News

EPA Releases Compendium of State and Regional NPDES Nutrient Permitting Approaches

On April 11, 2022, EPA released the Compendium of State and Regional NPDES Nutrient Permitting Approaches (pdf). The compendium is a collection of state practices for controlling the adverse effects of nutrient pollution through NPDES permits. It is divided into the following sections: Permitting Critical Conditions, Performance Based Approaches, Water Quality Trading, and Watershed-Based Permitting. The Compendium responds to states’ requests that EPA compile different state approaches in order to facilitate state-to-state information sharing. The Compendium is a component of Radhika Fox’s April 5, 2022, memo Accelerating Nutrient Pollution Reduction in the Nation’s Waters, which identifies several governing principles and strategies to continue reductions in nutrient pollution.

For any questions related to this announcement, please contact Danielle Stephan at stephan.danielle@epa.gov.

EPA Releases Equity Action Plan Alongside Federal Partners

On April 14th, EPA published its Equity Action Plan to fulfill President Biden’s Executive Order (EO) 13985 directing EPA, along with other federal agencies, to assess whether underserved communities and their members face systemic barriers in accessing benefits and opportunities through the federal government. This Equity Action Plan is a critical part of EPA’s efforts to break through those barriers and advance equity and justice across our efforts to ensure clean water, air, and land for all communities. The Equity Action Plan aligns with the Agency’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-2026 EPA Strategic Plan, announced March 28, 2022. EPA’s final Strategic Plan includes, for the first time, an unprecedented strategic goal to advance environmental justice and civil rights.

The Equity Action Plan outlines six priority actions:

Develop a comprehensive framework for considering cumulative impacts in relevant EPA decisions and operationalize that framework in EPA’s programs and activities.
Build the capacity of underserved communities to provide their experience to EPA and implement community-led projects.
Develop EPA’s internal capacity to engage underserved communities and implement clear and accountable processes to act based on communities’ input.
Strengthen EPA’s external civil rights compliance program and ensure that civil rights compliance is an agency-wide responsibility.
Integrate participatory (community) science into EPA’s research and program implementation.
Make EPA’s procurement and contracting more equitable.

These priority actions form a critical foundation on which to build meaningful engagement with underserved communities; achieve more equitable and just outcomes, including pollution reductions in communities with environmental justice concerns; and deliver other tangible benefits to underserved communities. Read the EPA Equity Action Plan.

Compliance Tips for Small Wastewater Treatment Lagoons

EPA just released a compliance advisory intended to assist owners and operators of small publicly and privately owned lagoon WWTPs. Approximately 60 percent of the facilities in near term “significant noncompliance” (SNC) are WWTPs. Per this advisory, WWTP owners and operators are reminded of their responsibility to comply with the requirements in their NPDES permit and are provided information associated with compliance and financial assistance resources. This advisory provides extensive information on the causes of, and potential solutions to, lagoon WWTP noncompliance. Because there are various types of lagoon WWTPs in operation, not all the information provided in this advisory will apply to any one lagoon system. Also note, EPA has issued a separate, similar advisory to assist owners and operators of Small Mechanical WWTPs. A copy of this new compliance advisory for lagoons can be found here.

Pure Potential: The Case for Stormwater Capture and Use

Last month several organizations released a report discussing stormwater capture and use (SCU) opportunities to help build state and local capacity to pursue locally appropriate projects. A summary of the effort can be found below:

“U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Municipal Stormwater Alliance, WateReuse Association, Water Environment Federation, and the Re-Inventing the Nation’s Urban Water Infrastructure (ReNUWIt) research consortium organized five national webcasts and meetings in 2021 that culminated in an intensive national convening to explore these opportunities and challenges and identify priority actions to advance SCU in urban areas across the nation. The webcasts and web-based meetings gathered national experts in stormwater management to discuss SCU drivers, stormwater treatment standards, an evaluation of the co-benefits that SCU projects generate, and estimations of SCU potential. Building on this groundwork, a diverse group of national stormwater experts and thought leaders met in September 2021 at The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread to identify the highest priorities for building financial, regulatory, scientific, technical, and organizational capacity to pursue SCU while placing it within the broader context of integrated urban water management. Participants recognized that interest in and experience with SCU vary widely around the country, and that different practitioners will need different types of support depending upon local water management circumstances. Most importantly, the group concluded that SCU and integrated stormwater management must be a critical tool in the portfolio of options for promoting the design and management of resilient water management systems in urban communities.”

