Sewage Pollution Right to Know Act
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Transcript of Sewage Pollution Right to Know Act
Sewage Pollution Right to Know Act
Joe DiMura, P.E.New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
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
Sewage Pollution Right to Know (SPRTK)
Went into effect on May 1, 2013 Changed requirements for reporting partially treated
or untreated sewage dischargesPublicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs)
New reporting requirements Publicly Owned Sewer Systems (POSSs)Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs)
Imposes new requirements on DEC
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
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
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
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:
1. Volume & treated state of the discharge2. Date and time of the discharge3. Expected duration of the discharge4. Brief description of steps taken to contain the discharge
(not required for wet weather CSOs)5. Location of discharge with maximum specificity possible6. Reason for the Discharge
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
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:
1. Total # of discharges2. Details of discharges such as volume and treated state of
discharges3. Duration/location of that discharge4. Remedial response to mitigate impacts and avoid further
discharges
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:
1. Only for notification of discharges that may present a threat to public health considering potential for exposure/other relevant factors
2. 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Outfall 018
City of Lockport CSOs
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
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
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
Sewage Pollution Right to Know (SPRTK) List Serve
Gov Delivery Weekly bulletins
Summary of sewage discharges receivedEducational wastewater topicsStatus of implementing SPRTK
Over 500 subscribers Register through DEC website at:
https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/NYSDEC/subscriber/new?topic_id=NYSDEC_144
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
Sewage Pollution Right to Know (SPRTK): Future DEC Work
RegulationsUpdating 6 NYCRR Part 750Fall 2013: draft regulations released45 day public comment periodDEC response to comments Winter 2014: final regulations adoptedReleased in concurrence with four hour reporting
requirement
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
Example of Email Received from NY-Alert
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
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