WEEKLY UPDATE November 4, 2014

In This Issue

NEMWI Webinar Invitation: How Well Do Today's Ballast Water Filters Perform in Natural Fresh Water?

NEMWI's Great Lakes Hill Happenings: October 2014

New Partners for Smart Growth Conference Early Registration Ends November 10

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NEMWI Webinar Invitation:

How Well Do Today's Ballast Water Filters Perform in

Natural Fresh Water?
November 19, 2014
10 AM - Noon ET

Ballast water of commercial ships is a primary vector for non-native aquatic species introductions to new environments, where they may become invasive, destructive and even threaten human health. Regulatory deadlines for ships to install effective ballast water management systems (BWMS) rapidly approach, and the need for competent BWMS to reach the marketplace is urgent. Many BWMS design concepts carefully couple high-flow filtration with secondary treatment processes (like UV or biocides) to maximize efficiency and effectiveness. But real-world information on what filters can and cannot achieve in natural fresh water-perhaps the most challenging for filtration-is extremely limited.

GSI conducted a two-month series of filter system tests on nine commercially-available ballast water filters at its world-class, land-based testing facility in the freshwater Duluth-Superior Harbor of Lake Superior, with support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The testing supplies critical information to BWMS developers, customers, environmental stakeholders, and regulators. The Webinar will provide policy and technical background on the tests, an overview of the commercially available filters subject to testing, the biological and operational performance findings from the work, and opportunity for a panel-discussion on the tests, methods and implications.

Registration free for non-profit organizations and governmental agencies; for-profit organizations a donation of $40 is requested.

To start your registration go here.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

NEMWI's Great Lakes Hill Happenings: October 2014

Congress was out all of October, but Great Lakes-relevant activity continued. Your October 2014 Great Lakes Hill Happenings covers:

Updates on anticipated legislation in the lame duck, including appropriations;
Recap of the NEMWI Webinar on Conservation, HABs and New Approaches; and
A House letter to OMB supporting $300 million for the GLRI program in FY2016.

For more information, please contact Danielle Chesky, Director Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.

New Partners for Smart Growth Conference Early Registration

Ends November 10

The early registration deadline is approaching for the Local Government Commission's 14th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference, to take place in Baltimore from January 29-31, 2015. The conference theme is "Practical Tools and Innovative Strategies for Creating Great Communities," underscoring this year's emphasis on implementation. The program will feature tools, strategies, focused training and new technologies that will help communities now. The deadline for early registration is November 10. More information is available here.

For more information, contact Colleen Cain, Senior Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.

NEMWI: Strengthening the Region that Sustains the Nation