A copy of the full report can be found here.

EPA Office of Research and Development Releases Draft FY23-26 Strategic Research Action Plan

EPA’s Office of Research and Development released for public comment the six draft Strategic Research Action Plans (StRAPs) for fiscal years 2023-2026. The StRAPs outline the leading-edge research strategies necessary to provide the scientific foundation for EPA to execute its mission to protect public health and the environment. Over the past year, these draft StRAPs were developed through a series of listening sessions, workshops, and consultations with ORD staff; Agency partners; state, tribal, and local partners; and community groups. In the coming months, the research plans will be reviewed by EPA’s Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC), an independent body of experts charged with providing advice and recommendations to ORD. The BOSC review will include an opportunity for public comment.

You can find the Federal Register Notice here. Comments must be received by May 3 to be considered by the BOSC.

New USGS Study: Common Insecticide Mixtures Cause Greater than Expected Effects in Stream Ecosystems

The USGS National Water Quality Program has released a new article on neonicotinoids in Coastal California streams. Neonicotinoids are among the most used class of insecticides with 7 commercially available neonicotinoids on the global market. Neonicotinoid use has been linked to bee colony and fishery collapses, resulting in bans on certain neonicotinoid compounds in some countries. Some U.S. states also have proposed bans or restrictions on certain neonicotinoid uses.

Rarely do monitoring programs track all 7 neonicotinoids in surface waters, thus the true risks of neonicotinoid use to ecosystems are unknown. This new study explores the relation between neonicotinoid mixtures in Coastal California surface waters and the health of the aquatic life in those waters by combining field observation and laboratory experimentation.

What are the implications for water availability? Neonicotinoid mixtures are common in surface waters in Coastal California and dominated by imidacloprid and clothianidin, the most toxic of the neonicotinoids. The effects of mixtures of these two neonicotinoids are greater than would be expected from adding the toxicity of each of the individual compounds. Regulations of surface water quality assume that chemical mixtures cause additive toxicity, thus regulations may under-protect ecosystems where mixtures of neonicotinoids are present.

For more information, contact Travis Schmidt.

Citation: Schmidt, T.S., Miller, J.L., Mahler, B.J., VanMetre, P.C., Nowell, L.H., Sandstrom, M.W., Carlisle, D.M., Moran, P.W., Bradley, P.M., 2022, Ecological consequences of neonicotinoid mixtures in streams: Science Advances, http://doi.org/10.5066/P9D958A0.

Association Updates

FY2023 Appropriations Testimony

ACWA submitted written testimony to both the House and Senate Subcommittees for Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies on April 20, 2022, supporting the President’s Budget Request’s proposed increase to the EPA budget. You can find both versions of the letter here.

ACWA Monitoring Standards and Assessment Committee Meeting on May 17th

MSA will meet at 3pm EST on May 17th to discuss secondary contact recreation methodologies. Please contact Jake Adler for more information.

ACWA Holds Nutrients Permitting Workshop

ACWA held a Nutrients Permitting Workshop, April 12-14, in Kansas City, MO. This workshop had close to 50 in person attendees and 60 virtual attendees. The workshop focused on identifying key points of importance to States in regards to nutrients permitting priorities. This was the first step in a process intended to produce state recommendations for future nutrients permitting policies that reflect the priorities of state programs.

Meetings and Webinars

EPA NNCR Training Descriptions and Schedule

Quarterly NNCR Basic Training
This webinar focuses on the new quarterly National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Noncompliance Report (NNCR), currently available on ECHO Lab (echolab.epa.gov) for EPA and state testing. The training covers what the quarterly NNCR is and why it was developed, background on the NNCR workgroup, violation types and violation details included in the report, information about accessing the quarterly report, and includes a demonstration of the beta-version available in ECHO Lab.

