Stormwater and the Clean Watersheds Needs Survey   This year, EPA will begin working with stormwater Phase I and II communities and state permitting authorities to better document stormwater capital needs (in the Clean Watersheds Needs Survey (CWNS). The CWNS is a report to Congress, issued every four years, on the capital needs for wastewater, stormwater, and nonpoint sources over the next twenty years.

While stormwater has been a listed category in the CWNS for some time, reporting of these needs by Phase I and II communities has been very limited. In preparation for the 2008 CWNS, EPA would like to work closely with community stormwater managers. EPA is announcing a series of webcasts on the CWNS process. The first few webcasts will provide an overview of the CWNS and the process used to document and report capital project needs. In the early fall, there will be a webcast targeted toward Phase I and II stormwater managers to help document capital needs for stormwater infrastructure. http://www.epa.gov/cwns/cwns2008.htm

Carbon Offset  your Summer Vacation Many of us think green around our homes and businesses, reducing our carbon footprints as much as we can. However, what about when we go on vacation? All that green thinking need not go out the airplane window.

Conservation.org provides carbon calculators to help you figure out how much carbon your vacation will emit. Then you are given the option to purchase carbon credits.  SusTravel offers a different kind of carbon calculator. Based on the miles of your flight, this calculator gives you suggestions on how to offset the carbon emissions of your trip through your own actions. Many travel sites and airlines are now offering travelers the option to buy carbon offsets when they purchase their plane tickets. Expedia, Air Canada, and Continental Airlines offer voluntary carbon offset options for green-oriented passengers. http://www.gnmparents.com/carbon-offsetting-the-family-vacation/

New Tools and Publications:

New EPA Hydromodification Guidance Document

EPA has issued a guidance document called National Management Measures to Control Nonpoint Source Pollution from Hydromodification. This guidance document provides background information about nonpoint (NPS) source pollution and offers a variety of solutions for reducing NPS pollution resulting from hydromodification activities including dams, channelization and channel modification, and streambank and shoreline erosion. The document presents practices that can be used to implement the management measures discussed in this guidance and provides a discussion of assessing and addressing water quality problems on a watershed level. Available models and assessment approaches that could be used to determine the effects of hydromodification activities are also discussed and dam removal information, including permitting requirements, process, and techniques for dam removal are provided. http://www.epa.gov/nps/hydromod/ 

Article: Increase and Improve Your Watershed Group’s Online Presence

An article in the July 27, 2007 Watershed Weekly provides some tips on how to increase your watershed organization's online presence. The tips, from a Green Media Toolshed’s monthly skill-building training, focus on building online visibility. The article includes advice on creating an online press room and links to additional online resources. http://www.pawatersheds.org/WWeekly/issue.asp?ID=353#gmt 

EPA Launches Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products Website

EPA launched a new Web site for use by the general public and by scientists, titled "Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products as Pollutants." The new website incorporates commonly asked questions about pharmaceuticals in the environment, and includes the White House policy on proper drug disposal, links to on-going EPA and federal research and initiatives, and links to scientists working in the field and related scientific literature. http://www.epa.gov/ppcp 

New EPA TMDL Report

EPA recently issued a new document called "Total Maximum Daily Loads with Stormwater Sources: A Summary of 17 TMDLs." This report summarizes 17 TMDLs that have been developed for stormwater sources in 16 states throughout the country during the past eight years. They represent a range of pollutants, models used, and different allocation and implementation methods that will be helpful to TMDL practitioners and NPDES permitting agencies and permittees as they develop and implement new stormwater source TMDLs. http://www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl/17_TMDLs_Stormwater_Sources.pdf