EPA Announces $11.2 Million Grant for State Action on Chesapeake Bay
This Week in Washington is a weekly publication of the Water Environment Federation’s Government Affairs department. It provides updates on the latest legislative and regulatory developments that affect the water and wastewater communities.
January 8, 2010
In this Issue:
· EPA Announces $11.2 Million Grant for State Action on Chesapeake Bay
· EPA Announces Actions to Address Chemicals of Concern, Including Phthalates
· EPA Seeking Stakeholder Input to Help Establish Comprehensive Stormwater Management Program
· EPA Seeks Public Input on Interim Guidance for Dioxins in Soil Cleanup Goals
· EPA Releases Draft Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Ammonia
· New National Research Council (NRC) Project on Biofuels
· EPA Releases FY 2009 Enforcement Results and Mapping Tool
· EPA Hosting POTW Nutrient Reduction Workshop
· EPA Launches TMDLs at Work Web Site
· Preliminary 2010 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan Released
· EPA Announces More Than $9 Million in Beach Grants
· NBP Free Webcast: Carbon Footprint Implications from Biosolids Management Practices
EPA Announces $11.2 Million Grant for State Action on Chesapeake Bay
EPA Region 3 Administrator Shawn Gavin announced on December 29 that states sharing the Chesapeake Bay watershed will receive $11.2 million in fiscal 2010 for bay watershed pollution reduction efforts, double the amount granted in 2009. The states also learned that EPA will have at least eight ways to tighten federal regulatory controls in any state deemed to have taken insufficient cleanup action, none of which have been used before in the watershed. EPA and the seven jurisdictions within the Chesapeake Bay watershed (Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia) are developing a watershed-wide total maximum daily load (TMDL) for nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment, with the goal of having all the pollution controls needed to achieve that control level in place by 2025. EPA has developed a rigorous accountability framework to assure that wants the states to have 60 percent of the pollution controls in place by 2017.
Under the new framework, EPA may impose a variety of consequences for inadequate watershed improvement plans or for the failure of state regulators to meet biennial milestones. EPA is prepared to use its powers under the Clean Water Act to:
· Require additional pollution reductions from point sources, such as wastewater treatment plants;
· Tighten federal enforcement and compliance standards;
· Revise water quality standards to better protect local and downstream waters;
· Establish finer-scale load allocations in the watershed-wide TMDL;
· Prohibit new or expanded pollution discharges unless sufficient offsets are provided;
· Redirect EPA grants; and
· Expand coverage of NPDES permits to pollution sources not currently regulated.
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EPA Announces Actions to Address Chemicals of Concern, Including Phthalates
EPA announced on December 30 a series of actions on four chemicals raising serious health or environmental concerns, including phthalates. EPA intends to establish a Chemicals of Concern list and is beginning a process that may lead to regulations requiring significant risk reduction measures to protect human health and the environment. In addition to phthalates, other chemicals being addressed are short-chain chlorinated paraffins, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and perfluorinated chemicals, including PFOA. These chemicals are used in the manufacture of a wide array of products and have raised a range of health and environmental concerns. EPA also recently announced that three U.S. companies agreed to phase out DecaBDE, a widely used fire retardant chemical that may potentially cause cancer and may impact brain function.
On September 29, 2009, Administrator Jackson outlined a set of agency principles to help inform legislative reform and announced that EPA would act on a number of widely studied chemicals that may pose threats to human health. The actions announced on December 30 include:
· Adding phthalates and PBDE chemicals to the concern list.
· Beginning a process that could lead to risk reductions actions under section 6 of TSCA for several phthalates, short-chain chlorinated paraffins, and perfluorinated chemicals.
· Reinforcing the DecaBDE phaseout – which will take place over three years – with requirements to ensure that any new uses of PBDEs are reviewed by EPA prior to returning to the market.
