Meeting will address proposed water-quality rules

Newport Beach residents and business owners who want to learn how new

water-quality rules will affect them can attend a meeting at 1 p.m.

Tuesday at the City Council Chambers in City Hall, 3300 Newport Blvd.

The new rules, proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency on

Friday, are on top of other strict water-quality guidelines put in place

in recent months by the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board.

The federal rules target contaminants in an attempt to restore Upper

Newport Bay and get from removed from federal lists as an impaired water

body.

Federal officials say they hope to reopen the water to swimmers by

2013 and to fishing by 2019.

The rules take direct aim at a wide set of contaminants, including

pesticides, which will like have direct effects on property owners and

nurseries. The agency must formalize the rules before they become

official.

For more information on the meeting or on water quality, call the city

manager’s office at (949) 644-3000.