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<br />Western States Water Council <br />Water Quality Committee <br /> <br />San Antonio, Texas .. <br />October 20, 2005 <br /> <br />. Role of EP A on quality/quantity - Roger apologized for Ben. Hurricane <br />Katrina has been demanding a lot of Ben's time, and he had to stay in DC <br />for a Committee hearing. In looking at infrastructure, it is aging. How do <br />we fill it in? <br /> <br />Duane Smith asked what Roger believes is EP A's role in regulating water quantity for water <br />quality? Roger said he sees no role in regulating quantity. EP A needs to be able to identify <br />downstream needs to protect beneficial uses. Also, when a quantity decision is made, EP A would <br />like to see that water quality ramifications are also considered. Duane then asked what role would <br />EP A play in a quantity permit? Roger responded that EP A would not play any role in a water permit. <br />EP A would rely on the state. <br /> <br />Paul Frohardt asked whether states are seeing other areas of concern of how EP A is <br />interrelating. Weir Labatt said that in Texas, brackish water and discharge permits have been a <br />concern, specifically, discharging brackish water from oil wells into class 2 wells. They are looking <br />for a change in the definition and Texas is working with Ben on this. <br /> <br />Tribes as State <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Duane Smith reported that in Oklahoma they have 39 tribes, none with TAS status. If each <br />were able to set their own WQ standards, there would be 40+ sets of standards. Oklahoma tried to <br />get cooperative agreement. The problem was that EP A was a wedge between states and tribes. In <br />the recent federal transportation bill, Oklahoma successfully inserted a clause that requires the <br />Oklahoma Water Resources Board to administer the Clean Water Act program in Indian Country in <br />Oklahoma. Tribes can have T AS, but only ifthey enter into a cooperative agreement with the state. <br /> <br />Stephen Bernath noted there are 29 recognized tribes in Washington, and several of them <br />have T AS status. So far, it has been smooth running. They try to work on a government to <br />government basis and resolve issues cooperatively. In Washington they would have a problem if all <br />of the non- T AS tribes started moving at the same time to get T AS status. Current capacity and <br />resources would make it very difficult to process and administer. Stephen said he would like to ask <br />Ben how EP A is looking at working with this potential workload. <br /> <br />Dave Glatt said the biggest frustration for ND is that EP A is more of a wedge than a <br />facilitator. He would like to see EP A change that. <br /> <br />Paul Frohardt commented there is substantial interest in this issue. He reviewed the <br />Committee's work plan for this issue that calls for a workshop, and he suggested that we do this <br />before the meeting with Ben. Shaun McGrath reported that the GAO would be issuing its report at <br />the end of October, which would be followed by a 30-day "hold" by Congress to review the report. <br />Therefore, the report should be public no later than the end of November. The GAO staffer who <br />managed drafting of the report said she would participate in a workshop to discuss the GAO's <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />6 <br />