Member Pipeline - Regulatory - November 2005 Regulatory Update
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| To: | Members & Affiliates, Regulatory Policy Committee, Legal Affairs Committee |
| From: | National Office |
| Date: | December 8, 2005 |
Printer friendly versionThe National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) is pleased to provide you with the November 2005 Regulatory Update. This Update provides a narrative summary of relevant regulatory issues and actions current to December 7, 2005. Please contact Chris Hornback, NACWA Director of Regulatory Affairs, at 202/833-9106 or at chornback@nacwa.org or Susie Bruninga, NACWA Manager of Regulatory Affairs, at 202/833-3280 or at sbruninga@nacwa.org with any questions or information on the Update topics.
Top Stories
Pretreatment Workshop Focuses on Streamlining Rule, Other
Topics
The long-awaited pretreatment streamlining rule promulgated in
October by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was the focal point of
the 2005 National Pretreatment and Pollution Prevention Workshop held
Nov. 16-18 in Kansas City. More than 210 wastewater professionals and others
attended the meeting to hear how the new regulation, more than 10 years in the
making, would affect their existing pretreatment programs. Other topics focused
on the control of fats, oils, and grease (FOG); electronic data management; and
the impacts of the emerging pollutants, including endocrine disrupting compounds
(EDCs) as well as pharmaceuticals, and personal care products (PPCPs).
The Workshop opened with a series of roundtable discussions among the leaders of NACWA’s Pretreatment and Hazardous Waste Committee and representatives from EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management and Office of Science and Technology about the pretreatment program in general and the streamlining rule in particular. NACWA leaders stressed that implementation of the rule, which took effect November 14, does not represent a significant modification for approved pretreatment programs. However, it does provide for numerous revisions designed to reduce the burden both on publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) and industrial dischargers (http://www.nacwa.org/private/regalerts/ra05-10.cfm).
Jan Pickrel, the pretreatment team leader at EPA headquarters, provided a
technical overview of the rule and highlighted significant changes from the
earlier regulation. These include removing the requirement that categorical
industrial users (CIUs) sample for pollutants not present if they can show that
the pollutant is not present in the wastestream or only at background levels;
clarifying that best management practices (BMPs) developed by the POTW may serve
as local limits; and providing flexibility for POTWs to review the need for slug
control plans rather than barring slug discharges altogether.
Deborah Nagle, the industrial branch chief in the permits division of the EPA
Office of Wastewater Management, discussed activities that affect the
pretreatment program including the Agency’s Permitting for Environmental Results
(PER) initiative. This is an effort to improve the efficiency of the National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program and reduce the
backlog of expired permits.
The Workshop also featured sessions on information management and tools being used in Phoenix and Cincinnati to facilitate the transfer of data management from paper to electronic formats and on the issue of emerging contaminants, including PPCPs, and EDCs, in the environment and the extent to which they are a pretreatment issue.
Even though EPA funding for the Pretreatment and Pollution Prevention
Workshop was zeroed out in the Agency’s FY 2006 budget, NACWA Executive
Director Ken Kirk said he was committed to continuing the conference while also
keeping the registration cost down. The location of the 2006 Pretreatment and
Pollution Prevention Workshop will be announced soon.
All powerpoint presentations from the Workshop are available on NACWA’s website
(http://www.nacwa.org/meetings/ppt/05pret/).
Air Quality
Final Rule on Other Solid Waste Incinerators Excludes
Sludge Incinerators
EPA excluded sewage sludge incinerators from its “other solid waste
incinerators” (OSWI) final rule signed November 30. A prepublication copy is
available on the Agency’s website (http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/t3/fr_notices/30600oswi_fr_note.pdf).
Proposed in December 2004, the rule sets new source performance standards and
emission guidelines for existing sources. Although some had argued that sewage
sludge incinerators should be covered, EPA said these types of facilities are
already regulated under Section 112 of the Clean Water Act and should not be
subject to OSWI, which falls under Section 129. EPA said it expects
environmental activists to sue over the rule because they think it should cover
more types of incinerators including human crematories.
Biosolids
NRC Proposal on Radionuclide Disposal in Sewers Withdrawn
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) withdrew an advance notice of
proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) November 10 that would have amended existing rules
for radionuclide disposal into the nation's sanitary sewer systems (70 Fed.
Reg. 68,350). The ANPRM would have amended NRC regulations on radiation
protections that currently require any licensed material released into the sewer
system be water soluble and “readily dispersible biological material.”
Facilities are not allowed to discharge radionuclides into the sanitary sewer
system.
The ANPRM was first published in 1994, and over the next several years, NACWA and others conducted studies on radionuclide content in waste streams. NACWA sampled 55 POTWs in 17 states and found that the most significant sources of radioactivity were potassium and radium isotopes, which were “naturally occurring radioactive materials” (NORM). NRC and EPA formed an Interagency Steering Committee on Radiation Standards (ISCORS) to study the issue of radioactivity in sewage sludge and the need for developing limits (see NACWA Regulatory Alert 05-04 at http://www.nacwa.org/private/regalerts/ra05-04.cfm). NACWA played a critical role in working with ISCORS on this issue. Between 1998 and 2000, EPA and NRC conducted a voluntary survey of sewage sludge and ash from 313 POTWs to assess the need for further regulation. The subsequent 2003 report from ISCORS noted that no “widespread or nationwide public health concern” was identified, and no “excessive concentrations of radioactivity” were observed in the sludge or ash. Rather, the most significant levels of radioactivity were attributable to NORM.
