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<title>Water News Release (Region 9): U.S. EPA Launches
Investigation into Toxins and Stressors Impacting Fish in the Bay
Delta </title>
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<td>Water News Release (Region 9): U.S. EPA Launches
Investigation into Toxins and Stressors Impacting Fish in
the Bay Delta</td>
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<th valign="BASELINE" align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap">Date: </th>
<td>Thu, 10 Feb 2011 10:06:33 -0600 (CST)</td>
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<th valign="BASELINE" align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap">From: </th>
<td>U.S. EPA <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:usaepa@govdelivery.com"><usaepa@govdelivery.com></a></td>
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<th valign="BASELINE" align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap">To: </th>
<td><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:mdowdle@tcrcd.net">mdowdle@tcrcd.net</a></td>
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<title>Water News Release (Region 9): U.S. EPA Launches
Investigation into Toxins and Stressors Impacting Fish in the Bay
Delta </title>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" "><font size="3"><font
face="Calibri"><strong>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:</strong>
February 10, 2011 <br>
Media Contacts: See below</font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" " align="center"><font
face="Calibri" size="5"><strong>U.S. EPA Launches Investigation
into Toxins and Stressors Impacting Fish in the Bay Delta</strong></font>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" "><font size="3"><font
face="Calibri">SAN FRANCISCO –The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency will today take action on an Advanced Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) seeking public input on the
effectiveness of current water quality programs influencing
the health of the San Francisco Bay Delta Estuary.<span> </span>The
ANPR identifies pivotal water quality issues affecting Bay
Delta fisheries, describes regulatory measures currently
underway, and initiates an information-gathering process on
how the EPA and the State of California can achieve water
quality and aquatic resource protection goals in one of the
West Coast’s most ecologically diverse and important aquatic
habitats. </font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" "><font size="3"><font
face="Calibri">The Bay Delta is the hub of California’s water
distribution system, providing drinking water to 25 million
people, sustaining irrigation for 4 million acres of farmland,
and supporting 750 different species of plants, fish, and
wildlife, several of which are endangered or threatened.<span>
</span>The water quality of the Bay Delta Estuary and many of
its tributaries is impaired, the estuarine habitat is
shrinking and many fish populations are at all-time lows. </font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" "><font size="3"><font
face="Calibri">“The Bay Delta is a major source of our tap
water and the water used to grow our food,” said Jared
Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific
Southwest. “EPA is committed to tackling the pollution
degrading the Delta, which is threatened by contaminants from
sewage, pesticides, and a host of other chemicals.”</font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" "><font size="3"><font
face="Calibri">No single factor is responsible for the decline
of the Bay Delta’s health. The present condition of the
estuary reflects the cumulative and interactive effects of
multiple factors, including water pollution, invasive species,
water diversion and habitat degradation.<span> </span>Impacts
associated with these stressors include toxicity to fish,
invertebrates and their food sources, developmental
deformities, and reproductive problems. </font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" "><font size="3"><font
face="Calibri">This ANPR is part of a comprehensive set of
commitments made by the Obama Administration to address
California water issues under the Interim Federal Action Plan
released in December 2009.<span> </span>Through this plan,
the Administration has promoted water conservation and
efficiency improvements throughout California, dedicated more
than $40 million to drought relief projects, and made historic
investments in modernizing California’s water infrastructure.</font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" "><font size="3"><font
face="Calibri">“Communities rely on their water resources to
supply clean water, sustain their environment, and support
vital economic activities,” said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the
White House Council on Environmental Quality.<span> </span>“Identifying
the water quality challenges in the Bay Delta is key to
addressing the delta’s complex and long-standing water
problems and ensuring healthy communities and economies in
California.”</font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" "><font size="3"><font
face="Calibri">In its ANPR, EPA notes that it will be
coordinating its review of water quality issues with the
on-going development of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, which
currently is being developed through a collaboration of
federal, state and local agencies, environmental
organizations, and other interested parties.<span> </span></font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" "><font size="3"><font
face="Calibri">Deputy Secretary of the Interior, David J.
