Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
No. 25
Wednesday, February 6, 2002 Page A-2
ISSN 1521-9402
News
Water Pollution
EPA Policy to Control Sewer Overflows Deemed Effective if Properly Implemented
ORLANDO--An Environmental Protection Agency policy aimed at reducing
overflows from combined sewer systems is effective if implemented properly,
according to a report from the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies.
But the cost of implementing the nine minimum controls and a long-term control
plan as recommended in the policy is staggering, and the federal government
should provide more money to help address the problem, according to the report,
which was released Feb. 5 at AMSA's annual meeting here.
The report assessing the success of the 1994 EPA policy to control combined
sewer overflows was submitted to Congress Feb. 4 as a companion to a CSO status
report submitted by EPA Jan. 30 (21 DEN A-1, 1/31/02).
The EPA report pointed out that while CSO discharges have dropped by 170 billion
gallons per year since 1994, more than 1.2 trillion gallons continues to be
released annually into U.S. waters. Part of the problem, EPA officials have
said, is the uneven application of the CSO policy.
CSOs occur in older communities whose sewer systems combine sewage and storm
water in one pipe. During some wet weather events, the treatment plant cannot
handle the excess combined flow, and outfalls are built in the system designed
to release waste water directly into nearby water body.
Michele Pla, vice president of CH2M Hill, who consults with publicly owned
treatment works on water quality issues, told BNA the AMSA report was intended
to complement the agency report and to paint a more positive picture of the
success of the CSO program.
Costs of Control Programs
The AMSA report does not gloss over the continuing challenges facing states and
localities as they try to grapple with this water quality concern that has cost
POTWs billions of dollars. CSO control programs "consume an average of 36.8% of
local capital improvement budgets," the AMSA report stated. The need for more
funding to help pay the cost of CSO controls is another challenge.
In 1996, EPA published a report estimating the financial need for localities
dealing with CSO problems at about $44.7 billion over 20 years. Municipalities
and other groups have said this figure is too low, and EPA is revising it based
on new data.
AMSA surveyed its membership, which includes 81 communities that have combined
sewer systems. The survey showed that since 1994, 47 of these communities have
spent $5.9 billion on capital and operation and maintenance costs to implement
the nine minimum controls. The report said the actual amount spent by all CSO
communities is probably much higher.
These controls include measures such as proper operation and maintenance of the
facility, maximum use of the collection system to store excess waste water, and
eliminating overflows that occur during dry weather. The AMSA report recommended
that Congress and EPA provide more funding and technical assistance to address
CSOs and that Congress provide EPA more resources to monitor and track progress
in CSO control programs. One problem in measuring the success of the CSO program
is that no mechanism exists to systematically report on it, EPA officials have
said.
EPA Rulemaking
AMSA also wants EPA to use the basic framework of the policy to address sanitary
sewer overflows, another costly challenge for POTWs. EPA is in the midst of a
rulemaking to address SSOs. A proposed rule was signed in January 2001 but never
published, and it has been on hold to allow the agency to review it and decide
what to do with it.
G. Tracy Mehan, the EPA assistant administrator for water, said he wants to move
forward with the proposed rule and publish the same proposed regulatory language
but revise the preamble and create more options for comment. The agency has said
it expects to publish the proposal in six to nine months.
AMSA officials said Feb. 5 they objected to maintaining a regulatory prohibition
on SSOs in the proposal. Waste water treatment officials have said it is
impossible to prevent sewer overflows, and trying to do so is prohibitively
expensive.
Using the CSO policy as a model for controlling SSOs would be a recognition of
"the infeasibility of a zero overflow standard," the AMSA report said.
Lisa Hollander, an attorney for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, said
that while she does not support the proposed regulatory language, publishing the
proposal will allow POTWs to comment and "air out your concerns."
By Susan Bruninga