ARCHIVE SITE - Last updated Jan. 19, 2017. Please visit www.NACWA.org for the latest NACWA information.
ARCHIVE SITE - Last updated Jan. 19, 2017. Please visit www.NACWA.org for the latest NACWA information.
Action Please By:
NACWA is currently working to provide the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA or Agency) with information on current removal of nutrients at the nation’s wastewater treatment plants. This information will support the Agency’s work to respond to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) petition to modify the definition of secondary treatment to include nutrient removal. NACWA, together with the Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators (ASWIPCA), is seeking information from public utilities via an online questionnaire. Responses will also provide NACWA with information as it continues with its advocacy on nutrient issues, including the Critical Issues Action Initiative.
BackgroundIn November 2007, NRDC filed a petition with EPA seeking to modify the definition of secondary treatment to include the removal of nutrients. NACWA filed comments on the petition outlining the technical challenges, cost implications, and broader sustainability impacts associated with a one-size-fits-all technology-based limit on nutrients for wastewater treatment plants. In meetings with EPA, NACWA has learned that the Agency does not have enough information on the current performance of secondary treatment in removing nutrients to conduct its statutorily-mandated review.
How Data Will Be UsedThe information provided by respondents to the questionnaire will be aggregated by plant type, size and other technology-based common factors to generate a report summarizing the effluent quality achieved as well as the related costs to achieve a particular level of removal. Information will be presented in a way that individual plants will not be identifiable. The report will be provided to EPA and other requestors.
Completing the QuestionnaireThe questionnaire is available online at: http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB228GL9DUTXY.
NACWA’s Next StepsThe survey is one of several NACWA efforts on this issue. NACWA is also working on a Critical Issues Action Initiative effort to develop legal and technical arguments to help develop a feasible approach to nutrient control and to counter a one-size-fits-all solution. That effort is currently underway and should be completed in early 2009. Again, NACWA is asking its members to complete the survey online and submit the requested data by January 5, 2009.
* This Alert was sent to Affiliates for informational purposes only.
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