Quarterly NNCR Advanced Training: DMR Reporting Violations
This webinar focuses on the new quarterly National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Noncompliance Report (NNCR), currently available on ECHO Lab (echolab.epa.gov) for EPA and state testing. This training is an advanced training focused on DMR reporting violations. The training covers when DMR reporting violations are generated in ICIS-NPDES, criteria for detecting Category I or II noncompliance, resolution of DMR reporting violations, and a demonstration of how to identify DMR reporting violations and details related to the violations on the quarterly NNCRs.

Quarterly NNCR Advanced Training: Effluent Exceedance Violations
This webinar focuses on the new quarterly National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Noncompliance Report (NNCR), currently available on ECHO Lab (echolab.epa.gov) for EPA and state testing. This training is an advanced training focused on effluent exceedance violations. The training covers when effluent exceedance violations are generated in ICIS-NPDES, criteria for detecting Category I or II noncompliance, resolution of effluent exceedance violations, and a demonstration of how to identify effluent exceedance violations and details related to the violations on the quarterly NNCRs.

Quarterly NNCR Advanced Training: Schedule Violations
This webinar focuses on the new quarterly National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Noncompliance Report (NNCR), currently available on ECHO Lab (echolab.epa.gov) for EPA and state testing. This training is an advanced training focused on schedule violations of permit and enforcement action requirements. The training covers when schedule violations are generated in ICIS-NPDES, criteria for detecting Category I or II noncompliance, resolution of schedule violations, and a demonstration of how to identify schedule violations and details related to the violations on the quarterly NNCRs.

A schedule for these trainings can be found here.

Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council Series: Strategies for Preventing and Managing Harmful Cyanobacteria Blooms

HCBs: Tuesday, April 26, 2022
1:00PM-3:15PM EDT (17:00-19:15 GMT)
Register Here

HCB Benthics: Thursday, April 28, 2022
1:00PM-2:00PM EDT (17:00-18:00 GMT)
Register Here

The Harmful Cyanobacteria Blooms (HCBs) training reviews key information found in the two ITRC HCB Guidance Documents, the 2021 Strategies for Preventing and Managing Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms (HCB-1) and the 2022 companion document focused on benthic HCBs (HCB-2). ITRC’s HCB-2 focuses on the ecology, toxin production, management, and mitigation of benthic HCBs and is a companion document to the HCB-1 document released by ITRC in March 2021.

Cyanobacteria are microscopic, photosynthetic organisms that can be found naturally in all aquatic systems. Under certain conditions, cyanobacteria can multiply and become very abundant, discoloring the water throughout a water body or accumulating at the surface. These occurrences are known as “harmful cyanobacterial blooms (HCBs).” HCBs can occur in many parts of a water body. Planktonic HCBs occur when cyanobacteria dominate the open water of water bodies. ITRC’s HCB-1 guidance includes information about planktonic HCBs.

In addition to being suspended in the open water, some cyanobacterial species grow attached to surfaces in a water body. These attached cyanobacteria can grow at the bottom of a water body (benthic zone) but may also be found nearer to the surface growing on submerged vegetation or woody debris. In any of these habitats the benthic cyanobacterial mats can produce and release cyanotoxins into the environment. When cyanobacteria proliferate as attached mats in benthic habitats instead of planktonic blooms, they present unique challenges to evaluating and communicating the public health and environmental risks caused by this less familiar appearance of cyanobacteria.

HCB-1 Training
The Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom (HCB-1) training provides an overview of cyanobacteria (particularly planktonic blooms) and their management, covering five sections from the ITRC HCB-1 guidance document:

Introduction to the Cyanobacteria (Section 3)
Monitoring (Section 4)
Communication and Response Planning (Section 5)
Management and Control (Section 6)
Nutrient Management (Section 7)

HCB-2 Training
The Benthic Harmful Cyanobacteria Bloom (HCB-2) training provides an overview of benthic cyanobacteria and their management, covering five sections from the ITRC HCB-2 guidance document:

Introduction to the Benthic Cyanobacteria (Section 1)
Cyanotoxins (Section 2)
Monitoring for Benthic Cyanobacteria (Section 3)
Introduction to Treatment Strategies (Section 4)
Communication and Response Planning for Benthic Cyanobacteria (Section 5)

