TACWA Meeting Minutes Lewisville, Texas September 28, :00 a.m.

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1 TACWA Meeting Minutes Lewisville, Texas September 28, :00 a.m. The Texas Association of Clean Water Agencies (TACWA) meeting of September 28, 2012 was hosted by the Upper Trinity Regional Water District. It was sponsored by CH2M Hill, CP&Y, Inc.,, and Freese & Nichols, Inc. The meeting was held in the UTRWD Boardroom. Those in attendance included: Raj Bhattarai City of Austin Water Utility; Brian Butscher City of Corpus Christi; Jason Iken City of Houston; Carol LaBreche City of Houston; Walid Samarneh City of Houston; Chris Kaakaty Dallas Water Utilities; Jesse White Dallas Water Utilities; Ana J. Peña-Tijerina ; Gordon Pederson Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority; Charlie Ganze Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority; Cynthia Belvin Trinity River Authority; Patricia Cleveland Trinity River Authority; Julie Hunt Trinity River Authority; Brian Kelm Upper Trinity Regional Water District; Karen Menard Upper Trinity Regional Water District; Larry Patterson Upper Trinity Regional Water District; Jody Zabolio Upper Trinity Regional Water District; Ahsan Moeen 2M Associates; Ellen McDonald Alan Plummer Associates; Peggy Glass Alan Plummer Associates; Ashok Varma Black & Veatch; Scott Hoff Carollo Engineers; Jenna Covington CH2M HILL; Ken Hall CH2M HILL; Dawn Anderson CP&Y; Jeffrey Wouters CP&Y; Ray Longoria Freese and Nichols. Inc.; Leonard Ripley Freese and Nichols. Inc.; Jeff Sober Garver; Tina Hanson Hazen and Sawyer; Dietrich Bankhead Khafra Engineering; Brian Rice LAN; Raquel Olivier Olivier, Inc., Mark Perkins P.E.C., and Dolan McKnight. Business Meeting: President Gordon Pederson opened the meeting by thanking the sponsors for their contributions. He then invited Larry Patterson to come up and welcome the group to Upper Trinity Regional Water District. Jody Zabolio made a motion to approve the minutes of the July 27, 2012 TACWA meeting. The motion was seconded by Raj Bhattarai, and approved unanimously. Raj presented Dolan McKnight with a plaque in appreciation of his many years of service to TACWA. As Committee Chair, Raj gave a report on the development of a membership dues structure for TACWA. Outlined below is an example of the draft that was distributed for discussion purposes only: Page 1 of 5

2 Annual Dues for Members Population Served Annual Dues 1 25,000 $500 25,001 50,000 $1,000 50, ,000 $1, , ,000 $2, , ,000 $3, ,001 1,000,000 $4,000 > 1,000,000 $5,000 Annual Dues for Affiliates Number of Texas Employees Annual Dues Sole Proprietor $100 < 10 Employees $ to < 25 Employees $ to < 75 Employees $ Employees $1,000 After this draft was passed around, the floor was opened for discussion. Larry recommended a deadline/timeframe for implementation. He also mentioned that NACWA linked dues to population served. Larry suggested that the bylaws be reviewed to see if there was a distinction between public treatment facilities and satellite facilities. TACWA officers will lead an in-depth discussion on bylaws and dues structure will take place at the November 13, 2012 meeting. The funds that are generated will be used for white papers, investigations, and special projects at the request of the group. President Pederson introduced Peggy Glass for discussion regarding Implementation Procedures provisions, Water Quality Standards, WET and ph, and nutrient criteria. The major IP revision with respect to WET is in regards to the State s procedure for determining reasonable potential, which is the basis for whether or not WET limits will be required in a permit. EPA has not yet given feedback on the State s proposed method for determining reasonable potential. A meeting of WET Coalition (TACWA, WEAT, TAWWA, and TWCA) representatives with TCEQ is scheduled for the second week of November. The current TCEQ and EPA positions on WET issues and the reasonable potential calculation will be discussed. The State has been asked by the WET Coalition to use IC25 instead of NOEC for permits that require WET limits. IC25 is a more reliable measure of 2

