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