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Municipal wastewater treatment agencies say new rules are needed to address sanitary sewer overflows, but they caution the Environmental Protection Agency against prescribing how often and under what circumstances the utilities should monitor overflows, keep records, and notify the public.

Sewage backups in basements and minor spills should not be subject to federal control, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies told EPA.

The association was among the organizations responding to EPA's request for comments as it considers proposing a rule to modify National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System regulations for municipal sanitary sewer collection systems and sanitary sewer overflows. EPA also has had several “listening sessions” on the issue (102 DEN A-7, 5/28/10).
The goal is to better protect the environment and public health from the harmful effects of sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) and basement backups, EPA said in a June 1 Federal Register notice (75 Fed. Reg. 30,395).
One change being considered would establish standard NPDES permit conditions that specifically address sanitary sewer collection systems and overflows.

Another would clarify the regulatory framework for applying NPDES permit conditions to municipal satellite collection systems—sanitary sewers owned or operated by a municipality that carry wastewater to a treatment plant operated by a different municipality. EPA officials have said they are considering approaching SSOs in the context of a framework that could include a long-term control plan.

EPA also is considering whether to address long-standing questions about peak wet weather flows at municipal wastewater treatment plants.

Combatting Sewer Overflows
SSOs often are caused by blockages or breaks in sewer lines. They can release untreated sewage into basements or out of manholes and onto city streets and playgrounds and into streams.

Under existing EPA rules, sanitary sewer overflows by publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) generally are prohibited without an NPDES permit. Sanitary sewers are systems that carry only sewage, while combined sewer systems carry both sewage and stormwater.

NPDES permit standards do not contain provisions on how municipal wastewater treatment plant operators should monitor SSOs or report them to the public. EPA is considering clarifying and expanding permit requirements for municipal sanitary sewer collection systems by establishing a comprehensive framework for monitoring, reporting, public notification, and recordkeeping for overflows.

According to EPA, some municipalities already have extensive recordkeeping and notification systems, but there is no standardization.

The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) and other groups that filed comments generally agreed on the need for EPA to propose a rule addressing sewer overflows, saying clarification is needed. They differed on how specific such a rule should be.

EPA Said to Lack Authority
“NACWA does not believe that EPA has the authority to require reporting, monitoring, or notification of overflows which do not reach the waters of the United States, including basement backups or overflows that are quickly contained and cleaned up before reaching waters of the United States,” the association said.

NACWA agreed the public should be notified of spills that pose a health risk and acknowledged there might be certain situations where reporting overflows that do not reach waters of the United States and notifying the public are appropriate due to public health or environmental concerns. But the association said EPA should not issue regulations to address those situations.

“Decisions and protocols about possible reporting and notification of these overflows occurring outside the jurisdiction of EPA and the [Clean Water Act] should be left to utilities to work out with their local public health authorities and state environmental regulators,” NACWA said. “Minor spills of a few gallons that can occur during routine sewer line maintenance should not trigger the notification requirement threshold.”

Current EPA strategy aims to prevent Clean Water Act violations by encouraging wastewater authorities to adopt a program that includes an assessment of the system's capacity and proper maintenance of municipal wastewater collection system infrastructure. EPA is seeking input on whether it should develop a standard permit condition with requirements for capacity, management, operations, and maintenance (CMOM) programs.

“Clear requirements for sewer system management will assist municipalities in establishing and maintaining sufficient funding to adequately manage and operate their collection systems,” NACWA said.

The association said sanitary sewer overflows should be addressed through “a nationally consistent technology-based best available technology/best control technology approach, using the MOM [management, operations, and maintenance] concept as the standard for measuring compliance.”

In addition, NACWA said, adequate capacity should be established through a site-specific capacity assurance plan.
Capacity programs require long-term planning and should be separate from ongoing operation and maintenance programs, according to NACWA. The association said EPA should develop a management, operations, and maintenance requirement that sets broad management practices but leaves specific details such as methods needed to meet these standards to individual utilities.

Satellite Collections Systems Addressed
NACWA also said it believes satellite collection systems—both public and private—must be brought into the Clean Water Act permit program, regardless of permitting structure, and should be required to comply with capacity limits established by regional treatment systems.

In another area, NACWA said public utilities should have a defense for overflows beyond their reasonable control because a zero-discharge standard is inappropriate and technologically impossible.

The National League of Cities said it “opposes any policy for addressing SSOs which would foster new or expanded opportunities for frivolous litigation against local governments.”

As an example, the league cited a potential expansion of the NPDES program to include “sewage backups for which the city has no responsibility.” Any new regulations should allow for local flexibility to account for local conditions, rather than a “one-size-fits-all” regulatory approach, it said.

One local utility, the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority, which has struggled with the challenges and costs of aging infrastructure, asked that it and other municipal agencies be invited to the table as EPA drafts a proposed rule.
The major concern is that “there is no sewer system that at some frequency will not overflow,” D.C. Water said. “EPA should recognize this through an affirmative defense provision to an enforcement action.”

D.C. Water said EPA should not worsen the current “silo” approach, which outlines separate regulatory schemes for sanitary sewer, combined sewer, stormwater, and treatment works, calling it “an enormous financial strain, while not necessarily achieving the greatest water quality results.”

Advocates for Strong Reporting Requirements
In other comments, American Rivers and the Natural Resources Defense Council joined in calling for a strong rule to prevent sewer overflows.

“We strongly recommend that EPA develop strong comprehensive regulations to require the reporting of all sewer overflows, improved monitoring for sewer overflows, and public notification of all sewer overflows that could affect public health,” they said.

The environmental groups called for federal requirements for keeping records on overflows and reporting them to the public, saying they said “should be imposed on all SSO events, regardless of where they occur.

“Events that reach waters of the United States, as well as those that do not, such as sewage backups, must be managed and recorded to ensure that the system is comprehensive and protects against all the public health complications stemming from SSOs,” they said. “While some POTWs may argue that monitoring is costly, these systems are often cost-effective.”

NRDC and American Rivers support legislation pending in Congress that would require public notification of sanitary sewer overflows. NACWA believes some elements of the proposals “are too prescriptive” (116 DEN A-3, 6/19/09).

EPA regulations require sewer systems to be evaluated and maintained while planning for capacity issues to avoid overflows, but requirements are not well defined, the two groups said.

“A concerted effort to implement this approach would drastically reduce the number of SSO events,” they said, adding that regular system maintenance has been found to reduce blockages.

‘Communities Should Plan for Sewer Overflows.’
NRDC and American Rivers said they support integrating strong capacity management, operations, and maintenance requirements into permits. The rules “should require communities to plan for stormwater, SSOs, and [combined sewer overflows] (where applicable) together in a more integrated manner.”

The environmental groups also called for integrated water resource management plans that evaluate alternative approaches, such as green infrastructure, and innovative technologies as a requirement for federal funding.

NRDC and American Rivers said permits for municipal satellite collections must be required, with potential exemptions only for systems that can show they do not and are not likely to discharge to waters of the United States.

“Because these unpermitted discharges are neither monitored nor reported, the true impact of SSOs from these sources is largely unknown and remains unchecked,” the groups said.

In addition, the two groups said sanitary sewer overflows caused by “exceptional circumstances” beyond the reasonable control of the wastewater treatment agencies should not be allowed an affirmative defense, but regulators should use “enforcement discretion” in addressing those overflows. Such circumstances could include heavy flooding from too much rain that could overwhelm a treatment system.

Pointing to the growing impact of climate change, NRDC and American Rivers said “it is critical that EPA acknowledge that, in the face of a changing climate, what were once deemed ‘exceptional circumstances' are becoming the norm. … Thus, EPA must ensure that exceptional circumstances are not defined based on the historical record and that utilities must take steps to become climate ready.”

By Linda Roeder