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ACTION REQUESTED BY NOVEMBER 1

The revised screener questionnaire for EPA’s study on secondary treatment and nutrients is now available for public comment and review. EPA is moving forward with plans to conduct a multi-year study of the nutrient removal performance of secondary treatment facilities and believes the screener survey is necessary to establish a baseline before proceeding with a more detailed survey.

EPA shared a preliminary draft of the screener survey with NACWA in July, and the Association outlined several concerns in an August 1 comment letter. EPA has made some revisions to the screener questionnaire based on the Association’s comments, but did not address all of NACWA’s concerns. The September 19 Federal Register notice opens a formal 60-day comment period on the screener questionnaire.

This Advocacy Alert requests that NACWA members review and provide comments to the Association on the content of the questionnaire, EPA’s planned use of its Section 308 authority to conduct the screener survey, and the overall goals and objectives for EPA’s multi-year study. Input is requested by November 1, so NACWA can develop and submit its comments by the November 18 deadline.

Background

The Agency first briefed NACWA on the proposed multi-year study of the nutrient removal performance of secondary treatment facilities during a meeting of the Association’s Water Quality Committee in July. EPA believes the screener survey is necessary to establish a statistical baseline and to help identify which subset of utilities should receive a more detailed survey and be required to provide information on influent and effluent nutrient levels to support the study. The Agency plans to send the screener survey to every clean water utility in the country, most likely in early 2017. EPA states the purpose of the overall study is to:

1. Establish a baseline of nutrient performance nationally for secondary treatment facilities; and
   
   
2. Document the capability of POTWs to reduce nutrient discharges by implementing changes to operations and maintenance, without making extensive capital investments.

Shortly after the meeting with NACWA’s Water Quality Committee, the Agency shared a draft version of the screener survey with NACWA for informal review and comment before the public comment period. NACWA reviewed the preliminary draft of the screener survey and provided EPA with initial feedback on August 1.

In its comments, the Association expressed concern that EPA had not fully evaluated whether a study of this nature could provide enough granularity to allow the Agency to make sound conclusions on what type of nutrient removal is being achieved by secondary treatment plants that have not yet installed nutrient removal technology. NACWA suggested that EPA pilot the more detailed survey before conducting the screener survey to ensure it can get the information it needs. The Association also raised concerns over the Agency’s planned use of its Clean Water Act Section 308 authority to conduct the survey. Section 308 requests usually precede enforcement actions, and NACWA believes that conducting the study under this authority could cause confusion, send the wrong message about the intent of the study, and potentially risk enforcement action against clean water agencies.

EPA’s response to NACWA’s August 1 letter outlines the Agency’s rationale for using Section 308 and discusses how the screener survey would be updated to address many of the Association’s comments. EPA’s response also explains why the Agency does not think it is necessary to pilot the full-scale study before conducting the screener survey. NACWA and the Agency met several times to discuss the issue, and while EPA believes it must use Section 308 to ensure a sufficient response rate, it agreed to include language indicating that the information it seeks to collect is only intended to be used for research or statistical purposes.

Revised Screener Questionnaire

The revised screener questionnaire does make many of the revisions NACWA requested in its original comment letter, but major concerns - as outlined below - remain.

• EPA continues to rely on the use of Section 308. While EPA did add some disclaimer language in the Federal Register notice indicating that EPA’s Office of Water “intends to use this information for research and statistical purposes only”, the language stops short of what NACWA had requested to alleviate concerns over use of Section 308. NACWA stressed that 308 notices often proceed enforcement actions and asked that language be included stating that the information would not be used in an enforcement proceeding. EPA’s enforcement office would not agree to such language.
  
  
• NACWA is particularly interested to hear from utilities with concerns about providing this type of information via 308. NACWA has suggested alternative means to collect the information, but EPA insists that it needs to use 308 to get an adequate response rate. This is an issue that NACWA will provide comments on again, and the Association will also engage with senior EPA leadership to ensure the Agency understands the significant concerns with the 308 approach.
  
  
• The disclaimer language, discussed above, is only included in the Federal Register notice, not in the screener questionnaire itself. EPA should include that language in the questionnaire and NACWA’s comments will highlight this.

At NACWA’s urging, EPA removed a question on whether the facility bypasses any portion of the treatment process during wet weather. However, EPA added information in questions 22-24 that requires the respondent to provide information about flow and effluent levels from both the main treatment process and any ‘wet weather system’. These questions are effectively the same as asking whether the facility bypasses – at least in terms of EPA’s interpretation of what a bypass is – and pose similar problems to the original question. These questions also are concerning given that EPA will be using its Section 308 authority to compel a response. NACWA will request that all information relating to wet weather treatment trains be removed from the questionnaire.

Member Input Needed

NACWA is asking its members to review and provide comments on the content of the questionnaire, EPA’s planned use of its Section 308 authority to conduct the screener survey, and the overall goals and objectives for EPA’s study. NACWA is interested in hearing from members whether they support the collection of this information, with or without the use of Section 308 authority. Input is requested by November 1, so NACWA can develop its comments and submit by the November 18 deadline. Please send any comments to Chris Hornback at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .