EPA Sets Water Security Guidelines
The Environmental Protection Agency issued new voluntary guidelines yesterday that rely on industry to secure drinking water and wastewater treatment plants against attack.
The guidelines for improving designs and operations were written by industry groups with EPA financing. The guidance urges improved water security designs and operations, and greater use of online monitoring to protect against the potential misuse of contaminants.
Benjamin Grumbles, the agency's top official for water issues, said, "Americans should feel confident, when they turn on the tap, they have access to some of the cleanest, safest water in the world."
Patrick J. Natale, executive director of the American Society of Civil Engineers, said water security must be among the country's highest priorities.
The EPA announced the guidelines along with the engineers group, the American Water Works Association, for drinking-water utilities, and the Water Environment Federation, for wastewater professionals.
Panel for Classified Papers Planned
President Bush will soon sign a bill to create a place for members of Congress to appeal if they believe federal agencies are classifying too many documents in the name of national security.
Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Trent Lott (R-Miss.) pushed for the "Public Interest Declassification Board" after the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence wrestled with the CIA over how much of a scathing congressional report on the Iraq intelligence estimates could be made public.
The CIA initially classified half of the 500-page report. Eventually, 80 percent was released.
According to the legislation, the board will be made up of nine national security experts -- five appointed by the White House and four appointed by Congress's Republican and Democratic leaders.
The board's composition still means that the White House, which runs the executive branch, will have a strong voice on the commission. But Wyden said the provision will make a difference in clearing "the fog of unnecessary secrecy."
Last year alone, he said, the government spent $6.5 billion to classify 14.3 million new documents. "Overclassification of documents is now the rule rather than the exception," he added.
House Incumbents' Edge Grows
House members running for reelection this year widened their fundraising advantage over challengers, part of the reason 98 percent of them were able to hold on to their offices, according to a new study.
The average amount raised by incumbents was up 20 percent over that of the previous election, while the fundraising by opponents declined by 6 percent on average, according to the Campaign Finance Institute, a Washington-based research group.
"Political competition, the lifeblood of democracy, is under siege," Steve Weissman, a spokesman for the institute, said in a statement released with the study.
Of the 401 House members who sought reelection in 399 contests last month, 394 will return to Washington next month. Two of those who lost faced other incumbents after their congressional districts were redrawn based on the 2000 census. In 36 districts, there was no incumbent. The officeholders raised, on average, $1.1 million, while challengers took in an average of $321,979.
-- From News Services
