Wet Weather Issues
Proposed Stormwater Phase II Regulations
Background:EPA's proposed stormwater phase II rule regulating stormwater discharges from small municipal separate sewer systems and small construction sites was published in the January 9, 1998 Federal Register. The proposed rule would require smaller municipalities within urbanized areas to apply for NPDES permit coverage by May 31, 2002 and implement a mix of best management practices to "reduce the discharge of pollutants to the maximum extent practicable and protect water quality."
Status:EPA's Stormwater Phase II Advisory Committee held its final meeting on June 25-26, 1998 to discuss several issues raised during the comment period of the Phase II rule. EPA plans to develop additional technical guidance and fact sheets to assist in the implementation of the rule, which is expected to be finalized in March 1999. CONTACT: George Utting, EPA 202/260-9530 or Mark Hoeke, AMSA 202/833-9106.
EPA to Reconvening SSO Federal Advisory Committee
Background:EPA is crafting a national framework to guide the Agency in revising regulations and guidance to address SSO permitting and enforcement issues. A federal advisory committee, made up of municipal (including AMSA), environmental, EPA, and state interests met from November 1994 to December 1996 to discuss framework and implementation issues.
Status:EPA is continuing its internal discussions concerning a national SSO policy. EPA's Office of Water has indicated recently that it is moving forward with developing a draft SSO policy that recognizes that some SSOs are unavoidable.
Early indications are that the draft policy may
excuse extreme wet weather-related SSOs for well-designed and
properly operated systems or systems implementing aggressive SSO
remediation schedules, while leaving poorly designed or operated
systems with no SSO remediation plan in place to be subject to
EPA's enforcement discretion. EPA is hoping to complete a draft
policy by the end of 1998 and reconvene the federal advisory committee
in early 1999. CONTACT: Kevin Weiss, EPA
202/260-9524, or Mark Hoeke, AMSA 202/833-9106.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Proposes New Nationwide Permit
26
Background: Section 404 of the Clean Water Act requires anyone who wishes to discharge dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, including all wetlands to obtain a Section 404 permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. An individual permit is usually required for potentially significant impacts. However, the Corps often grants general permits on a nationwide basis for categories of activities that they believe will have only minimal effects, called Nationwide Permits. The Corps of Engineers has established the Nationwide Permits, under their authorities of Clean Water Act Section 404 and Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 Section 10 for certain categories of discharges and activities. Nationwide Permit 26, which is issued for projects relating to headwaters and isolated waters, originally allowed for no notification to the Corps of Engineers of projects that affected less than 1 acre of these waters and a permit for discharges that affected up to 10 acres. Due to opposition and further study of the adverse effects created by Nationwide Permit 26, in December of 1996 the Corps reissued this permit in a different form. Instead of a threshold of 10 acres, it was reduced to a maximum effected area of 3 acres and notification if a project effected more than 1/3 of an acre. In addition, this revised permit will only last for two years with an eventual phase out period of five years.
Status: On July 1, 1998 the Army Corps of Engineers proposed to issue 6 new nationwide permits and modify 6 existing nationwide permits to become effective when NWP 26 expires in December 1998 (the proposal includes provisions to extend NWP 26 to March 1999). The proposal includes the issuance of a new nationwide permit for the construction of stormwater management facilities. A nationwide permit will be available for new stormwater facilities that do not cause the loss of greater than 2 acres of non-tidal wetlands, and where the permittee has developed a compensatory mitigation proposal that will offset the loss of waters of the United States (if the facility causes a loss of greater than 1/3 an acre). The Corps also proposes changes to NWP 7 which includes permitting of activities related to the construction of outfall structures, and maintenance excavation around outfall structures; and NWP 12, which includes permitting of activities related to the excavation, backfill, or bedding of utility lines, and the construction, maintenance, or expansion of associated pumping stations. AMSA plans to provide comment on the proposal. CONTACT: David Olson USACE 202/761-0199 or Mark Hoeke, AMSA 202/833-9106.
- On August 20, AMSA transmitted a letter to EPA supporting a recommendation made by member agency Wayne County Department of the Environment, to Bob Perciasepe and Steve Herman, regarding the need for a seminar or series of seminars focusing on the implementation of the CSO Policy. The letter highlighted conclusions from a recent AMSA Wet Weather Issues Committee meeting that small to medium-sized cities were having the most problems with CSO implementation. These communities are faced with "steep learning curves, little targeted outreach... and lack of resources." While recognizing that EPA has performed workshops for the smaller communities in previous years, AMSA urged EPA to continue outreach to these communities and supported the suggestions for a seminar or series of workshops as outlined in Wayne County's June 24, 1998 correspondence. AMSA offered to jointly sponsor seminars with EPA and other organizations.
A recently initiated three-year pilot program for verification testing of fully developed and commercially available urban wet weather pollution abatement systems has an estimated funding of three million dollars. The wet weather facility pilot (WWF) is part of EPA's Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) program established under President Clinton's initiative for acceptance and use of newly developed and environmentally beneficial technologies. Currently, the ETV program carries out 12 different pilot programs, which are described in an EPA publication entitled, "Environmental Technology Verification Program Strategy," EPA/600/K-96/003, February 1997. It is EPA's goals to make each pilot self-sustaining beyond the funded program period. Progress reports for each of the pilot programs are available on a continuously updated ETV's Internet web site at http://www.epa.gov/etv. The WWF pilot will verify two types of the WWF pollution abatement systems: 1) WWF storm-inlet devices that are designed to control/treat stormwater before it enters the sewer systems, and 2) advanced high-rate WWF treatment technologies that belong to four general groups: sedimentation, micro- and fine-mesh screening, biological processes, and disinfection processes. AMSA has been requested to participate in a stakeholder workgroup to provide guidance and counsel to EPA and NSF in the development and implementation of the WWF pilot.