EPA/625/R-94/009

September 1994

Environmental Planning for

Small Communities

A Guide for Local

Decision-Makers

United States Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Research and Development

Office of Science, Planning and Regulatory Evaluation

Center for Environmental Research Information

26 West Martin Luther King Drive

Cincinnati, Ohio 45268

Office Of Regional Operations and State/Local Relations

Washington, DC 20460

2Printed on Recycled Paper
Disclaimer

This document has been reviewed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

and approved for publication. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not

constitute endorsement or recommendation of their use.

Acknowledgments

Many people contributed their expertise to the preparation and review of this publication. Overall technical guidance was provided by Randy Revetta and James Kreissl of

U.S. EPA’s Center for Environmental Research Information. The document was

prepared by Eastern Research Group, Inc. The following people provided guidance

and review:

Pauline Afshar EPA Region 8

Kelly Beard-Tittone EPA Region 7

Kate Becker EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response

Sylvia Bell EPA Office of Water

Hamilton Brown National Association of Towns and Townships

Michael Caughman South Carolina State Budget and Control Board

Ann Cole EPA Office of Regional Operations and State/Local Relations

Henry Ferland EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response

David Flowers Cedarburg, WI

Richard Gardner Idaho Rural Development Council

Charles Gomez EPA Region 8

Beth Hall EPA Office of Water

John Harkins EPA Region 4

Jack Hardinger EPA Region 8

Judy Kane EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response

Keith Jones National Rural Water Association

Ken Jones Northeast Center for Comparative Risk

Lou Kerestesy EPA Office of Regional Operations and State/Local Relations

Contents i
Acknowledgments (continued)

Alfred Krause EPA Region 5

Jan Lambert EPA Region 7

Vanessa Leiby Association of State Drinking Water Administrators

Lawrence Martin EPA Office of Research and Development

Patricia Miller National Small Flows Clearinghouse

Wade Miller Wade Miller Associates, Inc.

Richard Minard Northeast Center for Comparative Risk

John Mori West Virginia University

Amy Naylor State Office Representative, Lewiston, ME

Lane Nothman Ross & Associates

Ernesto Perez EPA Region 4

Jackie Pine EPA Region 3

Charles Pycha EPA Region 5

A.R. Rubin North Carolina State University

Deborah Rutherford EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response

Jane Schautz The Rensselaerville Institute

Mary Settle EPA Office of Water

Peter Shanaghan EPA Office of Water

Ron Slotkin EPA Office of Research and Development

James E. Smith, Jr. EPA Office of Research and Development

Kathy Stanley Rural Community Assistance Program

John Thune South Dakota Municipal League

Charles Vanderlyn EPA Office of Water

Stephanie von Feck EPA Office of Water

Sam Wade National Rural Water Association

Dov Weitman EPA Office of Water

James Werntz EPA Region 10

Floyd Winsett EPA Region 10

ii Contents
Contents

1 Introducing Environmental Planning for Small Communities: 

An Open Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2 Getting the Right People Involved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Forming a Planning Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Finding Local Experts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Working with Local, County, State, and Federal Personnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Encouraging Public Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3 Developing a Community Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Involving the Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Asking the Right Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Pulling the Vision Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

4 Defining Your Community’s Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

What Are the Boundaries of Your Environmental Planning Area? . . . . . . . . . 19

What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Do Any Environmental Problems Threaten Public Health, Ecosystems, or 

the Quality of Life in Your Community? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

How Effective Are Your Community’s Environmental Facilities? . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Is Your List of Needs Adequate To Meet Your Community’s Vision for the Future? . . 34

iii
5 Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community . . . . . . . . . 37

Technology and Management Options for Small Communities: An Overview . . . . 37

Evaluating Costs for Technology and Management Options . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Narrowing the Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Finding Solutions: Drinking Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Finding Solutions: Wastewater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Finding Solutions: Solid Waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Finding Solutions: Hazardous Waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Finding Solutions: Nonpoint Source Pollution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Finding Solutions: Underground Storage Tanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

6 Putting the Plan Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Targeting the Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Setting Priorities for Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Looking at the Big Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

