EPA Schedules Sessions on TMDLs

Listening sessions on one of agriculture's most dreaded programs will be held through mid-December by the Environmental Protection Agency. EPA Administrator Christine Whitman said she intended to involve the "active participation of a broad range of parties."

EPA will hold five public listening sessions to help determine what changes may be needed to the regulatory program. The sessions will be held Oct. 22-23 in Chicago; Nov. 1-2 in Sacramento; Nov. 7-8 in Atlanta; Nov. 15-16 in Oklahoma City; and Dec. 11 in Washington, DC.

On July 16, Whitman announced that she would conduct an 18-month review of and provide additional public comment opportunities on the TMDL program. EPA considers t program a "key element" under the Clean Water Act that provides a framework for identifying and cleaning up polluted waters. To date, the states have identified 20,000 polluted waterways for clean up.

Whitman asked for the review following a National Academy of Sciences report that made a number of recommendations on the implementation of the TMDL program. The final TMDL rule was published July 13, 2000.

Additional details are available in a notice published in the Federal Register on Oct.9 and are posted on EPA's TMDL web site at: http://www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl/meetings.