Monday, May 17, 2021
1:00 – 1:10 Welcome & Opening Remarks
1:10 – 2:00 Breaking Down Barriers: EPA, States, & POTWs as Co-Regulators
For nearly 40 years, the pretreatment program has protected wastewater treatment facilities, collection systems, and worker safety by keeping harmful chemicals from entering the sewer system. The program has been extremely successful, and it is a model for how federal, state, and local government agencies can work together to regulate industries and achieve environmental goals. This panel will discuss how this model can continue to work effectively, and how even more improvements can be made by breaking down remaining barriers between the co-regulators.
2:00 – 3:00 Pretreatment Goes to Pot: Regulating the Marijuana Industry
Most states now have some form of legalized marijuana use, whether for medicinal or recreational purposes, and more states are expected to begin or expand the legal use of marijuana. Pretreatment programs must be aware of the potential impacts from this increased marijuana use and the discharges to the sewer system from the growth, processing, and use of the drug. This session will focus on state and utility experiences with regulating different aspects of the marijuana industry.
3:00 – 3:15 Break
3:15 – 4:15 EPA Regional Roundtable
The Regional Roundtable session provides an opportunity for EPA, state, and municipal Workshop participants to discuss priority issues in each EPA Region. Individual webinar rooms will be used for each Region.
Tuesday, May 18, 2021
1:00 – 2:00 Addressing FOG at the Local and State Level
Utilities spend so much time and energy trying to keep the scourge of fats, oils, and grease (FOG) out of the sewer system, since the fatbergs and blockages caused by FOG are so harmful and difficult to remove. This session will include two case studies where efforts to improve FOG led to successful results.
2:00 – 3:00 Wastewater Surveillance & Pretreatment: Moving Beyond the Pandemic
The idea of testing wastewater for epidemiological purposes gained sudden and widespread acceptance due to the COVID-19, providing information about potential virus cases across communities. This type of wastewater surveillance may also have many other purposes beyond the pandemic. This panel will discuss the role of pretreatment programs in COVID-19 surveillance programs as well as the potential uses for surveillance in the future.
3:00 – 3:15 Break
3:15 – 4:15 Pretreatment Issues Roundtable Discussions
This session will provide an opportunity for Workshop participants to break out into smaller groups and discuss an issue affecting their programs. Individual, topic specific, webinar rooms will be used for these discussions.
Wednesday, May 19, 2021
1:00 – 2:00 Pretreatment for PFAS: Will It Be Required Soon?
The class of chemicals known as per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, and their presence in groundwater and drinking water have continued to be a hot topic with Congress and the media. As EPA works through its PFAS Action Plan and the science needed for regulation evolves, states are taking their own actions on PFAS. Congress also continues to propose legislation on PFAS, and PFAS-related lawsuits multiply. This session will cover the latest regulatory, legislative, and legal developments related to PFAS and the outlook for pretreatment programs.
2:00 – 3:00 CROMERR Compliance, or How to Bring Pretreatment Reporting into the Modern Era
The use of electronic reporting in pretreatment programs has generally not kept pace with the use of electronic data in other aspects of our lives. However, some utilities are working to bring their programs fully into the electronic age. This session will provide a case study for how one utility is becoming CROMERR (Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Regulation) compliant and will include speakers from EPA who will demonstrate the Shared CROMERR Services portal, a free option for POTWs to use to become CROMERR compliant.
3:00 – 3:15 Break
3:15 – 4:15 Pretreatment Issues Roundtable Discussions
Using the same format as the roundtable session on Tuesday, this roundtable will provide an additional opportunity for Workshop participants to choose a pretreatment issue to discuss with other pretreatment professionals.
2021 ACWA National Pretreatment Meeting Agenda 3-31-2021 For Web