7 Implementation: Putting the Plan Into Action and Keeping 

It On Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Developing a Schedule for Putting the Plan Into Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Financing the Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Roles of Government and Other Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Roles of Community Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Evaluating and Revising the Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Appendix A Environmental Community Agreement Between 

the Kenai Peninsula Borough and the Alaska Department 

of Environmental Conservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

iv Contents
Appendix B What Environmental Regulations Affect 

Your Community? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Drinking Water Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Wastewater Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Wetlands Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Nonpoint Source Pollution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Solid Waste Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Hazardous Waste Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Underground Storage Tank Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Emergency Response to Hazardous Substance Spills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Asbestos-Containing Materials in Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Radon Gas in Homes and Other Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Air Pollution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Floodplain Zoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Appendix C Assessing Risks from Environmental Problems 

in Your Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Questions to Help You Assess Risks to Health, Ecosystems, and Quality of Life . . 133

Assessing Human Health Risks in Your Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Assessing Ecological Risks in Your Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Assessing Risks to Quality of Life in Your Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Status of Comparative Risk Projects: States, Cities, and Tribes . . . . . . . . . . 138

Appendix D Where To Turn for Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Small Community Contacts . . . 143

Other Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Technical Support Centers and Hotlines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Electronic Bulletin Boards and Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Contents v
Introducing Environmental

Planning for Small Communities: 

An Open Letter

Dear Small Community Decision-Maker:

As a leader in a small community, you face many difficult challenges in managing

environmental issues. You must juggle many issues at once, including how to provide safe

drinking water, how to manage wastewater from homes and businesses, and how to manage

the community’s solid waste. The list seems endless, and the resources available are all too

limited and continue to dwindle. Not only that, but you have many other responsibilities

besides environmental protection, such as schools, roads, and public safety. How do you

do it all?

This book offers a tool to help you meet these challenges—a process for developing a

community environmental plan. The goals of creating this plan and putting it into action

are to:

Provide a sensible way for your community to set priorities and decide how

to make the best use of your resources to protect people’s health and the

environment.

Help your community save money—by dealing with issues before they

become big problems, by making sure that environmental services are

provided in the most efficient way possible, by planning to use the right

combination of environmental programs and services, by working with other

communities where possible, and by making use of local talent and resources.

A plan also will help you take advantage of opportunities to prevent pollution, the cheapest and most effective solution of all.

Provide a blueprint for compliance with the environmental regulations

that affect your community, to help you avoid the need to react to enforcement actions by state, county, or federal agencies.

Empower your community to take charge of its own destiny by charting

its best course.

1

1
Build community awareness and support for actions (such as possible rate

increases) that you, the decision-maker, must take to protect public health

and the quality of the environment.

Help promote the economic health and well-being of your community

by providing the environment, infrastructure, and quality of life that make

your community a good place to live and to do business.

In the past, people tended to look at the environment in pieces: how to protect the air,

how to protect the water, how to protect the land. Today we know that environmental

protection won’t really work unless we treat the environment as an integrated whole. We

also know that local governments can’t carry out their environmental protection responsibilities without considering the community as a whole: its resources, its economy, public

opinion, and all its other needs. With a comprehensive environmental plan, you can create

an integrated approach to protecting the environment and meeting your community’s

needs. (Keep in mind that this guidebook focuses on the environmental issues and

problems addressed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; your community must

take into account other issues, such as public safety and agriculture, that are important in

your community.) 

The environmental plan described in this book is like a road map that shows you where

you are and where you are going, and provides some ideas of how to get there. Without a

plan for your community’s environment, you are likely to waste a lot of time and money.

You also might lose valuable natural resources, as well as community support, that can

never be replaced.

Developing a plan and putting it into action, on the other hand, can help put you “in the

driver’s seat.” Planning ahead to solve environmental problems can especially help small

communities that do not have the resources to meet all of the regulatory requirements at

once. Your environmental plan will help the community prioritize solutions to environmental problems and develop a strategy for regulatory compliance. This approach lets the

community decide how best to use its resources, rather than simply react to regulatory

deadlines set by distant government offices. It gives you the time and opportunity to

develop the best approach for complying with important regulations, well before any

enforcement actions are taken.