Hayes, who has been helping to lead the BDCP effort for the
federal agencies, welcomed EPA’s action, noting that “EPA’s
attention to a variety of water quality stressors and the role
they play is an important complement to the science-based
analysis that is going into the Bay Delta Conservation Plan
effort.”<span> </span></font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" "><font size="3"><font
face="Calibri">He continued:<span> </span>“The
Administration is committed to working together across our
agencies to use the best science to meet the twin goals that
California has adopted for the Bay Delta in its comprehensive
new water legislation:<span> </span>a more reliable water
supply and a restored and enhanced ecosystem – including
improved water quality.”<span> </span></font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" "><font size="3"><font
face="Calibri">In addition to protecting aquatic species’
habitat, the federal Clean Water Act charges EPA with
protecting water quality for a variety of uses that are not
addressed in this ANPR, including water for drinking and
agriculture.<span> </span>Water quality standards are
established under the Clean Water Act to protect public
health, welfare, and the protection and propagation of fish,
shell fish, and wildlife.</font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" "> <font size="3"><font
face="Calibri">The ANPR identifies specific issues for which
the EPA has regulatory responsibility and solicits comment on
topics, such as potential site-specific water quality
standards and site-specific changes to pesticide regulation.<span>
</span>Summaries describing environmental stressors and the
regulatory framework necessary to address them are also
included in the ANPR.<span> </span></font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" "><font size="3"><font
face="Calibri">California’s State and Regional Water Boards
have the lead role under the federal Clean Water Act to
protect water quality; they are actively engaged in multiple
efforts, including establishing numeric water quality criteria
and developing and implementing watershed improvement plans.<span>
</span>The recovery of the Bay Delta reflects national efforts
to ensure higher water quality, protect public health, and
support essential fish, shell fish, and wildlife populations.<span>
</span>The EPA, in collaboration with the State Water Resource
Control Board and the Regional Water Quality Control Board,
seeks to protect the biological, physical, and chemical
integrity of the Bay Delta and its aquatic resources.<span> </span>Public
input and scientific findings obtained from the ANPR will be
reviewed and used to develop a strategic proposal for future
EPA efforts toward protecting the Bay Delta and other
important waterways.<span> </span></font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" "><font size="3"><font
face="Calibri">The ANPR solicits public input on how EPA and
the State of California can achieve water quality and aquatic
resource protection goals in the Bay Delta Estuary and how to
best use Clean Water Act programs to improve Delta water
quality. No new rules are proposed in the ANPR and the ANPR
has no regulatory effect.</font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" "> <font size="3"><font
face="Calibri">The ANPR will be published to the Federal
Register within one week.<span> </span>EPA encourages
interested parties to read the ANPR and provide additional
information and suggestions for actions to improve Bay Delta
Estuary water quality and aquatic resource protection.
Comments can be submitted electronically at the Federal
Rulemaking Portal (<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>) identified by docket
EPA-R09-OW-210-0976 or in hardcopy addressed to Erin Foresman,
US Environmental Protection Agency, 75 Hawthorne Street, San
Francisco, CA 94105.</font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" "> <font size="3"><font
face="Calibri">For more information, please visit:<span> </span><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.epa.gov/region9/water/watershed/sfbay-delta">http://www.epa.gov/region9/water/watershed/sfbay-delta</a>
or <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.epa.gov/region9/water/watershed/sfbay-delta/anpr.html">http://www.epa.gov/region9/water/watershed/sfbay-delta/anpr.html</a></font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" ">
</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" "> <font size="3"><font
face="Calibri"><strong>MEDIA CONTACTS:</strong></font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" "><font size="3"><font
face="Calibri">Mary Simms, Press Officer, U.S. EPA, (415)
947-4270, <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:simms.mary@epa.gov">simms.mary@epa.gov</a> </font></font>
</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class=" "><font size="3"><font
face="Calibri">Yoshiko Hill, Public Affairs Intern, U.S. EPA,
(415) 947-4308, <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:hill.yoshiko@epa.gov">hill.yoshiko@epa.gov</a> </font></font>
</p>
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