Regulations Water Regulations: A Fix For The Environment And The Economy




An overview of the most significant U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations affecting the water/wastewater industry in 2013.

 

By Dawn Kristof Champney

The American people have spoken. President Obama has been re-elected for a second term, yet he will face an even more divisive Congress than existed during his first four years in office. How that will impact his ability to carry out his environmental agenda remains in question. What is not in doubt is that his emboldened administration must make the case that environmental protection and economic prosperity are not mutually exclusive; environmental rules can actually drive economic growth and job creation. The Administration will be given ample chance to make that case with the plethora of pent-up water-related regulations waiting to be proposed or finalized in the next two years.

Ballast Water Discharge Standards

The U.S. Coast Guard issued a final rule on March 23, 2012, establishing for the first time a national standard for the treatment of ballast water discharges to protect U.S. waters from invasive species. Vessels subject to the regu - lations will be required to install and operate ballast water management systems to satisfy the treatment standards set forth by the rule, which mimics the standards established previously by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The EPA, in turn, is scheduled to release a revised vessel general permit by March 15, 2013, to become effective December 19, 2013, establishing technology- based effluent limits for ballast water discharges similar to those issued by the Coast Guard and the IMO. The vessel general permit currently in place regulates ballast water through use of best management practices, includ - ing mandatory saltwater flushing in certain zones and ballast water exchanges at 50 nautical miles from shore. Progressing toward a treatment standard is a necessary step to thwart further introduction of invasive species, which have wreaked havoc with the nation’s wastewater treatment plants as in the case of zebra mussels.

Total Coliform Rule

Final revisions to the existing total coliform rule were released by the EPA in December 2012, requiring pub - lic water systems vulnerable to microbial contamination in their distribution system to take corrective action and achieve compliance by April 1, 2016. The revised rule establishes a maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG) of zero for E. coli — a more specific indicator of fecal contam - ination and potential harmful pathogens than total coliform — and thereby eliminates the MCLG for total coliforms. It also provides an incentive for systems that improve their operations to qualify for reduced monitoring.

First published in 1989, the revised rule is estimated to affect approximately 154,000 public water systems — and 307 million individuals — at a cost of $14 million annu - ally. The revisions will provide greater public health pro - tection against waterborne pathogens in public drinking water distribution systems, according to the agency.

Cooling Water Intake Structures Rule

The EPA has extended by one year, until June 2013, release of a final cooling water intake structure rule requiring existing power plants and factories to install site-specific controls, or reduce their intake velocity, in order to reduce injury and death of fish and other aquatic life caused by cooling water intake structures. The EPA claims that the withdrawal of cooling water by facilities removes billions of aquatic organisms from the waters of the United States each year, impacting early life stages of fish and shellfish through impingement and entrainment. The proposed rule, published in April 2011, will affect an estimated 1,260 exist - ing facilities that each withdraw at least 2 million gallons per day of cooling water, 590 of which are manufacturers and the other 670 are power plants.

Post-Construction Stormwater Rule

Due to the complex nature of this rulemaking, the EPA missed its fifth court-ordered deadline to propose a major “post-construction” stormwater rule setting numeric limits for pollution related to new development and redevelop - ment, such as subdivisions, roadways, shopping centers, etc. The rule is now scheduled to be proposed in June 2013 and finalized in December 2014. The EPA is considering developing performance standards from newly developed and redeveloped sites to better address storm - water management, as well as evaluate additional provi - sions specific to the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Coal-Fired Power Plants Effluent Guidelines

Also delayed was issuance of a rule revising the 26-year -old standards for wastewater discharges from coal-fired power plants, now scheduled to be proposed on April 19, 2013, and finalized a year later. It is expected that the existing standard governing these discharges will be tightened given the increased level of metals in power plant waste streams as a result of air pollution con - trol measures having been employed. These 1,100 plants in the United States are responsible for a significant amount of toxic pollutant loadings discharged to surface waters, according to the EPA.

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations

The EPA announced that it will propose a court-ordered rule in April 2013, to be finalized one year later, expand - ing the universe of regulated concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs); a major source of phosphorus, nitro - gen, and sediment discharges that adversely affect water quality. The EPA reports that the waste generated by large-scale conventional hog, chicken, and cattle opera - tions has polluted more than 35,000 miles of river and has contaminated groundwater in 17 states.

Carcinogenic Volatile Organic Compounds

The EPA is scheduled to propose in mid-2013 a rule gov - erning 16 carcinogenic volatile organic compounds as part of a new drinking water strategy to regulate contaminants by groups, instead of individually. Word on the street is that this approach is more complicated than originally thought, which could further delay its release. In order for contaminants to be regulated, they must be found in sufficient frequency to be of national concern and the regulations must present a meaningful opportunity for risk reduction, which may be a more difficult case to make when taking multiple contaminants into account.

Shale Gas Extraction/Coalbed Methane Extraction

Lastly, EPA has decided to combine the development of regulations governing wastewater discharges from shale gas extraction and coalbed methane extraction for proposal sometime in 2014. EPA reported that in 2008, 252 coalbed methane operators managed approximately 55,500 coalbed methane wells in the United States. Approximately 47 billion gallons of produced water are pumped from these wells annually, of which 45% is discharged directly into U.S. waters, with the balance dis - charged on land, re-injected into the ground, or reused. Produced water from shale gas operations ranges from 200 to 1,000 gallons per million cubic feet of gas pro - duced, depending on the basin. Much of it is injected into wells or sent to treatment works. In the interim, the EPA is planning to soon release preliminary findings of a study it is conducting on the effects of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water, with the goal of issu - ing a final report in 2014. These are among the most significant regulatory developments WWEMA is monitoring and commenting on. There are many others occupying our atten - tion which deal with nutrients, water quality criteria, lead and copper, and other contaminants such as hexavalent chromium and per - chlorate. Needless to say, it is going to be a busy couple of years ahead for the industry on the regulatory front. Likewise, for the technology and service providers within WWEMA, who are tasked with providing cost-effective solutions to meet these and other challenges confronting the water industry.

Protecting the water environment is not only essential for life, it is the underpinning of all social and economic activity. There is not a single job or business that does not rely to some degree on water, its provision and its treatment. We must remain vigilant to ensure that sound science governs the way we regulate and protect this life- giving resource, while at the same time, promote the fact that environmental regulations are responsible for creat - ing a viable industry that generates nearly $130 billion in annual revenue in the U.S. and employs hundreds of thousands of skilled workers, further supporting the case that investing in and protecting our nation’s water infra - structure makes good business sense.


Dawn Kristof Champney is president of the Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association (WWEMA), a Washington, D.C.-based national, non-profit trade organization that has represented the interests of manufacturers serving the water supply and wastewater treatment industry since 1908

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