Member Pipeline - Regulatory - July 2003 Update
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| To: | Members & Affiliates, Regulatory Policy Committee, Legal Affairs Committee |
| From: | National Office |
| Date: | August 5, 2003 |
Printer friendly versionThe National Office of the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA) is pleased to provide you with the July 2003 Regulatory Update. This Update provides a narrative summary of relevant regulatory issues and actions current to August 5, 2003. A Regulatory Digest of activities currently tracked by AMSA can be found on the Association’s web site at http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/regupdates/reg_digest.cfm. Unless another contact person is specifically listed, call or email questions to Chris Hornback, AMSA’s Regulatory Affairs Director, at 202/833-9106 or chornback@amsa-cleanwater.org.
AMSA Conferences
AMSA’s Strongly Attended Summer Conference
Sees Launch of CleanWater Central
Over 270 participants attended AMSA’s 2003 Summer Conference,
Water Quality & The Wastewater Community: Emerging Pollutants, New Challenges,
in Boston, Mass., to discuss cutting-edge technical issues and exchange
municipal case studies on a range of emerging pollutants and innovative water
quality programs. AMSA’s committees also met, and summaries of their discussions
will be featured in the July edition of the Clean Water News. The
conference featured the launch of the CleanWater Central database – a
joint effort of AMSA and the Water Environment Research Foundation. Ralph
Charlton, co-chair of AMSA’s Management and Operations Committee and Director of
Fiscal Services at the Alexandria Sanitation Authority in Alexandria, Va., and
Stephen Hayashi, AMSA Board member and General Manager of the Union Sanitary
District in Union City, Calif., provided insights culled from their experiences
beta-testing the database and the system’s potential as a critical research tool
for the wastewater industry. Additional CleanWater Central access
information will be made available to AMSA members in the coming weeks via a
Member Update.
Air Quality
AMSA to Work Closely With EPA on WATER9
Model Review Project
On July 31, 2003, AMSA met with key EPA and Research Triangle
Institute officials in Research Triangle Park, N.C., to discuss AMSA’s Air
Quality Committee Technical Action Fund project to assess EPA’s WATER9 model.
AMSA was encouraged by the Agency’s willingness to work with the Association and
contractor CH2M HILL, Inc., to evaluate EPA’s WATER9 model for estimating air
emissions of individual water constituents in wastewater collection, storage,
treatment, and disposal facilities. At the meeting, AMSA’s project team, which
included AMSA’s Air Quality Committee Co-Chair, Ed Torres, Environmental Manager
for Orange County Sanitation Districts, Calif., among other public agency
members, agreed upon a dataset available from published literature which both
AMSA and EPA will use to run the WATER9 model, and two other models currently
available for collection system modeling. Results from the WATER9 model will be
compared with the other models used and with field-measured emissions to
determine their accuracy. If the results of the comparisons show that the WATER9
model does in fact over-predict emissions, a white paper will be prepared that
AMSA and its member agencies can use to express to air permitting authorities
that the model over-predicts emissions, and to support requests that
alternatives to it be used to estimate hazardous air pollutant emissions. The
Agency also expressed the desire for WATER9 and other models to represent the
most current and accurate scientific data available and noted its willingness to
update WATER9 if such data is found. For more information, please contact AMSA’s
Regulatory Analyst, Will Pettit, AMSA, at 202/833-3280 or
wpettit@amsa-cleanwater.org.
Biosolids
AMSA Comments on EPA’s Response to the
NRC’s Land Application of Biosolids Report
On July 8, 2003, AMSA submitted comments on EPA’s Standards
for the Use or Disposal of Sewage Sludge; Agency Response to the National
Research Council Report on Biosolids Applied to Land and the Results of
EPA’s Review of Existing Sewage Sludge Regulations (68 Fed. Reg.
