Effluent Guidelines and Standards Program Update

Transcription

1 Effluent Guidelines and Standards Program Update National Association of Clean Water Agencies 2017 National Pretreatment and Pollution Prevention Workshop May 17, 2017

2 Outline of this presentation Recent Pretreatment Standards Rulemakings Effluent Guidelines Planning Status of ongoing studies and other activities CWA Analytical Methods Update POTW Study Collaboration Questions? Page 2

3 Recent Pretreatment Standard Rulemakings 40 CFR part Unconventional Oil and Gas (UOG) Pretreatment Standards Promulgated in June, 2016 Rule applies to a subset of oil and gas extraction facilities: onshore extraction from shale and/or tight geologic formations The standards prohibit discharges of wastewater pollutants from onshore unconventional oil and gas (UOG) extraction facilities to POTWs A subsequent action extended the compliance date to August 29, 2019 for certain facilities subject to this rule Those discharging between April 17, 2015 and June 28, 2016 Page 3 of 15

4 Recent Pretreatment Standard Rulemakings 40 CFR part 441 Pretreatment Standards for the Dental Category Previous Administrator signed a final rule in December, 2016 Requires dental offices to comply with requirements based on practices recommended by the American Dental Association, including the use of amalgam separators Minimizes dental office reporting requirements and the administrative burden to federal, state, and local regulatory authorities responsible for oversight of the new requirements EPA withdrew this rule from the Office of the Federal Register and it is not in effect Page 4 of 15

5 Effluent Guidelines Planning Published Preliminary 2016 Plan in June, 2016 No new rules identified Other than those that were ongoing Provided updates on on-going studies for Centralized Waste Treatment, Petroleum Refining, and Metal Finishing Described reviews of the following industries: Battery Manufacturing, Electronic and Electrical Components, Iron and Steel, Organics Plastics Synthetics and Fibers, and Pulp and Paper Anticipate publishing the final plan Fall 2017 Page 5

6 Ongoing Studies 40 CFR part Centralized Waste Treatment (CWT) EPA promulgated the CWT rule in 2000 Covers discharges from facilities that treat or recover wastes, wastewater or use material received from off-site Managing wastewater from oil and gas extraction (OGE) activities at CWTs was less common when rule was developed OGE extraction contain pollutants that are not controlled by the technology bases for the existing CWT requirements Goals of the study include determining in-scope facilities, evaluating treatment in place and economics of industry in order to determine if updates to the CWT rule for facilities managing OGE wastes is needed Page 6 of 15

7 Ongoing Studies 40 CFR part 433 Petroleum Refining EPA promulgated the rule in 1974 with amendments in 75, 77, 82, and 85 Applies to wastewater discharges from over 140 refineries Working with industry representatives to develop a limited survey and sampling campaign to better understand presence or absence of pollutants in refinery discharges New wastewater treatment technologies available that treat nitrate, selenium, mercury and some toxic organic compounds Assessing effects of wet air pollution control devices and crude types processed on wastewater characteristics Page 7 of 15

8 Ongoing Studies 40 CFR part Metal Finishing Conducted 20 site visits to a range of metal finishing facilities Reviewed discharge data Reviewed applicable information from the MP&M rulemaking Coordinated with NACWA, Control Authorities, and MF industry groups Reviewed available treatment technology information Main issue raised by stakeholders continues to be applicability questions Working with NACWA and EPA pretreatment coordinators to identify and address applicability questions Page 8 of 15

9 Ongoing Reviews 40 CFR part 433 Electronic and Electrical Components Recommended by NACWA Coordinated with NACWA, Control Authorities, and Industry groups Attended conferences and reviewing available treatment technology data Updating profile, wastewater characterization, and treatment technology information Plan to initiate site visits within the next month Data need: wastewater characterization resulting from industry changed and associated treatment technology information Page 9 of 15

10 Reconsideration 40 CFR part Steam Electric Power Generating EPA promulgated revisions to the Steam Electric ELGs in November, 2015; compliance required by EPA received petitions for reconsideration that raised wide-ranging and sweeping objections to the rule In April, 2016, the Administrator announced his decision to reconsider the rule In April 2016, EPA administratively postponed the new, more stringent BAT and PSES limitations and standards for the following wastestreams: Fly ash transport water Bottom ash transport water Flue gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewater Flue gas mercury control wastewater Gasification wastewater Page 10

11 CWA Analytical Methods - The previous Administrator signed a Methods Update Rule in 12/16 - Included revisions to existing methods and/or new methods - Revisions to EPA 608, 624, and 625 take advantage of improvements in analytical technology and allow greater flexibility in order to accommodate future improvements to the methods - Revised the procedure for determination of the method detection limit to address laboratory contamination issues related to the MDL and better account for intra-laboratory variability - EPA withdrew this rule from the Office of the Federal Register and it is not in effect Page 11 of 15

12 National Study of Nutrient Reduction and Secondary Treatment Nutrient pollution is a current and growing threat to public health and local economies. This study will examine nutrient discharges from POTWs to achieve 2 goals Identify realistic, achievable nutrient reduction targets for POTWs of different sizes, geographical locations and with different secondary treatment technologies Update national estimates of nutrient discharges from POTWs; existing estimates are based on data that is up to 50 years old This study will be accomplished through data collection that is anticipated to span several years First phase of the data collection will be a census of POTWs to gather basic profile information and treatment in place Page 12 of 15

13 Need for Continued and Enhanced Collaboration Seeking your help with information on the industries being studied Continue dialog to hear about the industrial pretreatment issues that you are dealing with and implementation challenges with existing categorical pretreatment standards Share data, we are particularly interested in obtaining any discharge data that you keep on the SIU s that discharge to your facilities Page 13

14 Questions? Contact Info: Jan Matuszko, Chief Engineering & Analytical Support Branch Engineering & Analysis Division Phone: Project Lead for Effluent Guidelines Planning Phillip Flanders Phone: URL for Effluent Guidelines: URL for Analytical Methods: Page 14