News
Notice of Installation – Table Changes – ICIS-Production
This is to provide notice of the installation of the NNCR Focus Area 1 Reference Table changes into ICIS-Production on Friday, October 30, 2020. The four ICIS-NPDES Reference Tables that were changed are listed below and full details of the changes can be obtained by contacting Sean Rolland at srolland@acwa-us.org.
- No Data Indicator (NODI) Reference Table
- Parameter Reference Table
- Scheduled Event Reference Table
- Statistical Base Reference Table
Background
EPA requested comments on the updates proposed in the draft version of this document by May 15, 2020. Comments received were reviewed by the NNCR workgroup and associated subgroups to develop this final requirements document after considering the comments received. These reference table changes have been installed into ICIS-NPDES Production on Friday, October 30, 2020. The updated values have been used by the first on month RNC job for FY2020-Q4, on Saturday, October 31, 2020. EPA has deployed these changes to ICIS-NPDES in advance of completion of the other Focus Areas as they represent errors in the existing noncompliance processing operations, which are leading to incorrect determinations of compliance in the existing QNCR. EPA has provided a period for ICIS-NPDES users to examine test data showing how the reference table changes will affect RNC processing determinations before deployment. The comparison charts were provided to users for the FY2020 Q2 and Q3 quarters as generated in the ICIS-NPDES Test environment, however EPA will not retroactively apply the RNC detections to FY2020 Q2 and Q3 in ICIS-NPDES Production. The new settings of the reference tables will apply for any RNC re-runs requested by the users. Users with questions or comments about the implementation of these changes may contact Courtney Tuxbury at Tuxbury.Courtney@epa.gov or Jeff Clark at Clark.Jeffreyf@epa.gov.
DOE releases Wastewater Energy Management Toolkit
The Wastewater Energy Management Toolkit is a collection of resources that enables water resource recovery facilities to learn and benefit from the work of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Better Buildings Sustainable Wastewater Infrastructure of the Future (SWIFt) Accelerator. Energy efficiency improvements in equipment, processes, and operations can result in up to 50% energy savings in water resource recovery facilities. Toolkit resources support best practices and innovative approaches successfully used by wastewater facilities to establish and implement energy management and planning. The Toolkit is organized into four sections including:
Explore the Toolkit here.
EPA Releases Final TSCA Chemical Risk Evaluation for Carbon Tetrachloride
On November 3, 2020, EPA released the final TSCA risk evaluation for carbon tetrachloride. The final risk evaluation determined that there are unreasonable risks to workers and occupational non-users for 13 out of 15 conditions of use. EPA found no unreasonable risks to the environment. There are no consumer uses of this chemical. View the carbon tetrachloride final risk evaluation and supporting documents.
NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule – Phase 2 Extension (Reprinted from 10/23/2020)
Printed in federal register 11/02/2020 and found here.
The NPDES eRule requires EPA and states to modernize Clean Water Act (CWA) reporting. EPA notes the NPDES eRule will save the NPDES authorized programs considerable resources, make reporting easier for NPDES-regulated entities, streamline permit renewals, ensure full exchange of NPDES program data between states and EPA, enhance public transparency, improve environmental decision-making, and protect human health and the environment.
This Phase 2 Extension provides states with additional time for implementation and flexibility to request additional time as needed. The final rule provides EPA and states with five additional years to implement Phase 2 (until December 21, 2025). This timeframe responds to state comments for more time and addresses concerns about the potential delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic response. EPA also provides a process for a state to seek even further time to finalize Phase 2 implementation, with an EPA granted extension not to exceed December 21, 2028. EPA has included language that would allow the agency to, on its own initiative, add additional time for one or more authorized NPDES programs (states and EPA Regions) to implement NPDES electronic reporting beyond December 21, 2025. Under the provision, EPA may set an alternative Phase 2 compliance deadline for up to three years but not beyond December 21, 2028.
EPA has also added regulatory language that explicitly creates separate deadlines for the public release of the NNCR using Phase 1 data (December 2022) and Phase 2 data (one year after the draft report is made available to states but no later than December 2026). The NNCR public release dates for Phase 2 data would be phased in over time to give states at least one year to review and provide comments on draft versions of the NNCR that incorporates Phase 2 data before EPA releases a new version to the public.