17379). The Association’s comments were supportive of the Agency’s overall
response to the NRC report and the Agency’s fundamental conclusion that the land
application of biosolids is an appropriate and environmentally sound practice
for communities when conducted in compliance with EPA regulations. AMSA’s
comments recommended next steps to EPA to reassure the public of the safety of
land-applied biosolids, including additional exposure-assessment studies to
compile more human health data, communication enhancements, including health
report response teams and an incident reporting process facilitated by the
Centers for Disease Control, and the need for increased public outreach and
awareness efforts. The comments are available on the Association’s web site at
http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/outreach/2003-07-08cmts.pdf.
EPA is operating under an October 17, 2003, consent decree deadline to have
final action on its Round II land application of biosolids rule. AMSA will
continue to track this issue and will alert the membership of any pertinent
information or events.
AMSA Tracks Pending Guidance on Radioactive
Materials in Biosolids
AMSA has learned that a pending dose model document concerning
radioactive material in biosolids will be peer-reviewed concurrently with the
public comment period for a companion POTW guidance document on radioactive
materials in biosolids. The draft guidance is expected to be officially released
in August, at which time the notice and comment period will begin. The U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and EPA, through a subcommittee of the
Interagency Steering Committee on Radiation Standards (ISCORS), sponsored a
joint survey of 300 POTWs to collect information concerning radioactive
materials in biosolids and ash from the incineration of biosolids. The Dose
Modeling Workgroup of the Sewage Sludge Subcommittee completed a dose assessment
report to help determine whether radionuclides in biosolids are a threat to
human health. This dose assessment or model document will be the subject of the
peer review. The companion guidance for POTWs will likely have some sort of
guidance level of exposure, above which POTWs would be recommended to consult
with the appropriate state agencies. Whether the level will be in the guidance
and if so at what level of exposure it might be set are still being discussed.
Most of the remaining issues are related to levels of radium/radon (a naturally
occurring radioactive material) in biosolids. AMSA will continue to track this
issue and will weigh the necessity to comment at the appropriate time.
AMSA Participates in WERF Biosolids Summit
AMSA participated in the Water Environment Research Foundation’s
(WERF) Biosolids Research Summit recently to develop research priorities in the
biosolids arena, with a focus on land-application and further ensuring the
protection of public health and the environment. The meeting’s participants
included elected officials, scientists, private citizens, risk assessors, and
others who helped identify and prioritize research needs. Many of the concerns
raised at the summit echoed those raised by AMSA in its July 8 comments on EPA’s
initial response to the National Research Council’s (NRC) July 2002 land-applied
biosolids report. A series of research priorities were agreed upon and WERF will
be releasing a detailed list of those projects soon. EPA noted that the
proceedings would be used as part of its response to the NRC report, which AMSA
will be tracking closely to ensure a response that takes into account POTW
concerns.
AMSA Applauds Key Biosolids Land
Application Ruling
AMSA, and other proponents of the land-application of biosolids,
scored a major victory this week, when, by a unanimous decision, the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the lower court’s injunction against
Appomattox County in Virginia from restricting the land application of
biosolids. In this case, O'Brien v. Appomattox County, the court ruled
that "[i]n light of the widespread use of biosolids in Virginia and elsewhere in
the United States, the regulations and examinations undertaken by the Virginia
General Assembly and the U.S. EPA, and the studies by the scientific community,
the fear of possible, adverse health effects is too attenuated at this time to
outweigh the likelihood of harm to the farmers." AMSA believes this case will
serve as an important precedent in similar lawsuits and will help to strengthen
the public’s support and confidence in land application of biosolids.
Pretreatment
AMSA to Review Need for Changes to Effluent
Guidelines for Centralized Waste Treatment
AMSA has learned that EPA is considering revisions to the
Effluent Limitations Guidelines for the Centralized Waste Treatment (CWT) Point
Source Category, which were finalized in December of 2000 (65 Fed. Reg.
