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Sewage Pollution Right to Know Act

Joe DiMura , P.E. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Sewage Pollution Right to Know Act. Presentation Outline. Introduction to Sewage Pollution Right to Know (SPRTK) DEC Incident Reporting Requirements Four major provisions of SPRTK Issues, Questions, and Concerns

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Sewage Pollution Right to Know Act

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  1. Joe DiMura, P.E. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Sewage Pollution Right to Know Act

  2. Presentation Outline • Introduction to Sewage Pollution Right to Know (SPRTK) • DEC Incident Reporting Requirements • Four major provisions of SPRTK • Issues, Questions, and Concerns • Steps taken to implement SPRTK • Future Work

  3. Sewage Pollution Right to Know (SPRTK) • Went into effect on May 1, 2013 • Changed requirements for reporting partially treated or untreated sewage discharges • Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs) • New reporting requirements • Publicly Owned Sewer Systems (POSSs) • Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) • Imposes new requirements on DEC

  4. DEC Incident Reporting Requirements(Current SPDES Regulations; 6 NYCRR Part 750-2.7) • Report WWTP bypass orally to DEC within 2 hours if impacting bathing beaches, shellfish beds or drinking water supplies (principally estuarine waters in Regions 1-3) • Report bypass orally to DEC within 24 hours for others, if 2 hour reporting does not apply • Submit written bypass report to DEC within 5 days unless waived by DEC • Exempts treatment plant bypasses in accordance with a DEC approved wet weather operating plan

  5. How Does DEC Receive and Process Bypass Information?(Current SPDES Regulations; 6 NYCRR Part 750-2.7) • 2/24 hour oral reports received by regional water engineer during business hours • 2/24 hour oral reports received by spill hotline during non-business hours • Entered into spills data base and uploaded to DEC web site daily • 5 day written reports submitted to the regional office. • DEC’s “Report of Non-Compliance” is recommended, but not required by the DMR manual • Paper files only • DEC and EPA do not have information management systems for bypasses/incidents

  6. Sewage Pollution Right to Know (SPRTK):Two Hour Reporting to DEC/DOH • Applies to Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs) and Publicly Owned Sewer Systems (POSSs) • Applies to discharges of untreated and partially treated sewage • Applies to Combined Sewer Overflows • Does not apply to partially treated combined sewage discharged from POTWs in compliance with DEC approved plan or permit • Report to DEC and local DOH (NYSDOH for counties with no DOH) immediately, but no later than 2 hours after discovery

  7. Sewage Pollution Right to Know (SPRTK):Two Hour Reporting to DEC/DOH (continued) • Following 6 items to be reported to extent knowable with existing systems and models: • Volume & treated state of the discharge • Date and time of the discharge • Expected duration of the discharge • Brief description of steps taken to contain the discharge (not required for wet weather CSOs) • Location of discharge with maximum specificity possible • Reason for the Discharge

  8. Sewage Pollution Right to Know (SPRTK):Four Hour Reporting to Adjoining Municipalities and General Public • In addition to “2 hour” requirements • Report as soon as possible but no later than four hours from discovery • Notify local DOH (NYSDOH for counties with no DOH) • Chief elected official or their designee of municipality where discharge occurred • Chief elected official or their designee of any adjoining municipality that may be affected • Notify general public within same timeframe pursuant to regulations under subdivision 4 (more on this later) • Via appropriate electronic media, including but not limited to e-mail or voice communication as determined by DEC

  9. Sewage Pollution Right to Know (SPRTK):DEC Public Reporting Obligations • DEC to consult with NYSDOH • Post reported information expeditiously on DEC website • Publish an annual report that includes: • Total # of discharges • Details of discharges such as volume and treated state of discharges • Duration/location of that discharge • Remedial response to mitigate impacts and avoid further discharges

  10. Sewage Pollution Right to Know (SPRTK):DEC Regulatory Obligations • DEC shall promulgate regulations to implement new law • Regulations necessary to implement public notification requirements shall provide: • Only for notification of discharges that may present a threat to public health considering potential for exposure/other relevant factors • May also include preconditions for notification on any discharge that is not subject to a SPDES permit and does not present a threat to public health considering potential for exposure/other relevant factors

  11. DEC Issues, Questions, and Concerns • Issue #1: How to define and regulate Publicly Owned Sewer Systems (POSSs)? • Not currently in DEC regulations • DEC has no direct regulatory relationship with POSSs • Issue #2: How to implement 2 hour reporting to DEC and DOH? • All discharges of untreated/partially treated sewage must be reported to DEC/DOH within 2 hours • DEC does not have information management system for collecting sewage bypass reports • Oral reports to regional water engineer and DEC spill hotline

  12. DEC Issues, Questions, and Concerns (continued) • Issue #3: How to implement 2 hour reporting for CSOs? • CSOs discharging in accordance with permit/plan are authorized bypasses • 2 hour reporting of CSOs would overwhelm DEC reporting systems (1000 CSOs x average of 60 precipitation events/year) • Law requires CSOs to report using “existing systems and models” • Majority of POTWs/POSSs do not have predictive models or monitoring equipment • DEC to presume all CSOs discharge during wet weather events

