Wet Weather Issues
EPA's Stormwater Phase II Advisory Subcommittee DiscussionsBackground: EPA is continuing a stormwater Phase II national policy dialogue with stakeholders through federal advisory committee meetings. AMSA has been actively involved in the Subcommittee which is expected to eventually guide EPA in proposed stormwater phase II rulemaking activities by September 1997.
Status: Due to pre-proposal requirements and impending deadlines, EPA has canceled the June 12-13 meeting of the Advisory Committee. EPA cites the process involved to satisfy requirements under the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA), completion of a cost benefit analysis, and an impending court-ordered deadline for a proposed Stormwater Phase II rule by September 1997, as the major reasons for the cancellation. EPA will continue to convene the Advisory Committee after the rule is proposed in September 1997 to discuss comments on the proposed rule and implementation issues. CONTACT: Mark Hoeke, AMSA 202/833-9106, or George Utting, EPA 202/260-9530.
Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) Policy Framework
Background: EPA is continuing a SSO policy dialogue with stakeholders through federal advisory committee meetings. AMSA has been actively involved in the Subcommittee discussions, which are expected to eventually guide EPA in policy-making activities regarding a sanitary sewer overflow policy or regulatory framework.
Status: Efforts at EPA are continuing to resolve internal headquarters and regional differences on proposed SSO policies developed by EPA's SSO Advisory Committee. AMSA and other municipal interests of EPA's SSO Federal Advisory Subcommittee submitted a letter to EPA program and enforcement officials on March 26, 1997, which emphasized support for timely completion of the national SSO dialogue, support for negotiated affirmative defense provisions for unavoidable SSOs, and a recommendation that EPA reconsider draft enforcement priorities which target cities with SSO problems over the next two years. In recent internal EPA discussions, regional EPA enforcement officials have expressed their reluctance to support an SSO policy which in their views, limit their enforcement discretion and permit some types of overflows. Recently, some regional officials have urged an alternative narrow regulation that requires sewer system operators to report all overflows, in lieu of a comprehensive permitting regulation. Discussions are taking place in five areas: monitoring and reporting, operation and maintenance, affirmative defense, permitting strategy, and enforcement management strategy. Also, EPA is working to complete a draft cost/benefit analysis for different scenarios of proposed policy and regulatory revisions, which should be available in June, 1997. EPA's Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet once more when internal EPA differences have been resolved. No meeting date has been scheduled. CONTACT: Mark Hoeke, AMSA 202/833-9106 or Kevin Weiss, EPA 202/260-9524.
EPA's Urban Wet Weather Flows Advisory Committee Activities
Background: The UWWFAC, chartered in May 1995, is responsible for "developing recommendations to address cross-cutting issues associated with the human health and environmental impacts of urban wet weather discharges (including storm water, combined sewer overflows, and sanitary sewer overflows) in an innovative and cost-effective manner." The UWWFAC is composed of EPA, state regulatory, environmental, municipal government, industrial, business development, and local wastewater agency interest groups. AMSA has been actively involved in the Committee, and its workgroups.
Status: The UWWF advisory committee held its latest meeting April 28-29, 1997. Below is a summary of current Committee activities. CONTACTS: Mark Hoeke, AMSA 202/833-9106 or Will Hall, EPA 202/260-1458.
Table 2 - UWWFAC Activities
Committee Activities
EPA Action Taken or Expected
| Watersheds: Watershed Policy | Policy (Summer 1997) |
| Watersheds: Monitoring Recommendations | Guidance (Summer 1997) |
| Water Quality Standards: Wet Weather Standards Recommendations | Proposed Rule on WQS |
| Stormwater: Phase I Reapplication Requirements | Policy Issued (5/17/96) [RA96-15] |
| Stormwater: Interim Policy on BMPs in Lieu of Numeric Standards | Policy Issued (8/1/96) [RA96-18] |
| Stormwater: No Exposure Incentive | Proposed Rule (9/1/97) |
| Stormwater: Expanded General Permit Notice of Intent | Proposed Rule (9/30/97) |
| Stormwater: Database on BMP Effectiveness | Database Availability (1/31/98) |
| Stormwater: Definition of Maximum Extent Practicable | Guidance to be Issued (1/31/98) |
| Stormwater: Phase I Enforcement | Guidance or Policy (9/30/97) |
| Stormwater: Background Sources | Guidance or Policy (9/30/97) |
Watershed Policy: The committee is developing a document
titled, "A Watershed Alternative for the Management of Wet
Weather Flows (and FlowChart)." The draft document expresses
EPA's support for a process of pursuing a watershed approach as
an alternative to the traditional NPDES permitting approach for
meeting water quality standards through control of individual
wet weather point sources, and builds upon EPA's previous watershed-related
efforts. The Committee's draft document has undergone review by
EPA regional and headquarters staff, and comments were discussed
by the Committee during the April 28-29 meeting. The Committee
plans to modify the document in a small workgroup to address EPA
comments within the next few weeks. Subsequently, Committee members
will be asked to circulate the revised document to their constituencies
for comment and support. EPA hopes to gain consensus on the document
at the July 28-29 meeting of the Committee. A revised draft watershed
policy document will be distributed for comment to AMSA's Wet
Weather Issues Committee when available.