81242). Based on a review of the data used to develop the rule, the Agency is
considering removing several metal limits, while keeping others in certain
subcategories. The Agency is apparently not planning to remove any metal
parameters from the Organics Subcategory, even though those limits are based on
a very limited number of data points, and the metals removal that was observed
in evaluating the control technology were incidental. AMSA, along with key
industry stakeholders, will meet with EPA on August 7 to discuss the revisions
and will alert the membership of the meeting’s outcome.
Water Quality
EPA Test Methods for Pollutants in Ambient
Water Do Not Apply to POTWs
On July 21, 2003, EPA published its final rule on Guidelines
Establishing Test Procedures for the Analysis of Pollutants; Analytical Methods
for Biological Pollutants in Ambient Water, effective August 20, 2003. In
the rule, the Agency approved test methods for the analysis of Escherichia coli
(E. coli), enterococci, Cryptosporidium and Giardia in fresh ambient water
matrices. In addition, the rule approved test methods for the analysis of
enterococci in marine ambient water matrices. However, EPA has determined and
noted in the text of the methods that these procedures are not acceptable for
evaluating other matrices, such as POTW or other point source effluent. For this
reason, the approved methods fall short of meeting the needs of the regulated
community and fail to recognize real-world implementation of water-quality based
permit limits. Meanwhile, the Agency has said it is in the process of developing
test methods for POTW effluents. As of yet, nothing has been released. AMSA will
continue to urge the Agency to develop such methods that are based on sound
science and meet the needs of the regulated community.
AMSA Continues to Urge Release of Watershed
Rule, Trading Language to be Included
AMSA has learned that yet another revised draft of the
long-pending Watershed Rule has been sent by the Agency to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for informal review. The version of the rule sent to
OMB, however, was not complete and the Agency continues to finalize rule
provisions which address trading issues. Although details have not been
released, AMSA understands that this trading language will be consistent with
the provisions of EPA's recently issued final Water Quality Trading Policy.
Many of the issues raised by other stakeholders have been resolved, but the Corps of Engineers and other agencies’ concerns regarding dams are still outstanding. These agencies have apparently drafted their own proposed language to address dam-related issues, as an alternative to the relevant provisions in the EPA draft. OMB will be considering these issues during its ongoing informal review process. The Agency’s Acting Administrator, Marianne Lamont Horinko, has also been briefed on these issues, and AMSA will continue to push for proposal of the Watershed Rule and will keep members apprised of its status.
In a related matter, AMSA participated in the Agency’s National Forum on Water Quality Trading in Chicago, Ill., where EPA touted its trading policy. While EPA’s Assistant Administrator for Water, G. Tracy Mehan, III, made it clear that trading is still a work in progress, he noted that pilot programs are continuing across the nation and that an implementation guidance with more details on the mechanisms of trading is set to be released soon. More information on trading can be found on EPA’s web site at http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/watershed/trading.htm.
AMSA Challenges EPA's Final Toxicity Test
Methods
Activity continues in AMSA's March 2003 suit against the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the District of Columbia Circuit Court
of Appeals challenging the November 19, 2002 final whole effluent toxicity (WET)
test methods. WESTCAS v. EPA, consolidated with 96-1062 (D.C. Cir.); 67
Fed. Reg. 69,952. AMSA formed a POTW coalition to bring the case,
including the Virginia Association of Municipal Wastewater Agencies, the West
Virginia Municipal Water Quality Association, the Maryland Association of
Municipal Wastewater Agencies, the South Carolina Water Quality Association, the
California Association of Sanitation Agencies, and the Texas Association of
Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies. The Western Coalition of Arid States (WESTCAS),
a group of industrial trade associations called the WET Coalition, and the
American Petroleum Institute (API) also have challenged EPA's final WET methods.
In the course of the litigation, AMSA and the POTW coalition hope to reach
agreement on a number of WET issues important to municipalities including
numeric versus narrative criteria for WET, the methods’ ability to detect
toxicity in undiluted effluent, WET test acceptability criteria, and the
ramifications of single WET test failures.