Federal and state regulatory agencies are aware of the problems that face small communities in meeting environmental regulations. It will take time, however, to modify the existing

laws and regulations to allow for the community-based approach discussed throughout

this guidebook. Some state regulators have already been flexible regarding enforcement

(fines) when a community can show that it has a schedule for meeting regulatory

requirements and intends to address the worst environmental problems first. Your community can use its environmental plan to begin a discussion with regulators. You might

need to negotiate which problems to solve first, but the regulatory agencies will probably

accept a well-planned schedule of environmental actions if you show that you are doing

the best you can with the resources you have. 

This guidebook presents some ideas and approaches to creating and implementing a community environmental plan. Adapt them to your local needs as you see fit: 

2 Chapter 1: An Open Letter
Chapter 2 helps you build a planning team that can lead your community

in creating its environmental plan.

Chapter 3 helps you develop a shared vision for your community’s future—

that is, decide what you want your community to be like in 10 or 20 years.

Chapter 4 shows you how to define your community’s needs by determining

the greatest problems facing your community’s public health, environment,

and quality of life; by determining which environmental regulations apply to

your community; and by evaluating the effectiveness of your environmental

facilities.

Chapter 5 explains how to figure out which technologies and strategies

can work in your community.

Chapter 6 discusses how to weigh your community’s needs and possible ways

of meeting those needs to set priorities for action. Here, you will put all your

work together into your plan.

Chapter 7 helps you implement your plan.

Throughout the planning process, you will discover many people outside your community—such as people from government agencies, colleges and universities, and organizations that specialize in helping small communities—who can give you assistance and advice.

Ultimately, however, the residents of your community are responsible for making decisions

that reflect your community’s history, values, resources, and vision for the future. It’s up

to you and your community to decide how best to handle your environmental

challenges. No other community faces exactly the same environmental issues, with the

same constraints and the same resources. No one outside your community knows what is

best for you. Local talent and energy are needed to develop the plan that’s right for your

community. The tools in this guidebook, adapted for your situation, can help your

community turn its environmental challenges into a positive force for the future.

Major Environmental Responsibilities of Small Communities

Part of creating a comprehensive environmental plan

is identifying the environmental issues facing your community. If you don’t recognize the problems, you can’t

figure out the solutions.

Although each small community is unique, nearly all

have responsibilities in the following areas:

Drinking water quality.

Wastewater management.

Solid waste management.

Leaking underground storage tanks.

Household hazardous waste management.

Emergency response to hazardous waste spills.

Ground-water protection.

Some environmental issues affect some communities

more than other communities, including:

Wetlands protection.

Air pollution.

Industrial wastewater management.

Nonpoint source pollution (pollution carried by stormwater runoff, etc.).

Floodplain zoning.

Asbestos in public buildings.

Chapter 1: An Open Letter 3
Comprehensive

Environmental Planning

4 Chapter 1: An Open Letter
Meet Ruraltown, USA

Ruraltown, population 1,500, could be in any region of the United States.

About half of the families in the community own and run farms. Another

100 people work in a coal mine in Quarryville, 15 miles away. Employers in

Ruraltown include a tannery, several small stores, one restaurant, and a movie

theater. The nearby county park provides many summer jobs. The average household income is about $25,000 a year. The average home is worth $70,000. The

average farm is worth $500,000. The 300 children in Ruraltown go to Ruraltown

Elementary and to Carroll County High School, which is 20 miles away. There

are no buses, taxis, or subways in Ruraltown.

The nearest town, Hoppington, is 10 miles away and has 2,500 residents. The

nearest city, Metro Center, is 45 miles away and has a population of 300,000 people.

Ruraltown, Hoppington, and Metro Center are all part of Carroll County.

Ruraltown has no full-time mayor, no town attorney, and no environmental planner.