ISCORS released two other reports earlier this year at the conclusion of its work. The two reports – ISCORS Assessment of Radioactivity in Sewage Sludge: Radiological Survey Results and Analysis and ISCORS Assessment of Radioactivity in Sewage Sludge: Recommendations on Management of Radioactive Materials in Sewage Sludge and Ash at Publicly Owned Treatment Works (Recommendations Report) – essentially led the committee to recommend to the agencies that radioactivity limits in sewage sludge and incinerator ash are not needed.
Facility and Collection Systems
NACWA/NRDC Blending Guidance Continues to Receive Solid
Reviews
Significant progress has been made since NACWA’s October 27 release
of the negotiated agreement with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to
address the practice of blending. Using a jointly developed powerpoint
presentation, NACWA and NRDC have conducted numerous briefings for key federal
and state offices and officials. Successful briefings have been held for: EPA’s
Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) and OECA
staff; all 10 EPA Regional Water Division Directors; EPA’s General Counsel Ann
Klee and legal staff; Senate Environment and Public Works Committee staff; the
Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators (ASIWPCA);
and the Office of Management and Budget. While challenging and thoughtful
questions have been asked by members of each audience, the ultimate conclusion
of each briefing has been appreciation for both NACWA and NRDC's efforts to
reach agreement on such a contentious issue. EPA’s Office of Water has sent the
agreement to the regional offices for review. Although no final decisions have
been made by EPA yet, it appears that ultimately, the NACWA/NRDC agreement will
be finalized in some form soon. We will keep the membership apprised of further
developments in this area.
Pretreatment and Hazardous Waste
Comments on 2006 Draft ELG Plan Push for Early POTW
Involvement
NACWA submitted comments November 28 on EPA’s preliminary 2006
Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELG) Plan urging the agency to focus its efforts
on reviewing existing ELGs and pretreatment standards and to involve POTWs early
in the process (http://www.nacwa.org/advocacy/releases.cfm#cmt).
The comments also reiterated NACWA’s belief that EPA needs to update the 50 POTW
Study done in 1982 so that data used to establish local limits better reflects
greatly improved performance and removal efficiencies of the nation’s wastewater
treatment plants. New data and a representative range of POTWs chosen based on
treatment technology used will ensure accurate local limits are developed, the
NACWA comments said.
NACWA commended EPA for allowing the use of certification statements in lieu of complicated engineering analysis to demonstrate compliance with discharge limits under the Pulp, Paper and Paperboard source category, which is being reviewed by EPA for possible revision. The Agency should consider extending this type of certification to other source categories, as well, NACWA advocated in its comments. NACWA also provided the Agency examples of current practices for addressing industrial wastewater from the Steam Electric Power Generation point source category. At the same time, the Association said discharges from the tobacco products industrial sector and from the health services industry, two new categories being considered by EPA for possible regulation under the ELG and pretreatment program, are already being controlled by treatment facilities, obviating the need for new standards.
NACWA also summarized comments it submitted earlier on the 2002 draft Strategy for National Clean Water Industrial Regulations, recommending that decisions regarding which ELGs to review should be based on the risk posed by that industrial category and other factors.
Legal Affairs
NACWA Files Brief Supporting EPA Position in ELG Lawsuit
NACWA filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit in San Francisco November 23 defending EPA’s effluent limitations
guidelines (ELG) program in Our Children’s Earth Foundation v. EPA.
NACWA’s brief noted that it is “undisputed that EPA has, in fact, undertaken
each of the actions … the Agency had a mandatory duty to perform.” NACWA urges
the court to affirm the district court’s May 2005 Order, which found that EPA is
implementing the ELG program in a manner consistent with the plain language of
the Clean Water Act (CWA).
Our Children’s Earth Foundation (OCE) alleged that EPA did not review all guidelines annually, review ELG limits every five years, or issue and adopt a proper ELG plan. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California relied on many of NACWA’s arguments in dismissing the initial challenge in May, holding that EPA met all the requirements for the annual ELG review, the ELG biennial report, and five-year ELG reviews, and that EPA has broad discretion in how it conducts these reviews. Visit NACWA’s Litigation Tracker (http://www.nacwa.org/private/littrack/) to stay apprised of the Association’s legal activities.
Meetings and Conferences
NACWA’s Winter Conference to Focus on Knowledge Management
NACWA’s 2006 Winter Conference, Improving Knowledge Management in
Today’s Utility, will take place in Palm Desert, Calif., January 31 –
February 3. This year’s conference will examine the optimal methods for today’s
clean water utilities to create, capture, share and leverage the knowledge they
need to excel. The Association encourages members to reserve their hotel rooms
today by calling the J.W. Marriott Palm Desert at 760/341-2211. Be sure to
mention you are attending NACWA’s Winter Conference to receive the special room
rate of $225 single/double. A preliminary narrative agenda and online
registration are available on the Association’s Conference & Meetings webpage (http://www.nacwa.org/meetings/).
On January 30, immediately preceding the winter conference, NACWA members will have another opportunity to meet with members of the Water Environment Research Foundation’s research council to discuss the research needs of the clean water community. If you are interested in attending this free session, please indicate so on your registration form.