On April 28, AMSA and the POTW coalition filed a nonbinding statement of issues with the court. On May 30, AMSA, the WET Coalition, and API submitted to EPA a settlement proposal which would allow the litigation to be placed on hold while the parties resolve the controversy. EPA took the position that the majority of the settlement offer related to WET implementation rather than WET litigation. Accordingly, on July 10, the agency responded that "EPA does not believe it would be fruitful to pursue further settlement discussions over the challenges to the WET methods with revisions to EPA policies for WET implementation." Thus, on July 22, AMSA, the WET Coalition, and API filed a briefing proposal with the court, which the government rejected. The parties are now trying to reach agreement with the Agency and the Department of Justice on a Fall 2003-Winter 2004 schedule for, and length of, briefs in the case.
EPA to Make NPDES Permits Available Online,
AMSA to Consider Action
AMSA has learned that EPA is in the process of making individual
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits publicly
available on its online Envirofacts database. The Agency has recently started
adding PDF copies of NPDES permits, issued after November 1, 2002, and fact
sheets for major facilities to Envirofacts. By 2007, the Agency hopes to have
permits and fact sheets for all major facilities available on Envirofacts. AMSA
will work with its membership to determine if any action is warranted.
Information on accessing individual permits and fact sheets can be found on the
Agency’s web site at
http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/permitissuance/permitscanning.cfm.
Wet Weather
AMSA Continues to Advocate for Reasonable
Guidance on the Practice of Blending
At AMSA’s Summer Conference, EPA’s Assistant Administrator for
Water, G. Tracy Mehan, III, made it clear that the Office of Water is continuing
to work to release a national blending guidance as soon as possible and remains
committed to ensuring blending as a viable practice for treating peak excess
flows. The guidance has been delayed due to intra-agency discussions and, as
such, has not yet been sent to OMB for review. Mehan also indicated that the
change in Administration at EPA will not significantly delay the guidance’s
release. AMSA continues to advocate that a national blending policy should state
that blending is not a bypass as defined by 40 CFR §122.41(m), as long as POTWs
meet appropriate conditions, and that permitting agencies should be authorized
to incorporate blending as an “alternative flow routing scenario” in permits.
AMSA continues to discuss the issue with the Agency and will alert the
membership as more information becomes available.
AMSA to Prepare Companion Response Report
to Agency CSO/SSO Report
At the Summer Conference, AMSA’s Wet Weather Issues Committee
discussed the outcome of two stakeholder meetings regarding the Agency’s
forthcoming 2003 Report to Congress on the Impacts and Control of Combined
Sewer Overflows (CSOs) and Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSOs), which is
under a court-ordered deadline to be submitted by December 15. On June 24 and
25, AMSA attended a stakeholder meeting held by EPA in Washington, D.C. to
discuss what data the Agency has collected so far in support of the upcoming
report. EPA hopes to complete a draft of the report for consideration by the
White House's Office of Management and Budget by August 29. EPA provided
presentations on several topics including the characterization of CSOs and SSOs,
environmental and human health impacts, overflow control technologies, and
resources/funding, each of which will comprise a chapter in the final report.
Copies of the presentations are available on AMSA's web site at
http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/faxalerts/0624-2503pm.cfm.
Additionally, EPA hosted a similar, though shorter, one-day meeting in
Huntington Beach, Calif., on July 8. This meeting’s audience, which included
several AMSA member agency representatives, comprised more municipal
stakeholders than the Washington, D.C. meeting, which was attended mostly by
Agency and state representatives.
An outcome of the Wet Weather Issues Committee discussion was to charge the SSO Workgroup to begin to draft a response report to be released simultaneously with the Agency report to highlight AMSA’s concerns with the quality and completeness of the data upon which the report is based. AMSA will also send a letter to EPA soon illustrating the concerns that arose out of the stakeholder meetings. The National Office will continue to keep the membership informed on this important issue via future Alerts and Updates.