AMSA January 2005 Regulatory Update

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The Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA) is pleased to provide you with the December 2004 Regulatory Update. This Update provides a narrative summary of relevant regulatory issues and actions current to January 28, 2005. Unless another contact person is specifically listed, call Chris Hornback, AMSA’s Regulatory Affairs Director, at 202/833-9106 or e-mail him at chornback@amsa-cleanwater.org with any questions or input you have concerning the Update topics.

Top Stories

AMSA Seeks Timeline for Finalizing Pretreatment Streamlining Rule From EPA
On January 14, AMSA sent a letter (http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/advocacy/co/2005-01-14Grumblesltr.pdf) to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA or Agency) Assistant Administrator for Water, Benjamin Grumbles, to thank him for meeting with the Association in December 2004 and to continue AMSA’s push for finalization of the pretreatment streamlining rule.

AMSA’s letter brought to Grumbles’ attention two recent activities that support the timely finalization of the rule. First, in the recent OIG report entitled, EPA Needs to Reinforce its National Pretreatment Program, the OIG urged the Agency to “set milestones for finalizing the streamlining rule [and] provide milestone dates to the OIG, and if the products are not completed within 90 days of report issuance, provide quarterly progress reports to the OIG until the products are finalized.” The second point AMSA made in the letter was the fact that in the December 2004 Semiannual Regulatory Agenda, EPA listed February 2005 as the date for final action on the rule. After hearing contrary statements at the December 2004 meeting, AMSA sought clarification of the timing of the rule in its January 14 letter.

The letter was copied to several other EPA offices, including the Office of Inspector General (OIG), the Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation, the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, and the Office of Wastewater Management – all of which have been involved in discussions with the Association regarding the rule. Also copied on the letter were the White House’s Office of Management and Budget and the Small Business Administration. AMSA will alert the membership of any Agency response or any other developments as they occur. For more information on the pretreatment streamlining rule, please contact Will Pettit, AMSA, at 202/833-3280 or wpettit@amsa-cleanwater.org.

AMSA Lays Out Key Actions on CSO/SSO Control in Plan Sent to EPA
AMSA sent a letter and accompanying Action Plan (http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/advocacy/co/2005-01-14apltr.pdf) on January 14 to the EPA Assistant Administrator for Water, Benjamin Grumbles, recommending necessary Agency steps to help ensure continued progress is made with regard to combined and sanitary sewer overflow control (CSOs and SSOs). The Action Plan comes in response to EPA’s August 2004 Report to Congress on the Impacts and Controls of CSOs and SSOs, and highlights key facts from the Report while recommending next steps to further control CSOs and SSOs.

AMSA’s Action Plan recommends a sound CSO enforcement and regulatory policy. AMSA believes National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, not enforcement or consent orders, should be the primary tool for imposing these long term control plan (LTCP) obligations. The Action Plan also demonstrates the need for a flexible SSO policy. AMSA recommends the development of a national SSO policy that recognizes the minimal risk posed by SSOs nationally and is modeled after the CSO Control Policy, thereby providing the flexibility necessary to address adverse impacts when manifested at a local level and to direct resources to those areas that pose the greatest risk.

In addition to EPA, AMSA will distribute its Action Plan to all members of Congress in the coming weeks to ensure that sound wet weather policies remain a national priority. The Association will update the membership on these critical issues as any developments occur.

AMSA’s Advocacy in Support of Blending Heats Up With EPA, Congress
AMSA organized a broad municipal coalition and sent then EPA Administrator Michael O. Leavitt and key EPA officials a January 21, 2005 letter (http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/advocacy/co/2005-01-21Blendltr.pdf) in support of a final EPA blending policy as proposed. AMSA also sent every member of Congress a letter urging their support for the policy (http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/outreach/2005-01-24HillLtr.doc). A document highlighting the facts and fictions surrounding the practice of blending accompanied the Hill letter (http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/advocacy/co/2005-01-21Blendfandf.pdf). AMSA’s efforts were well timed as activist organizations have stepped up their attempts to scuttle the blending guidance.

