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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 8, 2018
MEDIA CONTACT: Jerah Sheets at 515-313-8909 or Jerah.Sheets@dnr.iowa.gov.
WINDSOR HEIGHTS – Updating state rules to reflect changes in
state and federal law will be up for the Environmental Protection Commission’s
consideration at their business meeting at 10 a.m., March 20, in Windsor
Heights.
The meeting at DNR Field Office 5, Suite 200, 7900 Hickman
Road, is open to the public. Submit requests to speak to Jerah Sheets at Jerah.Sheets@dnr.iowa.gov or
515-313-8909 prior to meeting.
The DNR will ask commissioners to approve a final rule that
will update solid waste rules to match with recent changes to state code. The
proposal will eliminate an advisory council which originally worked to
establish the state’s Environmental Management Systems program.
In separate action, commissioners will be asked to approve
changes in drinking water rules, bringing Iowa’s rules into agreement with
federal law. Adopting the rules should provide increased protection against
bacteria in public systems that draw drinking water from groundwater, while clarifying
rules on lead and copper and requiring systems to notify homeowners of lead
test results if the system conducts testing in specific homes.
A change in the asbestos notification fees paid when
demolition and renovation projects are conducted is also up for approval. No
other changes in air quality fees are proposed.
At 11 a.m., commissioners will consider a referral to the
Attorney General of 61 Park, L.L.C., for violations of a wastewater permit in
Muscatine.
The complete agenda follows:
Approval
of Agenda
Election
of Officer – Vice Chair
Approval
of the Minutes
Monthly Reports
Public
Participation
Director’s Remarks
Final
Rule –Chapter 111, Annual Reports of Solid Waste Environmental Management
Systems
Contract with the University of Iowa for IDNR SHL
TMDL Contract
Clean
Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund – Fourth Quarter Updates to
FY 2018 Intended Use Plans
Final
Rules: Public Water Supply, DWSRF,
Operator Certification, and Laboratory Certification Rules - Chapters 40, 41,
42, 43, 44, 81, 83
Final
Rules: Asbestos Notification Fee – Chapter 30
Air
Quality: Fee Schedule Revision
Air
Quality - Budget Review
Referral to the Attorney General
General Discussion
Items
for Next Month’s Meeting
- April 16, 2018 – Educational Tour –
Adams County
- April 17, 2018 – EPC Business Meeting
– Union County
- May 15, 2018 – EPC Business Meeting –
State of Iowa Capitol
The complete agenda
and item briefs are available on the DNR website.
Commissioners include:
Ralph Lents, Menlo, chair; Joe Riding, Altoona, secretary; Mary Boote, Des
Moines; Nancy Couser, Nevada; Howard Hill, Cambridge; Barbara Hovland, Mason City; Rebecca Guinn, Bettendorf; and
Bob Sinclair, Sigourney. Chuck Gipp is the director of the DNR.
MEDIA CONTACT: Tim
Hall, 515-725-8298, Tim.Hall@dnr.iowa.gov.
DES MOINES — The normally dry months of January and February
produced more than 2.5 inches of moisture this year, enough to continue
improvement in drought conditions across much of the state, according to
the latest Water Summary Update from the Iowa DNR.
However, there
remains an area of concern in southeast Iowa, where the drought monitor shows
about 10 percent of the state in a condition of moderate drought.
Tim Hall, Hydrology
Resources Coordinator for the Iowa, DNR indicates that "some parts of
southeast Iowa are short more than 20 inches of rainfall over the past two
years."
Streamflow has increased to normal over most of Iowa, and shallow groundwater
conditions are improving.
For a
thorough review of Iowa’s water resource trends, go to www.iowadnr.gov/watersummaryupdate.
The
report is prepared by technical staff from Iowa DNR, the Iowa Department of
Agriculture and Land Stewardship, IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering, and the
U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with Iowa Homeland Security and
Emergency Management Department.
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