EPA Water Director Schedules Listening Session at ACE10
The American Water Works Association (AWWA) announced that Cynthia Dougherty, director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, will hold a listening session on the agency’s new Drinking Water Strategy on June 22 at McCormick Place in Chicago as part of AWWA’s Annual Conference & Exposition (ACE10).
This listening session, from 4-5:30 pm in Room W183B, marks the beginning of the EPA’s public outreach campaign to build a new drinking water strategy based on principles outlined by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. The strategy will:
- Address contaminants as groups rather than independently to cost-effectively achieve enhanced drinking water protection.
- Foster development of new drinking water technologies to address health risks posed by a broad array of contaminants.
- Use the authority of multiple statutes to protect drinking water.
- Partner with states to share more complete public water monitoring data.
The strategy, first announced in March 2010, is envisioned as a new approach to protecting drinking water and public health. Dougherty’s office is leading the agency’s efforts to develop and implement the new strategy.
The listening session will include an overview of the strategy, an update on steps the agency is taking to implement the strategy, and an opportunity for stakeholder input.