AMSA has learned that EPA’s Assistant Administrator, Benjamin Grumbles, has been given a list of options for moving forward on the blending policy by his Office of Water staff. It is unclear when a decision on the policy will be made, especially given the fact that the Administration has not yet nominated a new EPA Administrator. It is also known that several EPA regions have spoken out against the policy as proposed. Some regions have voiced concerns about whether municipalities should be required to determine whether there is a feasible alternative to blending, whether the practice is protective of human health, and whether the policy will be retroactive or apply only to future overflow control plans. The Agency likely still has significant work to do internally to finalize the blending issue. AMSA will continue its advocacy efforts in support of the practice and will alert the membership of any developments.

ISO Issues

ISO Makes Progress Toward Draft Standard Report
Over 60 experts, representing sixteen countries, met in Valencia, Spain this week, to discuss several working papers that are to become the basis for draft International Organization of Standardization (ISO) standards for the management and assessment of drinking water and wastewater services. Experts, including two representatives from AMSA's ISO working group, participated to ensure U.S. wastewater interests were represented. The group was able to agree to several definitions for terms that are used in the three separate standards – customer service, drinking water service and wastewater service. The group also made progress on bringing the working papers concerning drinking water and wastewater service standards closer together in style and in content – an effort in which the U.S. delegation and AMSA will play a central role. U.S. delegates also convened a subgroup of the ISO Committee to ensure that the draft standards will be ready for a formal comment period starting in April 2005. The Association expects to provide comments to the draft ISO standards during the formal comment period between April and July 2005. A final draft international standard (FDIS) is expected by April 2007.

Security

AMSA to Work with Homeland Security on Chlorine Gas Decision Tree
AMSA has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop a decision tree and report template to help utilities assess and examine chlorine gas alternatives for water and wastewater disinfection. The decision tree will help utilities evaluate the potential costs and benefits of conversion and evaluate whether an alternative disinfection method will still enable them to meet their permit requirements. The planned report template will allow the results of the decision tree analysis to be reported in a consistent format, improving a utility’s ability to pursue and secure funding for conversion should funds be made available at the federal or state level. AMSA met with DHS officials in early January 2005 and has begun the formation of an oversight committee, that will include both water and wastewater utilities, to coordinate the project. AMSA staff is currently drafting a Request for Proposals to be released in the near future. Once a subcontractor is chosen, the project is expected to take approximately eight months to complete.

Water Quality

Comment Deadline Extended on EPA’s Draft WET Implementation Guidance, AMSA to Weigh In
AMSA has learned that the original February 28 deadline to file comments on EPA’s draft Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) Implementation Guidance has been extended to March 30. The draft guidance, released on December 28, 2004, can be downloaded from EPA’s website (http://www.epa.gov/npdes/permitbasics). In addition to its legal challenge to the validity of some of EPA’s WET methods, AMSA has met with the Agency several times to ensure that certain issues that are currently complicating implementation of WET testing requirements and limits in Clean Water Act permits are addressed. AMSA’s initial review, found in a Regulatory Alert on the Association’s website (http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/regalerts/ra05-02.cfm), reveals that the draft will not provide sufficient flexibility and clarification to alleviate these implementation problems. AMSA is currently developing comments to submit by the March 30 extended deadline.

EPA to Form FACA Committee on Detection/Quantitation Procedures, AMSA to Participate
On January 26, 2005 in Washington, D.C., EPA presented the findings and recommendations of a situation assessment report developed by a neutral third party on the policy and technical issues concerning the development of detection and quantitation procedures and the uses of those procedures in Clean Water Act programs. AMSA participated in the situation assessment and attended the public meeting. During the meeting, the Agency provided additional information on its request for nominations of qualified candidates for appointment to a Federal Advisory Committee on Detection and Quantitation Approaches, which will be tasked with developing consensus on these issues. EPA has expressed an interest in having publicly owned treatment work (POTW) participation on the Committee and AMSA will work to nominate an AMSA member agency representative by the February 9, 2005 deadline.