After both trainings, you should understand:

The basic ecology and physiology of planktonic and benthic cyanobacteria, and the harmful effects they have on health, the environment, and local economies
An overview of cyanotoxin classes and available cyanotoxin thresholds for human health (recreational and drinking water) and domestic animals
Common approaches to monitoring for cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins, and how to build a monitoring program
The importance of good communication and coordinated response during HCBs, and the elements of a good response plan
Available options for in-lake management and control of HCBs, including an introduction to possible treatment options for benthic cyanobacteria
Nutrient management options to reduce the likelihood of HCBs in your water body

We encourage you to use the ITRC HCB Resources (HCB-1 and HCB-2) and the recorded trainings to learn about planktonic and benthic cyanobacteria, monitoring approaches, management of active blooms, and prevention of blooms in the future. For regulators and other government agency staff, these materials present the current state of the science on cyanobacteria and approaches to manage and reduce the occurrence of blooms. We share examples and resources from across the country that can help you develop approaches of your own. While the training makes every effort to keep the information accessible to a wide audience, it is assumed that the participants will have some basic technical understanding of biology, lake management, chemistry, and environmental sciences. As with other emerging concerns, our understanding of HCBs continues to advance. These trainings help you build HCB response plans now and point you to resources that will keep you up to date in the future. Learn more about the upcoming webinars here.

Small Systems Webinar Series: Source Water Protection and HABs

Date: April 26
Time: 2-3pm EST
Register Here

Presentation I: Using Molecular Methods to Study Cyanobacterial Blooms. This presentation introduces molecular monitoring approaches used in the detection and quantification of cyanobacterial groups and cyanotoxin genes implicated in harmful algal blooms. Results will be presented from next generation sequence analysis and qPCR/RT-qPCR methods to characterize cyanobacterial community structure, associated bacterial community, toxic cyanobacteria, and geographically localized genotypes or species. The methods study cyanobacterial functional genes associated with nutrients in toxin production, their relationship to water quality parameters, and explore drivers of cyanotoxin production using mRNA-based sequence analysis. This presentation also discusses occurrence, distribution, temporal-spatial variations of cyanobacteria, especially toxin-producers, and use as early warning systems for cyanotoxin production. (Presentation by Jorge Santo Domingo, Ph.D.).

Presentation II: Funding Integration Tool for Source Water: Finding a Plan a FITS. With different funding mechanisms available, it can be difficult finding one that works for specific source water protection needs. EPA’s Source Water Protection Team created the Funding Integration Tool for Source Water (FITS), a one-stop-shop tool that explains how users can integrate various federal funding sources to support activities that protect sources of drinking. This presentation discusses the basic functions and value of the tool and demonstrates use of FITS in a mock scenario. (Presentation by Terrell Tiendrebogo and April Byrne).

Optimizing Nutrient Removal and Wastewater Excellence Series: Transitioning from Permit Compliance to Wastewater Excellence

Date: April 28, 2022
Time: 1 PM EST
Register Here

In this 90-minute webinar, the speaker will discuss low-cost opportunities for improving nutrient removal generally exist but often aren’t implemented for various reasons. Operators, utility managers, regulators and design engineers are invited to join the speaker in overcoming these barriers and exploring opportunities for optimizing nutrient removal in wastewater treatment plants.

Among the strategies for implementing operational solutions to be discussed are the following:

embracing “wastewater excellence” as a management strategy as contrasted to traditional, conservative “permit compliance”
exploring well-intended regulatory policies and procedures that discourage operators from making operational changes
finding funds for “pennies on the dollar” operational improvements

A facilitated discussion of the opportunities and barriers to implementation will be led by the speaker. Participants will be encouraged to comment and ask questions throughout the webinar.

National Water Quality Monitoring Council (NWQMC) Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Webinar Series: Partnerships to Manage the Red Lake Nation’s and Minnesota’s Largest Lakes

Date: May 2, 2022
Time: 12 PM PST /3 PM EST
Register here

Join us for a webinar by Mark Edlund from the Science Museum of Minnesota! Please share this invite with your colleagues. A partnership between the Red Lake Nation, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and the Science Museum of Minnesota was created to address water quality issues affecting the region’s largest lakes. These projects provide strong examples of how an improved understanding of Tribal sovereignty and jurisdictional boundaries can result in an effective partnership that benefits all parties. After the presentation, there will be time for questions and informal discussion.

