Good news on the federal Sewage Right to Know Bill (HR 2452/S.2080), which we've covered many times before. The association of sewage agencies (NACWA) recently voted to support the legislation. Previously the group was neutral, and one of their members, Kevin Shafer from Milwaukee gave some good testimony at the House hearing. American Rivers worked long and hard with NACWA to understand their concerns and worked to address some of them - such as clarifying some of the vague terminology in the bill. This is a big deal as getting NACWA's endorsement signals widespread recognition of the need to protect public health and the value in raising awareness about the problems to build support for much needed solutions. As you can see in their letter of support (pdf), NACWA is committed to pursuing a more comprehensive SSO rule as well (the previous rule proposed by EPA was rescinded by the Bush Administration). We'll get sewage right to know one way or the other!

Clcik through to download a copy of NACWA's letter.

On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to testify on the Sewage Right to Know Bill (H.R. 2452) at a hearing in the House of Representatives. Talk about nervous... but it wasn't as bad as it could have been given that bill sponsors Rep. Bishop (D-NY) and Rep. LoBiondo (R-NJ) were chairing the hearing.

After finally getting some rest and allowing the dust to settle I'm very happy to say that River Action Day was a major success. About 90 river advocates from all over the country took to Capitol Hill to be the voice of their hometown rivers in the halls of Congress. As always, this event helped raise the political profile of several important pieces of river legislation that Congress is considering, including the Sewage Overflow Right to Know Act now pending in both the House and Senate. All told, River Action Day participants attended more than 200 congressional meetings and their presence was felt and seen on both sides of the Capitol.

We just got some good news from one of Rep. Russ Carnahan's Environment Legislative Aide. The Missouri Coalition for the Environment applauds Rep. Carnahan for her support of this important bill. Here's the message from the staffer:

When it comes to sewage pollution, what you don’t know can hurt you. Every year, more than 850 billion gallons of raw or partially-treated sewage is dumped into the waters where we fish, swim and play. As a result, millions of people become ill each year from unnecessary contact with disease causing pathogens found in sewage.