Potable Water Discharges NPDES Permit Update for Regions 2, 4 and 5

Transcription

1 Potable Water Discharges NPDES Permit Update for Regions 2, 4 and 5 Francois Rodigari, Director of Water Quality and Environmental Services SFPUC Annual Technology Transfer Workshop 11/13/2013 Originally presented by Mike Ambrose, EBMUD Manager of Regulatory Compliance and Francois Rodigari at Cal-Nevada 2013 Fall Conference.

2 Regulatory History Potable water discharges covered by exception in storm water permits Water agencies collaborated with SFBRWQCB on Municipal Regional Permit in 2009 Water agencies without storm water systems not listed in the permit

3 Regulatory History EBMUD received ACL Complaint for discharging without a permit in February 2011: January 2010 Main break and repair near Reliez Valley Creek in Lafayette August 2010 Release of 4,200 gallons of chlorinated water to Sausal Creek in Oakland $76,600 fine negotiated to $72,000 Regional Board claimed non-stormwater discharges must have permit under Clean Water Act

4 Financing a Permit for Region 2 Eight utilities agreed to share the funding for a Permit Writer Half the cost divided between EBMUD, SFPUC and SJWC Remainder shared between ACWD, California Water Service Company, CCWD, Marin Municipal, and Zone 7 $298,833 estimated total cost Expenditures through August 2013 of $63,000

5 Funding Structure EBMUD entered into a contract with ABAG Seven utilities entered into a funding mechanism contract with EBMUD. ABAG hired the permit writer for the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board

6 No Enforcement Letter SFBRWQCB offered to issue a No Enforcement letter detailing interim guidance that non-permitted dischargers would have to follow. Letter was to address the regulatory uncertainty created for the utilities seeking a permit and provide interim compliance guidelines. Letter was not finalized due to potential compliance differences between letter and eventual permit.

7 Interim Guidance SFBRWQCB offered guidance similar to Municipal Regional Permit (MRP) section C.15.b.iii Section C.15.b.iii addresses potable water discharges. Under the MRP potable water discharges are conditionally exempt (from discharge prohibitions) non-stormwater discharges

8 Interim Guidance Covered Discharges Types of Water: Drinking Water (Potable) Raw Unaltered Water Raw Water Altered to make it Potable Unpolluted Pumped Ground Water Potable Discharges due to Infrastructure Failures That Discharge into: Surface Waters Storm Drain Other Conveyance System that Could Flow into Surface Water

9 Interim Guidance Excluded Discharges Pumped Ground Water from Aquifer Reclamation Programs Pumped Ground Water not Specifically Included Water Discharges or Transfers covered by the Federal Water Transfer Rule

10 Covered Discharges Types - I Planned Discharges Defined as Routine Operations and Maintenance Activities from: Disinfection of Mains Cleaning of Tanks Distribution System Flushing Reservoir Dewatering Well maintenance including blow offs but not development

11 Covered Discharges Types - II Unplanned Discharges Leaks Breaks Emergency flushing Overflows

12 Planned Discharges Notification Requirements Advanced Notification for Planned Discharges: Equal or greater than 250,000 gallons/day Total volume equal or greater than 500,000 gallons Notify the Regional Board and other potentially affected local agencies at least one week in advance.

13 Notification Information for Planned Discharges Table 1. Discharge Notification Data 1 Incident Name or Work Order Number 2[a] Water agency, contact name, phone number and address 3[a] Address and nearest cross street of discharge point 4 Reason for discharge or type of discharges 5 Receiving water body(ies) 6 Date(s) of discharge 7 Time of discharge (in military time) 8 Estimated duration of discharge (hours or minutes, as applicable) 9 Estimated volume (gallons) 10 Estimated flow rate (gallons per minute)[b] Monitoring plan for the discharges and receiving water (if receiving water monitoring is infeasible 11 or is not practicable the water purveyor should provide justification) Notes: [a] These items are not part of the MRP notification requirements. [b] The flow unit in the MRP is gallons per day.

14 Unplanned Discharges Notification Requirements 1. Discharges Causing Significant or Imminent Harm. Defined as aquatic impacts (fish kills) or when Discharge Might Endanger Public Health or Safety. Discharge Directly into Surface Water Significant Flooding of Roadways and Property Public or Private Infrastructure Damage 2. Discharge of Special Concern. TCR concentration 0.05 mg/l Volume > 50,000 Gallons

15 Who and When to Notify Significant or Imminent Harm Discharges. Notify as soon as possible but no later than 2 hours after becoming aware of discharge. Notify Cal OES Regional Board Spill Hot Line Other Local Agencies Special Concern Discharges. Notify as soon as possible but no later than 24 hours after becoming aware of discharge Regional Board Submit a report to the Regional Board no later than 5 days after becoming aware of discharge

16 What to Report Written (5-Day) Report [a] 1 Same notification data as for planned discharges 2 Description of the discharge and its cause (if known) Discharge duration, including exact dates and times (in military time); if the discharge 3 has not been stopped, report on the anticipated time it is expected to continue 4 Field crew arrival time to assess impacts and implement response/corrective actions 5 Corrective actions implemented 6 Description of adverse impacts observed (if any) 7 Summary of available monitoring results Description of steps taken or planned to reduce, eliminate, and prevent reoccurrence of 8 similar discharge Photographs of any impacts visually observed and site conditions after field crew 9 response operations have been completed [a] Notes: [a] The MRP does not specify the 5-day written report content to this level of detail.

