AWWA JAW64345

This bimonthly roundup features highlights of the hottest news stories of recent months as reported in WaterWeek, AWWA's weekly newsletter to member utilities. Topics covered include: the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) 2003 policy change allowing owners of multiunit housing complexes to submeter water without being regulated as a water supplier; New York City has asked the Supreme Court to overturn a recent Circuit Court ruling requiring a Clean Water Act (CWA) discharge permit to limit turbidity levels in reservoir waters discharged into a trout stream for further conveyance; new research correlating chloramine disinfection practices to elevated blood lead levels (BLLs) in children relative to the age of their homes suggests policies that water utilities and public health agencies can follow to better assess and address the risk; in another move to help small systems meet Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requirements, USEPA recently held a public meeting to discuss allowing nontransient-noncommunity systems to provide bottled water; Ohio and West Virginia residents living near a DuPont factory along the Ohio River will be better protected against perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) contamination of their drinking water under a new agreement between USEPA and DuPont; Clean Water Act (CWA) discharge permits are not required when certain pesticides are applied directly to or near open waters under a newly adopted USEPA rule; a comprehensive water conservation program developed by the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) is among several water-saving initiatives to win USEPA's first annual Water Efficiency Leaders (WEL) awards; and, recent comments by AWWA stressed that USEPA's draft guidance on simultaneous compliance issues is "a useful resource guide" that needs to be fleshed out with substantial information to help utilities avoid unintended consequences when striving to control both microbial contaminants and disinfection byproducts.