil companies; a federal judge in upstate New York late last year rejected an attempt by manufacturers of MTBE to overturn a state law that bans the chemical beginning January 1, 2004; the U.S. military spoke out against the USEPA's draft of a precautionary perchlorate standard; and, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has ordered the development of a regulation mandating a 5 ug/L standard for arsenic in drinking water, half the new maximum contaminant level set by the USEPA that will be enforced in January 2006.