Hearing Set for July 22 on Illinois EPA Water Programs
For Immediate Release
July 15, 1998 |
Contact: Joan Muraro
217-785-7209
TDD (hearing impaired) 217-782-9143 |
Springfield, Ill. -- The public will be given an opportunity to
comment on three Illinois EPA water programs during a hearing set to start at 10 a.m. on
Wednesday, July 22, 1998, in the Training Room at the Agency’s Springfield
headquarters, 1021 North Grand Avenue E. The hearing will provide an opportunity for the
public to comment on the drinking water and waste water revolving loan funds, the proposed
phase-out of Facility Planning Areas as part of the annual Water Quality Management Plan,
and the two-year schedule for Total Maximum Daily Loads for waters identified on the
state’s 1998 Clean Water Act Section 303 (d) list.
The Illinois EPA is required to conduct a public hearing on the proposed distribution
of loans for wastewater and drinking water projects. This year a new hardship grant
program to assist unsewered communities is being added.
The statewide Water Quality Management Plan (WQMP) identifies the state’s goals
and objectives pertaining to water quality protection, and is updated annually to provide
for public notice and input into revisions. The Agency will accept both oral and written
comments, and will be responding to questions about the announced intention to remove
Facility Planning Areas from the WQMP and from the Continuing Planning Process as
described in the Clean Water Act.
The Clean Water Act requires states to submit to U.S. EPA, on April 1 of every even
year, a list of water quality limited waters, prioritized and ranked to take into
consideration the severity of pollution and the uses to be made of the waters, with a
two-year schedule for development of total maximum daily loads for the selected waters.
U.S. EPA, as a part of its review comments on Illinois’ 1998 303 (d) final report,
has asked the Illinois EPA to seek input through a public hearing on only the two-year
schedule portion of the final report.
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