208 bulletin
NUMBER 9
WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT April 30, 1976
Training Courses EPA has finalized a contract with Synergy
Set Consulting Services to conduct public partici-
pation training courses^
i
Synergy plans the courses to give partici-
pants an understanding of the basic purposes
and intent of public participation. Partici pants
will also learn specific, pragmatic skills for
ffih'e implementation of public participation as~an
integral part of the planning process. S_pje_cJ_aJ_
emphasis will be placed on the political nature
of water quality management and skills necessary
to deal with pub'lic confrontation.
The entire two-day course will be built
around stages in the water quality management
process. The courses are set up to. train two
people from each designated Agency, two people
from each State, and two people from each EPA
Regional office. As the schedule is under-
going some revisions, contact the Regional
EPA office for more information.
Getting The Word State and areawide planning agencies in
Out- Region VIII have begun some innovative public
participation programs designed to build
enthusiasm and broaden interest in water
quality management.
The Pueblo Regional Planning Commission
(RPC) which operates in Pueblo County,
Colorado, uses billboards and flyers enclosed
with water bills to tell the area residents,
"208 means clean water... and a whole lot
more."
The flyer, which was a cooperative effort
of the Pueblo RPC and the Pueblo Board of
Water Works, contains a brief explanation of
the areawide water qua!ity management program.
It invites people to fill in their names and
addresses for the Agency's mailing list and
return the flyer with their water payment.
The front of the flyer features a photograph
of an area reservoir.
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Elsewhere in Region VIII, as in the State
of Utah and the Flathead Drainage area of
Montana, planning agencies have used television,
radio, and newspapers to reach the public arid
drum up interest in water qualitj, management .
Train On Water The massive cleanup of America’s waterways
Cleanup must be accompanied by prompt planning to ensure
that the recreational benefits of clean waters -
are available to working people and their families .
EPA Administrator Russell E. Train made this
point in Boston at a recent Conference on Water
Cleanup and the Land.
The conference launched a joint effort by
EPA and the Department of the Interior to assist
State and local governments and private citizens
in obtaining a good return from the nearly $18
billion being invested by the Federal Government
in wastewater treatment plants .
Mr. Train told the conference that this
massive Federal program “will raise property
values along those shorelines downstream from
treatment plants. When a polluted river
becomes clean enough for fishing and boating
and swimming, it attracts people and land
development.” He predicted that, unless sound
planning precedes the development of cleaned-up
shorelines, the result will be a zoning disaster.
The conference also learned that there are
several sections of the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act Amendments of 1972 which can be
used to help secure full value on funds invested
in water cleanup.
Section 208 areawide plans should identify
s _ pecific recreation use opportunities and
coordinate access and shoreland protection
needed to support proposed water uses, he said .
A Public Be visible. Consider making pollution -
Participation monitoring results available to the public
Idea along with other information related to water
quality problems, needs, goals, and progress,
on a continuing basis .
You could do it with a widely distributed
and well publicized report along the lines of
“How Well Are We Cleaning Up Our Water?” This
could be done on an area or statewide basis.
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Region I Agencies Officials of EPA, HUD, the Bureau of
Plan Program Outdoor Recreation in Region I and the New
Integration England River Basins Commission are meeting
in an attempt to approach the intricate
question of interprogram planning and funding.
They have held extended discussions with each
other and with State officials to examine
coordination. All agree that to achieve
desired levels of inter-program planning and
funding an essential ingredient is integration
of guidelines and practices of the various
programs at the Federal level. They must also
evaluate practices and detailed work plans
developed by receiving agencies at the State
and sub—State levels.
Public On March 24 the Dallas/Fort Worth Council
Participation of Governments (COG) held its first major area-
In Texas wide public partiçfpation meeting . Approximately
100 people attended, including concerned citizens
and local officials, as well as EPA, State and
COG staff.
In the morning session James Agee, 208
coordinator for the Western States, and Georgie
Putnicki, Deputy Regional Administrator of
Region VI, discussed the Federal perspective
on 208. Also of particular interest _ was the
afternoon workshop includinggroup discussion
on local issues. Participants reached a strong
consensus that local elected officials must be
involved in the 208 planning process if plans
are tO be implemented .