In this rule, EPA has clarified that states are empowered to build and deploy one or more electronic reporting tools as deemed necessary. Additionally, it also clarifies that EPA is not intending to dictate how electronic reporting will be implemented, if the state is meeting its obligations under the rule (e.g., implementation schedule, data collection and sharing requirements) and complying with EPA’s Cross-media Electronic Reporting Rule (40 CFR part 3). EPA modified the language in 40 CFR 127.24(f) to make clear that this provision does not make any changes to the initial recipient designation process, which is documented at 40 CFR 127.27.
Finally, this rule includes a number of minor updates to Appendix A definitions that were described in the rule proposal. A prepublication copy of the rule can be found here.
Association Updates
Experts Directory
As per the FY2018-FY2022 ACWA Strategic Plan, over 70 state staff volunteered to be part of an Experts Directory, which is a new ACWA service provided in the Member365 Environment. These subject matter experts (SMEs) volunteered to make themselves available should their peers in other states have programmatic related questions. This new Directory was been added as a drop down on the Memebr365 dashboard page and is organized by Expert Subject Area. The subject matter areas include 316(b), 401 Certification, 404 Assumption, CAFO/Animal Agriculture, Enforcement and Compliance, Funding, Legal Affairs, Monitoring & Assessment, Nutrients Policy, NPDES Permitting, Nonpoint Source, Oceans and Coastal Issues, Pesticides, Pretreatment, State Implementation of CWA Programs, Steam Electric, Stormwater – Municipal, Stormwater – Industrial, Technology and Innovation, Water Quality Trading, Water Quality Standards, Water Quantity, and Watersheds & TMDLs. If you have programmatic questions, this may be another option to help you find out how other states are addressing the issue. Several volunteers offered to help research a question if they did not have an answer readily available. Beyond answering Member questions, ACWA may also ask the SMEs to identify:
- challenges & barriers to program implementation
- opportunities for state program improvement & enhancement
- state advances and innovations
- needs for training, guidance, tools, and other support materials
- positions the Associations wishes to take on specific issues
If you would like to volunteer as an SME, please contact Rosie Kay at rkay@acwa-us.org. For more details on Member365, please check out our FAQ Page.
New ACWA Compliance Assurance and Data Systems Workgroup
The Compliance Assurance and Data Systems Workgroup (CADSW) is a new workgroup under the Permitting & Compliance Committee that will focus on compliance and enforcement initiatives including the SNC National Compliance Initiative, NPDES eReporting Rule implementation, the new NPDES Noncompliance Report, Compliance Monitoring Strategies, violation tracking/scoring, SNC for Minors, ECHO Reports and Dashboards, and the State Review Framework. This workgroup will also assist EPA with identifying and prioritizing work associated with ICIS-NPDES data system enhancements/updates. If you or someone on your staff would be interested in joining this workgroup or offering up your services as one of two Co-Chairs, please contact Sean Rolland.
ACWA WOTUS Workgroup Kick-off Call
The kick off call for the new ACWA WOTUS/Navigable Waters Protection Rule Workgroup will be held on on December 3, 2020, from 1:30 to 3:00 PM ET. The WOTUS Workgroup will focus on the implications of the new WOTUS/ NWPR rule on state programs and will serve as a forum for state to state discussion and information sharing on how states are responding to the changes in their programs brought about by the new rule. The Workgroup will discuss the impacts of the new rule on the CWA permitting, standards development and TMDL programs. Contact Julia Anastasio if you are interested in participating in this workgroup.
Meetings and Webinars
INECE Citizen science Webinar Series: Environmental Monitoring in Indigenous Communities
Date: November 9, 2020 | 10:00-11:30 AM Eastern Time
Registration: Click here
This is the fourth session of INECE’s webinar series on citizen science and environmental enforcement, which will explore how Indigenous communities are using community science to uncover environmental injustice and improve environmental protection on their lands.
