News
Water Permits Division – Acting Director
This week EPA announced that Sally Gutierrez will serve as Acting Director of the Water Permits Division. Ms. Gutierrez was most recently a member of the executive leadership team in the Office of Research and Development serving as the Director of the Environmental Technology Innovation Cluster Development and Support Program, and before that the Director of the National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL) and Director of the Water Supply and Water Resources Division. Prior to joining EPA in 2000, Ms. Gutierrez administered water programs for the State of Texas environmental agency in the areas of drinking water, water monitoring, wastewater permitting, dam safety, water rights and utility rates.
CCR Rule (Phase One) Published 3/15/2018
The Hazardous and Solid Waste Management System: Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals from Electric Utilities; Amendments to the National Minimum Criteria (Phase One) rule was published in the Federal Register on March 15, 2018. Comments are due by April 30, 2018. More details on this rule can be found in last week’s WRAP.
ACWA Attends 2-day WOTUS Co-Regulator Workshop
On March 8th and 9th, ACWA attended a 2-day workshop at EPA designed to bring EPA Office of Water officials, including Assistant Administrator for Water David Ross, face to face with delegations from 9 different states. Several state associations including ACWA were present as “observers”, although ACWA Executive Director Julia Anastasio briefly presented on results of an ACWA survey on state regulatory authority and flexibility concerning Waters of the U.S. and Waters of the State. The 2-day workshop covered a wide variety of topics including updating states on EPA’s proposed timeline for WOTUS, potential policy directions, state concerns with different approaches, assumption of 404 programs and the effect of that on implementing a new WOTUS rule, and more. The goal of the meeting was not to reach any sort of consensus, as each state was representing only themselves, but to share ideas and provide feedback to EPA Office of Water. For more information, contact Julian Gonzalez.
ACWA Attends EPA National Estuary Program Training Workshop
This week, ACWA staff attended the first two days of EPA’s 3-day National Estuary Program (NEP) training workshop, as part of ACWA efforts to become more familiar with the newly formed EPA OW’s Partnerships Programs Branch. The branch administers several programs which may be of interest to ACWA members, such as the National Estuary Program, the Urban Waters Federal Partnership program, EPA’s Trash Free Waters initiatives, as well as several EPA OW Environmental Justice initiatives. The meeting covered success stories from the various PPB programs, the role of data in these programs, and more. Cooperative federalism and work with states was an important theme mentioned by every EPA staffperson who presented. For more information, contact Julian Gonzalez.
Association Updates
POTW Study – State POTW Addresses
In 2016, EPA initiated a study to evaluate nutrient removal at POTWs with secondary treatment. The goals of the study are to establish a nationwide baseline for nutrient removal at municipal wastewater treatment plants and to characterize low-cost options, such as operation and management practices, that result in improved nutrient control at POTWs with secondary treatment. The first step in the study is a census of all POTWs in the country. The census will begin this year.
ACWA offered to assist EPA in this effort by providing email addresses and mailing addresses for permitted POTWs in each state. Therefore, if you have not already done so, please contact the proper parties in your state office to pull the addresses for your permitted POTWs and provide them to EPA in a single document. Please email the information to EPA at nutrient-removal-study@epa.gov and cc ACWA’s Mark Patrick McGuire.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Mark Patrick McGuire.
2018 National Pretreatment Meeting Speakers
The National Pretreatment Meeting Planning Committee is still looking for speakers from states to present at the meeting. Specifically, the Committee is looking for speakers on the following topics:
- Dental Amalgam – A state/program that has implemented a dental amalgam program since the 2017 rule went into effect.
- Deindustrialization/Changing Industries – States/programs that have dealt with changes in the number and/or nature of IUs and/or have had to delist programs or make significant changes.
- Small Facilities/Food Processing/Breweries – How have states/programs dealt with these types of facilities?
- Emerging Contaminants/Pollutants without Standards
If you would like to participate or have any questions, please contact Mark Patrick McGuire.
No Wrap Next Week – Week of March 19, 2018
Meetings
2018 National Pretreatment Meeting
The 2018 National Pretreatment Meeting will be held April 17-18, 2018 in Silver Spring, Maryland at the Tommy Douglas Conference Center (“TDCC”), 10000 New Hampshire Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20903. If you plan to attend the meeting, you must register. Please do so by Monday, April 2, 2018. To register for the meeting, go here.
Lodging is available on site at TDCC at rates of $209 for single room and $249 for a double room (plus tax). To reserve a room, please call 240-645-4000 or email guestservices@tommydouglascenter.com. Please ask for the Association of Clean Water Administrators block of rooms when making your reservation. If you choose to stay at TDCC as part of the ACWA room block, complimentary breakfast and dinner are included with your room. The deadline for the room block is Monday, April 2, 2018. For more information on TDCC, go here.
For more information on the meeting, please contact Mark Patrick McGuire.
2018 Nutrients Permitting Workshop
Event and hotel registration for the workshop is live! The 2018 Nutrients Permitting Workshop will be held June 5-7, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio at the Riffe Government Center, 77 S. High Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215. If you plan to attend the meeting, you must register. Please do so by Friday May 18, 2018. To register for the meeting, go here. The agenda is currently in development, however, the meeting will focus on technology, optimization, and related issues.
Lodging is available for the workshop at the Sheraton Columbus Hotel at Capitol Square. Please ask for the Association of Clean Water Administrators block of rooms when making your reservation.
For more information on the meeting, please contact Mark Patrick McGuire.
2018 Emerging Contaminants Workshop
ACWA will be holding an emerging contaminants workshop in Washington, DC on June 20th and 21st, 2018. Topics will include identifying new emerging contaminants, risk communication, criteria development, prevention of emerging contaminants, and remediation. More information will be available shortly. Please contact Frances Bothfeld with any questions.
2018 National CAFO Roundtable
The 2018 National CAFO Roundtable will be held in Boise, Idaho from Tuesday, September 25, 2018 to Thursday, September 27, 2018. ACWA is still looking for a few volunteers to help us plan the agenda. Likewise, if you have specific topics you would like to present on or you would like to see discussed at the meeting this year, please send us your thoughts and we will share those with the Planning Committee. Finally, ACWA is pleased to be able to help support and organize this meeting because of a cooperative agreement from EPA. As part of that agreement, some state travel funds have been included. Requests for travel support should be submitted to Julian Gonzalez (jgonzalez@acwa-us.org) by Friday, March 9, 2018. For more details on the meeting, please go to ACWA’s 2018 National CAFO Roundtable event page.
Coming Soon…
Watersheds Committee Call
Thursday, March 22, 2:30-4:00 pm EST
Contact Julian Gonzalez for more information