  13. DEC Issues, Questions, and Concerns(continued) • Issue #4: How to implement 4 hour reporting? • 4 hour reporting to DOH is redundant with 2 hour notice • 4 hour notice should be identical to 2 hour notice to avoid inconsistent reporting • DEC goal is to have minimum and consistent electronic communication that can be used by all 660 POTWs and 440 POSSs and available to elected officials and interested public • Encourage enhanced communication by larger POTWs/POSSs; unreasonable to be achieved by smaller POTWs/POSSs

  14. DEC Issues, Questions, and Concerns(continued) • Issue #5: How to define discharges that present a threat to public health? • SPDES Part 750-1.2(a)(26) – “Discharge means any addition of any pollutant to waters of the state through an outlet or point source”. • Discharges to surface water “…presents threat to public health considering the potential for exposure and other factors” • Issue #6: How to define preconditions for public notifications not subject to a permit and do not present a threat to public health? • Waive requirement during extreme storm events with higher risk to human life and property damage • Waive requirement for DEC authorized emergency work

  15. What has DEC done to implement Sewage Pollution Right to Know (SPRTK)? • Collection System Survey • CSO Wet Weather Advisory Page with CSO Outfall Map • Sewage Discharge Report Form • Sewage Discharge Report Summary • SPRTK Toolbox • SPRTK Web Page • SPRTK List Serve

  16. Collection System Survey • DEC conducting a survey to collect information about POSSs • Owner information • State of infrastructure • Number of overflow events • Collection system survey • POSSs will be required to register with DEC • DEC to release summary report in 2014

  17. CSO Wet Weather Advisory and CSO Outfall Map • Updated CSO web pages to include additional information about CSOs: • CSO Wet Weather Advisory • What are the potential impacts of CSO discharges • What is DEC doing to identify and abate issues • Links to explanations of BMPs & LTCP • Links to more information • Google Maps of CSO outfalls • Google Earth • Google Map (recommend FireFox) • DEC will continue to make improvements through LTCP and/or permits

  18. City of Lockport CSOs Outfall 018

  19. Sewage Discharge Report Form • Used to report untreated/partially treated sewage discharge from Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs) and Publicly Owned Sewer Systems (POSSs) • Includes 6 reportable SPRTK items • Report submitted within 2 hours of discovery • Supercedes 24 hour oral notification • Sewage Discharge Report Form • Fillable Adobe PDF document • “Submit by e-mail” automatically notifies DEC/DOH

  20. Sewage Discharge Reports • Summary of information received • Based on 2 hour sewage discharge reports • Updated daily • Sewage Discharge Report web page • Downloaded as Excel spreadsheet • DEC to release annual sewage discharge summary in 2014 • Annual report of the SPDES permit program compliance and enforcement activities • Available on DEC website at: www.dec.ny.gov/docs/water_pdf/2011annualrpt.pdf

  21. Sewage Pollution Right to Know (SPRTK) Toolbox • Provides information to help Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs) and Publicly Owned Sewer Systems (POSSs) with SPRTK requirements • What needs to be reported • Links to sewage discharge report form and submission guidance • Answers to frequently asked questions • Links to additional information

  22. Sewage Pollution Right to Know (SPRTK) List Serve • Gov Delivery • Weekly bulletins • Summary of sewage discharges received • Educational wastewater topics • Status of implementing SPRTK • Over 500 subscribers • Register through DEC website at: • https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/NYSDEC/subscriber/new?topic_id=NYSDEC_144

  23. Sewage Pollution Right to Know (SPRTK) Web Page • Developed SPRTK web page to provide information to Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs), Publicly Owned Sewer Systems (POSSs) and the general public • Introduction to SPRTK • What has DEC done to implement SPRTK • Links to report form, report summary, toolbox, CSO Wet Weather Advisory, and list serve • Links to additional information • Future DEC work

  24. Sewage Pollution Right to Know (SPRTK): Future DEC Work • Regulations • Updating 6 NYCRR Part 750 • Fall 2013: draft regulations released • 45 day public comment period • DEC response to comments • Winter 2014: final regulations adopted • Released in concurrence with four hour reporting requirement

  25. Sewage Pollution Right to Know (SPRTK): Future DEC Work (continued) • Four hour reporting requirement • Electronic reporting and notification system • Universally accessible • NY-ALERT operated by State Office of Emergency Management (SOEM) • Hazards alert and notification system • In public domain; www.nyalert.gov/ • Free to sign-up and use • Email, phone, text, web • Infrastructure is established • Working with SOEM to identify methodologies and process for SPRTK • Authentication required • Training and marketing Working with SOEM

  26. Example of Email Received from NY-Alert

  27. Upcoming DEC Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) Training • September 19, 2013 - Niagara County Fire Training Center - Lockport NY • October 17, 2013 - Monroe Co. Van Lare WWTP - Rochester NY • October 29, 2013 -Monticello Firehouse - Monticello NY • November 8, 2013 - Vischer Ferry Firehouse - Rexford NY • November 20, 2013 - Bergen Point WWTP - Babylon NY

  28. Important Web Links • Sewage Pollution Right to Know web page: http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/90315.html • Sewage Discharge Report Form: http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/water_pdf/bypassform.pdf • Report Form Guidance: http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/water_pdf/bypassformhelp.pdf • Sewage Pollution Right to Know Toolbox: http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/90323.html • Sewage Discharge Report Summary: http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/90321.html • Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Wet Weather Advisory: http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/88736.html • CSO Google Maps: http://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/42978.html#cso • Collection System Survey: http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/water_pdf/collsyssurvey2013.pdf

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