EPA Webinar on Tribal & Indigenous EJ Policy, EJ Financial Assistance Programs, and Tribal & Indigenous Experiences Using the EJ Financial Programs
Date: November 10, 2020 | 2:30-4:00 PM Eastern Time
Registration: Click here
EPA is hosting a webinar for federally-recognized tribes and indigenous peoples to learn about the EPA Policy on Environmental Justice for Working with Federally Recognized Tribes and Indigenous Peoples and EPA’s EJ financial assistance programs. These programs are available to help tribes and indigenous peoples in the United States to address their EJ concerns and interests. The webinar will also include the experiences and projects of a tribal community-focused organization and an indigenous-based organization, each supported by an EJ financial assistance program. Specifically, the webinar will discuss:
- EPA Policy on Environmental Justice for Working with Federally Recognized Tribes and Indigenous Peoples
- EPA environmental justice financial assistance programs:
- Grantee experiences:
- Kawerak, Inc. and Zender Environmental Health and Research Group – Backhaul Alaska, removing hazardous waste from rural Alaska through partnership with tribes, tribal communities, agencies, and industry stakeholders.
- Tewa Women United – VIPRE Anti-phishing removed a known bad URL from your email message. It was deleted or quarantined and replaced with this message., community transformation of a barren slope in downtown Española into an edible food garden utilizing traditional dry-land farming techniques and permaculture principles.
EPA Water Research Webinar Series: Property Values and Water Quality: Supporting Decisions with the Hedonic Model.
Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2020 | 2:00-3:00 PM Eastern Time
Registration: Click here
Although there is well-established body of literature examining how water quality impacts home values, it has yet to be used in analyses of regional and nationwide water quality regulations. Property value studies combine housing choices with data on water quality to estimate benefits in a statistical model. This webinar will present an overview of the hedonic property value method, synthesize the literature to estimate a set of unit values and transfer functions to support decisions affecting water quality, and identify approaches to move beyond the limitations identified in the synthesis.
After registering for the webinar, you should receive an automatic reply with a link to test your computer’s compatibility with the webinar software. Please note that for this webinar, attendees can only listen with computer audio and will not be able to call into the webinar using a phone line. This change has been made to allow more people to attend the webinar.
EPA Small Drinking Water Systems Webinar Series: AWIA and Creating Resilient Water Utilities
Date: November 17, 2020 | 2:00-3:00 PM Eastern Time (Optional Q&A session from 3:00-3:30 PM Eastern Time)
Registration: Click here
After registering for the webinar, you should receive an automatic reply with a link to test your computer’s compatibility with the webinar software. Please note that for this webinar, attendees can only listen with computer audio and will not be able to call into the webinar using a phone line. This change has been made to allow more people to attend the webinar.
A webinar will be given each month to discuss challenges and treatment solutions for small drinking water and wastewater systems.
EPA TSCA Webinar on the Cyclic Aliphatic Bromide Cluster
Date: November 20, 2020 | 1:00-3:00 PM Eastern Time
Registration: Click here
EPA will host a webinar to educate stakeholders on the risk management process under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the findings in the final risk evaluation for the cyclic aliphatic bromide cluster (HBCD). The webinar also provides the opportunity for the public to provide input on considerations the agency should take into account for managing these unreasonable risks.
If you would like to provide oral comments during the webinar, you must register by November 15, 2020. Select “attend and make a comment” when registering. You may register as a listen-only attendee at any time up to the end of the meeting. For listen-only attendees, select “listen-only” when registering. Information on how to connect to the webinar will be provided upon registration.
EPA Announces Environmental Justice Consultations on Risk Management Rulemakings for Methylene Chloride and 1-Bromopropane
Date: Several dates and times
Registration: Click here
EPA is holding webinars to consult with environmental justice communities on risk management for methylene chloride and 1-bromopropane. The webinars are open to the public and will focus on the environmental justice impacts of the agency’s development of proposed rules to address the unreasonable risks identified in the final TSCA risk evaluations for these chemicals.
EPA is holding two identical consultation webinars, one on November 16 and the other on November 19. Both sessions will address methylene chloride and 1-bromopropane. EPA is offering these repeated sessions to increase opportunities for participation. Both sessions will provide an overview of the TSCA risk management requirements, the findings from the final risk evaluations, the tools available to manage the unreasonable risks from methylene chloride and 1-bromopropane, and discussion of environmental justice concerns. In addition to being open to the public, EPA is inviting national, local and non-governmental organizations, communities, and other interested stakeholders to participate.
Job Opportunities
Surface Water Quality Bureau Project Manager — New Mexico Department of Environment
This position supports the mission of the Bureau and the Bureau Chief by providing technical expertise on complicated and crosscutting topics and issues, such as produced water regulation development, water quality standards revisions, Gold King Mine project administration, NPDES program authorization, and grant proposals and management. Learn more here — Job ID 113778.
