BOARD01318

• Board Meeting Date: 9/13/2005
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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Newman began his career as a college work-study student on the Arapahoe and Roosevelt National Forest
in Colorado. He has held numerous positions at all levels of the Forest Service, including assignments as
a silviculturist in Colorado, a public affairs officer in South Dakota, a district ranger in Pennsylvania and
a forest supervisor in Michigan. Prior to becoming the National Fire Plan coordinator in 2002, he was the
budget coordinator for the National Forest System in the Washington Office. Newman holds a bachelor's
in forest management from Colorado State University. His appointment is effective immediately.

Clean Water Act - Integrated Report Guidance: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has
released its 2006 Integrated Report Guidance for states, territories, authorized tribes, and interstate
commissions. It is intended to help~statesprepare and submit Clean Water Act (CW A) required reports on~ .
their water quality. The guidance outlines development of biennial Integrated Reports (IR) that support
EPA's strategy for achieving a broad-scale inventory of water quality conditions. The IR addresses water
quality standards attainment status of all waters, documents the availability of data and information for
each waterbody, identifies certain trends in water quality conditions, and provides information to
managers in setting priorities for future actions to protect and restore the health of the Nation's water
resources. The IR Guidance, a fact sheet, and highlights are posted at:
htto://www.epa.gov/owow/tmdI/2006IRG. For more information contact Sarah Furtak at [phone]
or [e-mail].

U.S. Department of Ecology Names New Program Manager: In August, Ken Slattery was named as
the new Water Program Manager for the Washington Department of Ecology (DOE). Ken has been
serving as the acting manager since June I, when Joe Stohr moved to the DOE Director's Office as a
Special Assistant.

EP A Position Articulated on Clean Water Act Section 402: In an August 5th memo, EP A General
Counsel Ann Klee and Ben Grumbles, Assistant Administrator for Water, for the first time articulate
EPA's position on the "Applicability of Section 402 of the Clean Water Act to Water Transfers." The
memo, which is addressed to Regional Administrators, represents EP A's interpretation of whether or not
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits are required for water control
facilities and "water transfers," defined as "any activity that conveys or connects navigable waters (as that
term is defined in the CW A) without subjecting the water to intervening industrial, municipal, or
commercial use." The memo notes that the question has arisen because activities such as trans-basin
transfers of water for various water supply purposes may also move pollutants from one water body to
another. "The Supreme Court recently addressed this issue in South Fla. Water Mgmt. Dist. v.
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians, 541 U.S. 95 (2004), leaving the matter umesolved."

Framing the issue, the memo states that the "precise legal question...is whether the movement of
pollutants from one navigable water to another by a water transfer is the 'addition' of a pollutant.... The
question touches on the delicate balance created in the statute between protection of water quality to meet
federal water quality goals, and the management of water quantity left by Congress in the hands of States
and water resource management agencies. The issue also requires consideration of how the statute divides
responsibility between the federal and State governments for control-ling sources of water pollution. As a
matter ofIong-standing practice, EP A has not issued NPDES permits for mere water transfers; nor has it
ever stated in any general policy or general guidance that an NPDES permit is required for such
transfers. "

It concludes, "Based on the statute as a whole, we confirm the Agency's longstanding practice and
conclude that Congress intended for water transfers to be subject to oversight by water resource
management agencies and State non-NPDES authorities, rather than the permitting program under section
402 of the CWA. Furthermore, the Agency intends to initiate a rulemaking process to address water
transfers." It adds that no "factual, case-specific inquiry" into whether a particular water transfer

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