3 whether or not there is a difference between the control and the sample. A median limit has also been requested. At present, every test failure is a permit violation. The current approach in which a single chronic test failure is a permit violation is inconsistent with both the capability of the test and the potential for environmental impact. As a result of these requests by the WET Coalition, the State is currently working on a draft permit utilizing IC25 and a median limit. It will be submitted to EPA for approval. For many years, permits have included technology based ph permit limits of 6 9 standard units. EPA has directed the State to place ph limits in permits that are the same as the ph criteria in the Water Quality Standards for the receiving waters. State has recommended the alternative that small utilities keep the limits of 6 9 and larger facilities run a screening calculation to determine if the there is potential for the current ph limits to affect the instream ph. EPA is against the proposed alternatives but TCEQ is continuing to promote the alternative approach. At the State level, there are no new developments on nutrient criteria. Nationally, the following developments are of note: The Memoranda of Agreement between the States and the EPA will be revisited soon. This agreement defines the way that permitting is delegated. All updates are expected to be complete by The State of Montana adopted stringent nutrient water quality standards. (As low as Total Phosphorus of mg/l and Total Nitrogen of 0.13 mg/l). The State has also adopted a variance process which states that plants of 1 MGD or larger will have permit limits of 1 mg/l for Total Phosphorus and 10 mg/l for Total Nitrogen; Small plants will have permit limits of 2 mg/l for Total Phosphorus and 15 mg/l for Total Nitrogen. With variance procedures, permits must be re-evaluated and renewed every 3 years. EPA does not think that a large-scale application of reverse osmosis is practical or necessary for nutrients. Florida and EPA may have found a way for the state to resume authority for the nutrient water quality standards, as opposed to the EPA proposed standards. The state s approach includes a combination of numeric criteria and biological confirmation. This is not consistent with the independent applicability approach EPA has required in other instances. Glen Clingenpeel reported on regulatory and legislative issues. TCEQ rulemaking update TCEQ has begun sending criminal history forms out with occupational licensing renewals and new licenses. Law mandates the criminal history check. The law requires that licenses be revoked if a licensee is convicted of a felony and incarcerated while holding a license. If the conviction and incarceration occurred in the past, TCEQ will evaluate it. TCEQ s goal is to comply with the law not to keep people from working. An 3

4 internal committee at TCEQ will review the criminal histories and decide if any action is needed with regard to issuance or renewal of the license (or not). There is opportunity for appeal if the committee ruling is negative. The licensee is allowed to keep license and continue working while the appeal is in process. Utility Manager s Round Table This meeting occurred on September 20, Topics for discussion were: Funding the State Water Plan Reuse issues Public education funding Industrial reuse Pharmaceutical disposal Invasive and endangered species Wastewater overflow reporting There will be no Legislative Roundtable in 2013, however a Regulatory Round Table is proposed. The Horizon Conference is scheduled for November 13, The TACWA Business meeting will be held at 7:30 am prior to the 9:00 am start of the conference. Keep in mind this is Formula One week in Austin, and you need to make travel plans early. NACWA Reports: no updates were presented. The proposed Coalition Contract budget of $30,000 was exceeded. At present, $35,000 has been raised. This goal has not been met over the past 3 years. An election of 2013 officers will commence at the November 13, 2012 meeting. Future TACWA meetings: November 13, 2012 City of Austin (Horizon Event) January 25, 2013 San Antonio (SAWS) March 22, 2013 City of Austin May 24, 2013 City of Dallas July 26, 2013 City of Houston/GCWDA Chris Kaakaty made a motion to close the business meeting. The motion was seconded by Jason Iken and approved unanimously. Technical Presentations: Discussion of NACWA support to member agencies Ken Kirk, Executive Director, NACWA Observations of IFAT The Granddaddy of Environmental Trade Shows Dr. Leonard Ripley, P.E., Freese and Nichols, Inc. Current Issues and Challenges Implementing Potable Water Reuse Ken Hall, CH2M HILL 4

5 Understanding & Managing ASR Damage to Existing Wastewater Infrastructure to Maximize Capital Investment Jeffrey Wouters, CP&Y, Inc. President Pederson closed the meeting by thanking the meeting sponsors and the attendees for a productive meeting. He reminded everyone about the next TACWA meeting that will be hosted by WEAT in Austin on November 13,