Ruraltown does have two full-time paid government employees. One is the town

clerk, who writes all birth and death certificates, keeps track of all state and federal

requirements (and does all the accompanying paperwork), collects all town taxes,

and is part of the volunteer fire department. The town also employs a full-time

public works director to operate the drinking water and wastewater treatment plants

and coordinate the municipal solid waste program.

Decisions in Ruraltown are made at a twice-yearly town meeting. The town meeting

is run by the part-time mayor, who has served as Ruraltown’s mayor for more than

30 years. Ruraltown also has a part-time town council. The town council presents

information at the town meeting and gives advice on what the town should do.

The council also meets every month to take care of business that needs attending

to between town meetings.

Ruraltown is facing some serious environmental issues. Its drinking water treatment

plant is barely big enough to supply water to all the people in the community who

currently use town water. In addition, the drinking water plant has recently had

violations of the limit for coliform bacteria.

Chapter 1: An Open Letter 5
About 200 residents get their drinking water from private wells instead of the public

water supply. Some private wells have been contaminated by nearby septic tank systems;

others could be contaminated in the future by sources such as underground storage tanks,

improperly disposed of used oil and household hazardous waste, runoff from farms, and

contaminants leached from the landfill. The solid waste landfill poses other problems:

It does not meet all state design requirements, and it’s running out of space.

Ruraltown also has problems in the area of wastewater treatment. Only 20 percent of

the homes and businesses in the town have sewer hookups, and the wastewater treatment

facility is old and sometimes violates permit levels. The rest of the homes and a few

businesses use septic systems. In the areas of town with shallow ground water, septic

systems have been failing during the wet seasons (spring and fall).

To help meet its environmental challenges, Ruraltown leaders have decided they need a

community environmental plan.

Throughout this guidebook, we will check in with Ruraltown and see how it’s doing with its

community environmental plan. This will give you a better idea about how the planning process

works and what it might look like in one small community.

6 Chapter 1: An Open Letter
Getting the 

Right People 

Involved

W

ho are the “right” people to get involved in creating your environmental 

plan? Anyone who is concerned 

enough about the quality of life in the 

community to invest some time and energy. You 

will also need people with some expertise on 

environmental and health issues. You will probably find that people welcome the

chance to work together to find solutions to challenging issues that will shape the community’s future as well as save tax dollars.

Forming a Planning Team

Someone needs to oversee the community’s environmental plan. That “someone” can be

a planning team made up of people who represent the different views and constituencies

in your community. The planning team will guide the community through each step of

the planning process, including developing a community vision, identifying needs and

possible solutions, setting priorities for action, and carrying out the plan. 

There are many possible approaches to forming a planning team. For example, many

communities already have land use planning commissions. This commission has demonstrated an interest and commitment to community environmental issues, and might be

willing to oversee the environmental planning process. This approach will ensure that the

environmental planning process is well integrated with your community’s comprehensive

land use plan, and vice versa.

No matter what approach you use, your team should include some of the following types

of people:

Managers or operators of environmental facilities (such as water and wastewater

systems), who are knowledgeable about environmental issues and the condition of

existing facilities.

Elected officials or board members, who already are involved in managing local

communities and are familiar with issues that affect the area’s environment. 

2

7
Local physicians, engineers, and scientists, who can provide technical information

about environmental and health issues, links between pollution and health, and other

key data.

County and state health agencies, which can provide local, state, and national health

statistics so that local conditions can be compared with state and national averages.

Emergency response personnel, usually the community’s fire department, who often

know about environmental accidents, the location of underground storage tanks, and

potential sites and types of community exposure or risk.

Community residents, who represent specific interests or the “general public.” 

Business owners and farmers, who represent important views in the community and

can help determine future trends. (Getting a local industry or agriculture enterprise

involved is especially important if the industry or enterprise is a current or potential

source of pollution.)

Make an open invitation to the members of your community to join the planning team

and see who is interested. Try to assemble a planning team of a workable size. A team of

20 people would probably be unwieldy, but only one or two people probably would be

unable to handle all the work involved, and probably could not represent the diverse

interests of the community. If too many people volunteer, divide up into different teams

to handle specific problems or to seek out different types of information. Never turn

anyone away—you can always find some productive way to use someone’s time and energy.