NPDES Basic Permit Writers Course

Date: May 5, 2022 – June 9, 2022
Registration Information

On April 11, EPA announced the opening of registration for the the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Basic Permit Writers’ Virtual Guided Learning Courses starting on May 5, 2022, with separate morning and afternoon sessions running for five weeks.

The objective of this course is to provide the basic regulatory framework and technical considerations that support the development of wastewater discharge permits required under the NPDES program. The course was designed for permit writers with about six months to one year of experience in the NPDES program, but experienced permit writers wanting a refresher course and other water program staff or interested parties wanting to learn more about the NPDES program also are welcome.

The 5-week course will begin on Thursday, May 5, 2022. Participants should anticipate a time commitment of approximately 8-10 hours per week and should seek supervisor approval before signing up. The course is scheduled to conclude on June 9th, however a “rain date” of June 16th should be reserved by the participants in case of technical issues.

Each week, participants will have assigned “homework” consisting of NPDES online modules and permit exercises. These modules and exercises will then be discussed in a live virtual classroom setting on Tuesday and Thursday of each week. Participants will have the opportunity to join live office hour discussions with instructors and other participants each Tuesday as well.

Microsoft Teams will be utilized for the virtual classroom and can be accessed through the desktop application or a web browser. Course materials will be provided electronically on the Microsoft Teams classroom site for download by the participants prior to the start date.

As a foundational course, the training does not address in detail specialized topics such as industrial and municipal stormwater, concentrated animal feeding operations, and pesticide discharges. For more information on these specialized topics, please visit EPA’s NPDES website here

Course Schedule and Logistics

A separate morning session and afternoon session are available for this course offering. Please see the registration page for each session for the agenda with dates and times. There is no cost for the course. Registration is limited and available at:

NPDES Permit Writers’ Course – Virtual Guided Learning May 2022 AM

NPDES Permit Writers’ Course – Virtual Guided Learning May 2022 PM

Following registration, an email with further instruction will be provided.

Numeric Nutrient Criteria Webinar: Biologically Based Tools to Examine Nutrient Effects in Alabama Streams – Alabama’s N-STEPS Project and Beyond

Date: May 12, 2022
Time: 2 PM EST

This webinar is open to invitees only. To ensure all invitees can attend, please do not share your access information. To attend the webinar, please use this link to sign up. Registration is required for you to attend the webinar. Once you have registered for the webinar, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for joining.

In 2016, the N-STEPS program analyzed Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) stream macroinvertebrate and nutrient datasets to: (1) construct an O/E site-specific biological condition assessment model, (2) use O/E output along with weighted-average optima and generalized additive models to identify nutrient sensitive and opportunistic taxa, and (3) use the output above to construct a biological predictive model to identify nutrient risk. This project supports current efforts to develop nutrient criteria for reservoir embayments by providing data to evaluate if criteria developed for these systems would be protective of upstream uses and for streams that do not flow into reservoirs. These tools have also been used to develop nutrient-specific macroinvertebrate attributes and metrics, assess the effectiveness of restoration efforts, prioritize waters for diatom surveys, and develop a monitoring strategy for headwater streams. In combination with Alabama’s BCG, the O/E site-specific biological condition assessment model provides an estimate of overall water quality for wadeable rivers and streams.

Presenter: Lisa Huff is Chief of the Environmental Indicators Section at the ADEM in Montgomery, Alabama. She holds a BS in biology from Oberlin College and an MS in aquatic entomology from the University of Georgia. Lisa has led development and implementation of the agency’s watershed-based Rivers and Streams Monitoring Program (RSMP), designed in part to provide stressor-response data to develop criteria and indicators. Working with dedicated biologists and engineers within ADEM, EPA, and other local, state, and federal agencies throughout EPA Region 4, the RSMP has developed macroinvertebrate and fish community indices. The RSMP has benefited greatly from collaborative efforts supported by EPA Headquarters and Region 4 to calibrate the Biological Condition Gradient (BCG) model to macroinvertebrate and fish communities in Alabama’s wadeable rivers and streams. A technical review of the RSMP in 2019 reflects these accomplishments.