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EPA Seeking Stakeholder Input to Help Establish Comprehensive Stormwater Management Program
EPA announced in the December 28 Federal Register its plans to initiate national rulemaking to establish a comprehensive program to reduce stormwater discharges from new development and redevelopment and make other regulatory improvements to strengthen its stormwater program. EPA is seeking public input to help it shape such a comprehensive program and to announce EPA's intent to hold several public listening sessions in January 2010. These listening sessions will provide a review of EPA's current regulatory approach to permitting stormwater discharges, a summary of recommendations from the National Research Council report, Urban Stormwater Management in the United States, and potential considerations for regulatory changes to strengthen the program. EPA is seeking input on this undertaking regarding performance, effectiveness and cost of stormwater control measures; ecological data, including ecological benefits from stormwater controls; technical information on design, implementation and operation and maintenance of stormwater control measures; suggestions for how the existing program may be modified to better meet the goals of the Clean Water Act; and any other information that may help EPA develop improvements to the existing program, including better control of pollutants in stormwater from the built environment created by development and redevelopment. Written comments must be submitted on or before February 26, 2010.
The listening sessions will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the following dates in the following offices:
• Jan. 19: EPA Region 5, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, Ill. 60604;
• Jan. 20: EPA Region 9, 75 Hawthorne St., San Francisco, Calif. 94105;
• Jan. 25: EPA Region 8, 1575 Wynkoop St., Denver, Colo. 80202-1129;
• Jan. 26: EPA Region 6, 1445 Ross Ave., Suite 1200, Dallas, Texas 75202; and
• Jan. 28: EPA Headquarters, Ariel Rios Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C. 20004.
Anyone wishing to attend the public listening sessions must register by January 15.
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EPA Seeks Public Input on Interim Guidance for Dioxins in Soil Cleanup Goals
EPA announced in the January 7 Federal Register that it is seeking public comment on draft interim preliminary remediation goals (PRGs) for cleanup of dioxins in soil. Dioxins are contaminants that are very widespread in the environment that have been of concern to EPA and the public health community for decades. This action would strengthen EPA’s preliminary remediation goals at dioxin contaminated sites. Dioxins may cause a large number of different health effects, like cancer and reproductive effects. Dioxins are of concern because they are the result of combustion, and are absorbed from the air into the food chain where they can stay for many years. Currently, EPA’s recommended dioxin PRGs are 1,000 part per trillion (ppt) for dioxin in residential soil and a level within the range of 5,000-20,000 ppt in commercial/industrial soil. The draft interim PRGs proposed today are 72 ppt for residential land uses and 950 ppt for commercial/industrial land uses, thus lowering the amount of dioxins levels for residential land uses and commercial/industrial land uses. Comments are due by February 26, 2010.
EPA also released on December 31 a document, “Review of State Soil Cleanup Levels for Dioxin,” that provides the scientific determination of the interim remediation goals. The report presents an analysis of soil dioxin cleanup levels used in 57 jurisdictions: all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and four Pacific territories. In addition, the draft interim PRGs differ from the current dioxin PRGs in that they include consideration of the potential absorption of dioxin through skin exposure. This will provide a tool for site evaluation that was not available when EPA last recommended PRGs for dioxins in soil in 1998. EPA will be taking public comment on the draft interim PRGs for 50 days following publication in the Federal Register, and anticipates issuing the final interim PRGs in June 2010. Upon completion of the dioxins reassessment, currently expected by the end of 2010, EPA will consider the need to update the interim PRGs.
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EPA Releases Draft Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Ammonia
EPA published in the December 30 Federal Register its draft ambient water quality criteria for ammonia aimed at protecting freshwater aquatic life. The EPA draft is an update of criteria last revised in 1999. EPA is soliciting scientific reviews of the draft criteria, after which it is expected to issue final recommended criteria. The Clean Water Act requires states and tribes to adopt water quality criteria that protect designated uses, such as public water supply, aquatic life, recreational use, or industrial uses. States may develop their criteria based on EPA's recommended water quality criteria. Section 304 of the Clean Water Act requires EPA to develop criteria for water quality that accurately reflect the latest scientific knowledge. The primary sources of ammonia in fresh water are agricultural, stemming from accidental releases of fertilizer during transport and from livestock waste; residential and urban, from cleaning products; atmospheric deposition; industrial processes such as the conversion of coal to coke; and sewage treatment plants. EPA’s draft criteria are based on the agency's Guidelines for Deriving Numerical National Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of Aquatic Organisms and their Uses, published in 1985. EPA had published an update of ambient water quality criteria for ammonia pertaining to fresh waters in 1999. Scientific views must be received on or before March 1, 2010.