Feedback On Recently an EPA staff-member interviewed
208 a member of the policy advisory committee of
a 208 Agency in New York St.ate . The woman
with whom the staffer spoke held some
definite opinions about the 208 process.
She was very pessimistic about producing
j p1ementable _ results from the 208 process.
Also, she doubted that municipal officials
understand 208 or have any interest on it .
The advisory committee member felt that EPA
publications should not be used to explain
the process to municipal officials. In her
opinion, the current copiousness ofAgency
publications is a national disgrace.
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Instead, she proposed training sessions
for private citizens to explain 208 in terms
that laymen can understand. Such sessions
would enable citizens to cope with the
documents issued by EPA, the State and
designated area agencies . This together
with identification of--and support from--
key leaders in a community, will be necessary
for the success of the 208 process, in her
opinion.
In response to this and other similar
comments the EPA-sponsored workshops with
the National League of Cities, the National
Association of Counties, and the National
Association of Regional Councils which are
set for late April and May are designed to
bring local and State officials into the
208 process in a vital way.
208 Cooperation A case study on the 208 program was sent
With County And to EPA Headquarters by A. H. Hessling, Executive
State Director of the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana (OKI)
Regional Council of Governments. It reflects
real accomplishment.
1-lessling reports that one area for which
OKI was designated to prepare a sewerage
facilities plan includes three villages;
Waynesville, Harveysburg, and Corwin, as well
as unincorporated parts of a county; all in
Ohio.
This same area includes an 11,000 acre
recreational site on which the U. S. Army Corps
of Engineers is constructing a reservoir. In
1978, after the reservoir waters are impounded,
the Ohio Department of Natural Resources will
take over the site as a State park.
Harveysburg, with a population of about
500, has been trying for years to eliminate
the problems which stemmed from its use of
septic tanks in poor soils. The problems were
so severe that, in one township within the
planning area, tests by the county Health
Department revealed that 28 percent of the
well-water samples were unsafe. Yet improve-
ments to solve the problems would have been
prohibitively expensive in view of the small
population and sluggish economy of the area
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Waynesvi}le, the largest village, with
a population of 1,800, operates a wastewater
treatment plant with some excess capacity.
Hessling said a perceived solution would be
construction of three separate package plants
at a cost of $ 3 million to disch rge directly
into the reservoir . A regional solution would
be to lay a conduit under the un:flTled reservoir
and pipe wastewater from Harveysburg and Corwin
to the plant at Waynesville . The cost of this
solution: $2 million. The regional solution,
made possible by areawide planning, was agreed
upon after many meetings with the Corps of
Engineers, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency,
Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the
affected villages and the county.
This is a unique occasion when the Corps,
acting under revised regulations, will be able
to share costs in a solution which involves
allowing an adjacent area to tie into its
interceptor sewer.
In addition to saving over a million
dollars, the enactment of a region Tsolution
willTfhepá ff ol1utio of the
reservoir from direct_discharges. The cost
savings, the institutional cooperation, the
____ rimental benefit are what 208 f TT
abouE fa [ f tes many more successes
Tike this as the 208 plan proceeds to its
conclusion. Without a regional entity and a
comprehensive planning approach these
accomplishments would be out of reach.
Public Participation EPA leadquarters is considering the
Clearinghouse formation of a clearinghouse for information
on Public Participation. If you have any
material that might be of interest to other
208 agencies (i.e., brochures, pamphlets,
films, slide presentations, etc.), please
forward it to:
Public Participation Information
EPA (wH-554)
401 M Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C 20460
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Coordination The U.S. Forest Service (ES) and EPA
Document recently signed a joint policy guidance
Signed document. Its purpose is to establish a
framework for cooperation between the ES,
EPA, and the State and areawide 208 planning
acienci es.
The document will be sent to ES Regional
and field offices, EPA Regional and field
offices, and State and areawide 208 agency
offices so that everyone concerned with the
208 planning process will be aware of their
capabilities and responsibilities.
The document has three objectives:
-to encourage coordination between State and
areawide water quality management agencies and
the ES when National Forest lands and/or State
and private forested lands are significantly
i n vol ye d.
-to aid the exchange of information between
State and areawide water quality management
agencies and the ES, as well as providing ES
technical assistance to these agencies.
-to help ES comply with the substantive require-
i ients of State and areawide water quality manage-
ment plans.
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