NASEM Workshop: Communities, Climate Change, and Health Equity— State-Level Implementation

Date: May 24-26, 2022
Register Here

In October 2021, the Environmental Health Matters Initiative (EHMI) organized the workshop Communities, Climate Change, and Health Equity—A New Vision, which provided an overview of how changing climate conditions exacerbate existing health inequities experienced by communities across the United States. The workshop identified a broad set of potential actions and actors that could lead efforts to address the intersection of climate change, health inequity and environmental injustice.

Given that much of the authority for addressing these issues rests at the individual state level, EHMI is organizing an additional workshop – the next in a series – from 12:00 – 3:00 PM ET on May 24 and 26, 2022.

This workshop will delve deeper into specific state-level actions and actors that could help improve climate-related health outcomes in disproportionately impacted communities, particularly through the deeper integration of health equity into climate programs and consideration of climate justice in public health programs.

Save the Date! 2022 State Summit Webinar Series on Water Reuse – Session 1, ASR

Please join us on May 25, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. for a free webinar intended for state staff on ASR-MAR. The Groundwater Protection Council (GWPC) is hosting this webinar as part of the 2022 State Summit Webinar Series on Water Reuse. The event will be 1.5 hours long and held virtually with Zoom. ACWA Members and their staff should contact Jake Adler for registration information.

The ASR-MAR webinar will feature a lively panel comprised of leaders across the water sector, including Mary Musick (GWPC), Lorrie Council (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality), Karen Feret (U.S. EPA), and Chi Ho Sham (Eastern Research Group, Inc.). Panelists will share insights from GWPC’s ASR-MAR Workgroup and prior webinars, highlight future focus areas, and encourage participants to share experiences with ASR-MAR in their states. A member of EPA’s water reuse team will also provide a brief update on the National Water Reuse Action Plan (WRAP).

This webinar is hosted by GWPC in collaboration with ACWA, ASDWA, ASTHO, ECOS, and EPA. It is the first in a series of water reuse webinars for states under WRAP Action 2.2, Enhancing State Collaboration on Water Reuse. The WRAP collaborative was launched in 2020 and helps drive progress on reuse by leveraging the expertise of partners across the country to create a more resilient water future for communities of all sizes.

Save The Date – 13th National Monitoring Conference

Date: April 24-28 2023

The National Water Quality Monitoring Council will host its 13th National Monitoring Conference during the week of April 24–28, 2023, at either Hartford, Connecticut or Virginia Beach, Virginia, final location will be released at a future date. All federal, state, tribal and local water professionals, nonprofits, academia, water consultants and industry, and volunteer scientists are welcome at this important national forum.  The conference will be offered in a hybrid format primarily in person, including a limited virtual format. You can learn more at the conference webpage, here.

Please look for the Call for Session Proposals and Call for Abstracts in Spring and Summer of 2022.

Questions? Learn more about the Council and previous conferences here. Contact the 2023 National Water Monitoring Conference Co-Chairs Danielle Grunzke, grunzke.danielle@epa.gov; Felipe Arzayus, felipe.arzayus@noaa.gov; and Casey Lee, cjlee@usgs.gov. To get on our conference mailing list, please contact Philip Forsberg, pforsberg@nalms.org.

Job Opportunities

Assistant Environmental Analyst | NEIWPCC

Location: Stony Brook, NY
Closing Date: April 24, 2022

This role will assist in program coordination, administration, and communications for the Nutrient Bioextraction Initiative, which is a joint effort between NYS Department of Environment Conservation, Long Island Sound Study and Long Island Regional Planning Council. The individual in this role will collect and organize data, assist with permitting and grant applications, prepare and transport biomass samples, assist with creating outreach materials, and conduct a variety of administrative tasks for the Initiative. This is a collaborative role, which will partner with a variety of individuals from federal, state, and local levels to meet the goals of the program.