Watershed Monitoring Recommendations: These recommendations
will supplement the Watershed Alternative document by providing
guidance on the development of watershed-based monitoring strategies.
Wet Weather Standards Recommendations: Some committee members
are uncomfortable with applying national water quality criteria,
derived from bioassays based on steady-state exposures, to wet
weather conditions, which are characterized by discontinuous exposures.
A number of other issues have been raised regarding objectives,
the applicability of standards, and how standards should be implemented
in wet weather NPDES permits. The Water Quality Standards workgroup
of the Advisory Committee met on April 1-3 to discuss four issue
areas: (1) designated uses, (2) chemical criteria, (3) habitat
and biological criteria, and (4) implementation of standards.
The workgroup came to some general agreement on the need to better
refine chemical-specific water quality criteria to address wet
weather situations. A letter to the Administrator recommending
that the refinement of chemical-specific water quality criteria
be a top priority for the Agency is still being drafted by Committee
members. Small workgroups are continuing discussions related
to designated uses and implementation issues. Municipal and state
caucuses clearly support the concepts of refined uses, allowing
partial uses, seasonal uses, or deleting unattainable uses, as
discussed in the CSO policy. However, environmental groups are
especially resistant to these concepts as they feel that any revision
of the uses would be downgrades. EPA did indicate its resistance
to allowing states to establish partial use designations without
performing use attainability analyses.
No Exposure Incentive: The Committee has developed criteria
for determining whether an industrial facility has "no exposure"
to stormwater under the Phase I stormwater program. These facilities
which are defined as having "no exposure" would reduce
NPDES permit requirements to a one-time, or annual certification
of "no exposure". EPA expects to propose a change to
the Phase I regulations in September 1997.
Expanded General Permit Notice of Intent (NOI) Form: The
Committee has developed an expanded industrial NOI form which
allows the public to obtain more information on an industrial
facility's potential impact on stormwater runoff. EPA expects
to have expanded NOI form ready in September 1997, when existing
general permits expire.
Database of Best Management Practices (BMP) Effectiveness:
The Committee is currently tracking progress of a cooperative
EPA/WERF project on the effectiveness of BMPs. Results of this
effort will be presented a standard manual on BMPs which is intended
as a source of guidance and performance information.
Definition of Maximum Extent Practicable (MEP): The Committee
is developing a process by which the term "MEP" can
be clarified or defined so that Phase I requirements for MS4s
are clear and consistent. EPA expects that it can issue guidance
on the definition in January 1998, and has indicated its desire
to develop performance standards to quantify MEP in January 1999
(see discussion of performance standards in Phase II Stormwater
Committee). During the January meeting, the Committee discussed
several outcomes of the Committee's MEP workgroup. Significant
areas of agreement were reached on several issues, including:
(1) MEP is viewed as the technology standard (rather than a technology-based
standard), (2) MEP should be viewed as a "process" and
not so much as an endpoint (i.e., numeric effluent limitations),
(3) MEP is one way to get to water quality attainment, which is
the ultimate goal, (4) MEP is a minimum performance requirement
for municipalities under CWA §402(p), (5) EPA should put
out guidance along these lines, to help permit writers and permittees,
and (6) the MEP process should be applicable to Phase II communities.
Phase I Enforcement: It was made clear during the April
28-29, 1997, meeting, that enforcement of industrial stormwater
permitting requirements has not been an Agency priority. Data
on the number regulated facilities and the number of facilities
which did not submit a Notice of Intent for coverage to their
regulatory agency is very limited. Committee members discussed
potential strategies for EPA to improve the level of compliance
with the industrial stormwater regulations.
Background Sources: The Committee is discussing issues
concerning background sources of pollution (i.e., air deposition
and run-on) that may contribute to point source stormwater discharges
and/or contribute to point source discharge violations. The Committee
may eventually recommend a permitting policy to EPA.
AMSA to Conduct CSO Permit Negotiation Workshop
AMSA will sponsor a one and a half day workshop this fall designed to assist publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) with the negotiation of combined sewer overflow (CSO) permits. The AMSA CSO Permit Negotiation Workshop, to be held Sept. 25-26, 1997, in Cincinnati, Ohio, will allow AMSA members to share information and experiences regarding the CSO permitting process. The workshop will allow POTWs that have completed permitting negotiations to assist other agencies with the varying interpretations of the policy through case study examples and general tips. The workshop agenda is currently under development by AMSA staff and members of the Association's Wet Weather Issues Committee. The workshop is scheduled to begin with an overview of CSO policy, with an emphasis on what the "CSO policy is and what it is not." The overview will be followed by an update on the status of national implementation, with an examination of permits that have been issued, enforcement activities, compliance with the nine minimum controls and performance plans. An overview of the permitting process will focus on the planning, scope and implementation of long-term control plans with an emphasis on meeting both technology and water quality-based requirements. Sessions on monitoring will characterize CSO impacts and the efficacy of CSO controls, and look at long-term compliance with water quality standards. Other sessions will provide an in-depth examination of compliance with water quality standards, negotiated permitted bypasses, implementation of nine minimum controls and enforcement. The AMSA membership will receive an advanced notice of the workshop, and accompanying draft agenda, via an upcoming Regulatory Alert. CONTACT: Mark Hoeke, AMSA 202/833-9106.