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New National Research Council (NRC) Project on Biofuels
The National Research Council (NRC) announced on December 19 that it will appoint a committee of approximately 15 experts to examine and synthesize information on projections of future U.S. biofuels production and its impacts. To inform its analysis, the study committee will seek the input of feed grain producers; food animal producers; producers of other food products; energy producers (renewable and petroleum-based fuel producers, fuel blenders); forest owners and forest products manufacturers and users; individuals and entities interested in nutrition, or in the relationship of the environment to energy production; producers and users of renewable fuel feedstocks; users of renewable fuels; and experts in agricultural economics from land grant universities.
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EPA Releases FY 2009 Enforcement Results and Mapping Tool
EPA announced on December 23 that it has released enforcement results for fiscal year 2009, and has developed a new Web-based tool and interactive map that allows the public to get detailed information by location about the enforcement actions taken at approximately 4,600 facilities. In FY2009, EPA concluded enforcement actions requiring polluters to invest more than $5 billion on pollution controls, cleanup, and environmental projects. Civil and criminal defendants committed to install controls and take other measures to reduce pollution by approximately 580 million pounds annually once all required controls are fully implemented. The new mapping tool allows the public to view the locations of facilities that were the subject of those enforcement actions on interactive maps of the U.S. and territories. The maps show facilities where civil enforcement actions were taken for environmental laws for air, water, and land pollution, and a separate map shows criminal enforcement actions.
Viewers can click on specific facilities to find historical information about specific enforcement actions, such as violations and monetary penalties. In addition, viewers can use the zoom function to find out which facilities are located near water bodies that are listed as "impaired” because they do not meet federal water quality standards. EPA mapped the locations of more than 90 percent of the facilities that were the subject of enforcement actions last year. EPA did not map the locations of drinking water treatment plants due to potential security concerns. For the past 10 years, EPA has described annual enforcement results by focusing primarily on two measures, the estimated pounds of pollutants reduced and estimated cost of commitments made by defendants to control or reduce pollution. These measures vary significantly from year to year and are dependent upon the number of large cases that settle in a given year.
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EPA Hosting POTW Nutrient Reduction Workshop
EPA Regions 4 and 5, along with regional co-sponsors, are hosting a Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) Nutrient Reduction and Efficiency Workshop on January 12-14 in Evansville, IN. The workshop is targeted to POTW operators, superintendents and managers with infrastructure responsibilities, and state and federal agency nutrient managers. This workshop program presents a unique opportunity for exhibitors to meet with managers and operators of POTW facilities--the people who will be required to meet more stringent environmental regulations while still providing the service at a lower cost and higher efficiency. Conference Registration
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EPA Launches TMDLs at Work Web Site
EPA has released a new Web site which provides a collection of stories to inform and educate stakeholders about the benefits of developing pollution reduction budgets, or total maximum daily loads (TMDLs), to protect and restore water quality. The site provides both "sound byte" (one to two pages) and "technical" (four to five pages) fact sheets, representative of TMDLs prepared by states around the country. These fact sheets illustrate how stakeholders can get involved in identifying and cleaning up polluted waters that do not meet their state's water quality standards. The fact sheets also give real-life examples of benefits citizens can enjoy from a cleaned-up waterbody, including enhancements to recreation or better quality drinking water supplies. The collection of "TMDLs at Work" stories may be updated or expanded annually.
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Preliminary 2010 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan Released
EPA announced in the December 28 Federal Register its 2009 review of existing effluent guidelines and pretreatment standards and presents EPA's evaluation of indirect dischargers without categorical pretreatment standards to identify potential new categories for pretreatment standards under CWA sections 304(g) and 307(b). The Federal Register notice also presents the Preliminary 2010 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan, which, as required under CWA section 304(m), identifies any new or existing industrial categories selected for effluent guidelines rulemaking and provides a schedule for such rulemaking. EPA is soliciting comment on its preliminary 2010 Plan and on its 2009 annual review of existing effluent guidelines and pretreatment standards and industrial categories not currently regulated by effluent guidelines and pretreatment standards. Comments on the notice are due by February 26, 2010.