17 Discharges Monitoring Requirements Monitor All Planned Discharges Monitor 10% of Unplanned Discharges Water Quality Parameter Benchmark or Numerical Limit? Total Chlorine Residual ph 0.05 mg/l using the field test (Standard Methods 4500-Cl F and G) or equivalent 6.5 to 8.5 Standard Units Turbidity of 50 NTU post-bmps, or limit increase in turbidity above background level as follows: Turbidity Ambient Turbidity (NTU) Maximum Increase (NTU) <50 units 5 units, maximum units 10 units, maximum >100 units 10% of background, maximum

18 Additional Monitoring Requirements Visual Monitoring of the receiving water body when it is safe to do so to document the following: 1. No excessive turbidity 2. No erosion of stream bank and channel 3. No sediment plume. 4. Provide justification if visual monitoring is not feasible. Receiving Water Monitoring if a discharge monitoring result is not within the applicable water quality benchmarks. If receiving water monitoring is not feasible the water purveyor should provide justification.

19 Additional Requirements for Planned and Unplanned Discharges Fortify BMPs used at Discharge Site if benchmarks are not met Annual Compilation of all Discharge Data Annual Reporting to the Regional Board by March 1 Regional Board may require to provide data at any time.

20 Annual Reporting Content Reporting Parameters 1 Incident name or work order number 2 Contact name, phone number and address [a] 3 Address and nearest cross street of discharge point a 4 Reason for discharge 5 Receiving water body 6 Date(s) of discharge Units for Water Quality Parameters 7 Duration of discharge Hours or minutes, as appropriate 8 Estimated volume Gallons 9 Estimated flow rate Gallons per minute [b] 10 Total chlorine residual mg/l 11 ph Standard units 12 Turbidity of receiving water at point of discharge and within 50 to 100 feet upstream and downstream of discharge, if feasible NTU 13 Visual observations to document receiving water conditions for turbidity, sedimentation, or erosion impacts from the discharge Field notes of observations and photographs [a] 14 Description of BMPs implemented, and corrective actions if applicable 15 Date and time of discharge discovery Military time 16 Time water agency was notified Military time 17 Inspector arrival time Military time 18 Responding crew arrival time. Military time

21 Areas of Concerns for Future Permit - I Monitoring Requirements (frequency and parameters to be measured) Surveys of Receiving Waters in an Urban Environment Numerical Limits instead of Benchmarks Notification Requirements

22 Areas of Concerns for Future Permit - II Monitoring Requirements: Proposed frequency may require additional staffing Monitoring for DO and ph is not necessary. DO monitoring should only be required when dechlorinating agents known to cause oxygen depletion are used. ph does not fluctuate during a potable water discharge. Basis for requiring monitoring throughout the discharge is not understood.

23 Areas of Concerns for Future Permit - III Surveys of receiving waters in an urban setting can be very difficult. Storm sewers are not well mapped and receiving waters may be miles away from discharge. Monitoring of receiving waters may be dangerous because of conditions related to weather, time of day, and accessibility.

24 Areas of Concerns for Future Permit - IV Proposals have been made to set numerical limit for Total Chlorine Residual, ph, and Turbidity The Water Board is not required to incorporate numerical limit(s) in the permit If the Water Board pursues numerical limit these must be derived from available BMP performance data. These data are not available at this time. Field MLs for the numeric limits have not been scientifically derived and therefore violations could be issued for false positives.

25 Areas of Concerns for Future Permit - V Notification requirements involving: Public Outreach Plan Public Participation Program (First Responder) Signage to inform the public of the nature of the discharge Hotline or website updates would be onerous and are not warranted for low threat discharges.

26 Tentative Schedule Issue draft multi regional permit (Tentative Order) for public review: late February (45 day review period) Public comments due: mid April Finalize permit for adoption by SWRCB: mid May through June Consider permit for adoption by SWRCB: After June (probably in July) In Region 2, monthly meetings with water agencies stakeholder group are being conducted as draft permit is being prepared, through permit adoption and onward Region 4 Stakeholder Workshop on 11/18/13 s/npdes/docs/dwsgp_stkhdr_annc pdf

27 Next Steps Actively Work with Regulators to Convey that: Planned potable water discharges are performed to protect public health Utilities strive to minimize unplanned discharges, respond with a priority to restore service, and protect public health & safety. If numerical limits are set they must be based on achievable and measurable goals. MLs for numerical limits must be scientifically derived.

28 BMPs -I Protect Receiving Water Quality by: Dechlorinating Sediment control Erosion control Permit to potentially require the development of a BMPs Plan

29 BMPs - II BMPs Plan to Include the Following Elements: Communications Plan (internal and external) Public Outreach Plan BMP Objective Standard Operating Procedures for control and monitoring of TRC, ph, and Turbidity. Standard Operating Procedures for Receiving Water Monitoring Training Procedures and Records Identification of Responsible Person for Planned and Unplanned Discharges

30 BMPs - III Suggested BMPs Include BMPs Outlined in the AWWA Cal Nevada 2005 BMP Manual and include: Dechlorination Solutions Drain Inlet Protection Erosion Control

31 BMPs - IV Standard gravel bags with protective fabric over Inlet

32 BMPs - V Planned Discharge from Main Replacement. Trash Pump in perforated 5 gallon bucket over gravel bed with plastic sheeting to protect trench sides.

33 BMPs - VI In-line dechlorination to three racks trailer with bag filters.

34 BMPs - VII Tanks for dechlorinating superchlorinated (250 ppm TCR) water for discharge to sewer at 50gpm

35 BMPs - VIII Dechlorination Mechanism for Overflows (up to 100,000 gallons at 1mg/L TCR

36 BMPs IX What Does Not Work Rigid DI Insert

37 BMPs X What Does Not Work Sediment Bags

38 Conclusions Water utilities are in the business of delivering safe and pleasant drinking water Water utilities consider themselves environmental stewards Potable water discharges can be mitigated but are unavoidable Potable water discharges are low threat discharges Utilities want a permit that protects the environment, but is reasonable