If too few people volunteer, keep spreading the word. No matter how large or small the

team, however, the team must include effective leaders who can produce agreement on

solutions and get results for your community.

Finding Local Experts

Right in your community, you probably have some of the expertise you need to develop a

sound environmental plan. For example, managers or operators of systems that can directly

affect the environment and people’s health—drinking water, wastewater treatment, and

solid waste management systems—have the most detailed knowledge of the operation of

these systems. Scientists or engineers from local businesses and schools might be able to

answer technical and scientific questions that arise. Long-time residents often are a gold

mine of information about your community, past and present, and they might also have

financial, management, or other experience to contribute. Physicians or environmental

health professionals can provide public health statistics that might identify problems that

need to be solved immediately.

Every knowledgeable person in the community does not need to serve on the planning

team. Some people can give advice to the team when needed, even if they don’t have time

to attend regular meetings. Some ways local experts can assist the committee include

answering questions by phone, providing written materials, reviewing technical documents

that deal with relevant information, and speaking at public meetings. Your team should

seek advice from local experts early on. In this way, experts can help shape the plan from

8 Chapter 2: Getting the Right People Involved
the beginning, knowing their ideas are valued and will be considered throughout the

process.

Working With Local, County, State, and Federal Personnel

As your team develops its environmental plan, you should consult with people in local,

county, state, and federal agencies. Most of these people will do their best to be a valuable

source of information and assistance for the environmental concerns your community

faces. In fact, your state environmental agency is generally the best place to start to obtain

assistance for dealing with environmental issues. (One model for state assistance is shown

in Appendix A, which presents a cooperative environmental community agreement between state government and a borough in Alaska.) In addition, if regulatory agencies

understand your efforts to address environmental problems in your community, they might

be able to exercise some flexibility in dealing with the community on enforcement of

regulations.

The planning team might want to offer certain government agency personnel an open

invitation to attend the planning team meetings. The main role of government agency

employees, however, will be to provide information that the planning team has determined

to be important to its efforts. Local resource providers, such as Rural Community

Assistance Programs, the National Rural Water Association, and the Cooperative Extension Service, can also be a valuable source of information and assistance for small

communities. See Appendix D for a list of these useful organizations.

Encouraging Public Participation

The public includes everyone in the community. Members of conservation and environmental groups, long-time residents, and people who are active in the community are good

candidates to become involved in creating the environmental plan. Including the public

in local environmental planning is essential for the following reasons:

The residents of your community are the ones who will end up paying for most new

environmental programs.

Residents will benefit from good environmental planning and management.

The public knows the community and has ideas about the kind of place in which they

want to live.

If concerned, responsible community leaders are involved in the process, they are more

likely to generate broader support for the environmental plan and for the work needed

to carry it out. 

With their knowledge and ideas, community residents can help the planning team define

environmental needs and priorities.

Once you have your planning team set up, local experts committed, and key residents

identified, you are ready for the next step: creating a vision of what residents want their

community to be like in the future. 

Chapter 2: Getting the Right People Involved 9
Ways Your Planning Team Can Encourage 

Public Participation

Distribute flyers and other information, such as onepage fact sheets on local environmental issues written

by local experts, minutes of planning team meetings,

or information about important team decisions. You

can give out these materials at public meetings,

through mailings (such as with utility bills), and at local

stores, and publish them as notices or articles in the

local newspaper. The planning team should develop a

mailing list of interested groups and individuals.

Talk to local groups, such as volunteer organizations,

PTAs, service clubs, and business associations. Tell

them about the issues your planning team will address,

how the community will be affected, and why it would

be valuable for them to participate at this stage of the

planning process.

Publicize the meetings of your planning team, or hold

special meetings to get community input, so that

residents, experts, and team members can express

their concerns, exchange views, and explore possible

solutions. These meetings can be large (in the school

auditorium) or small (in someone’s living room). If they

are held as part of a town meeting, you may have the

benefit of more people attending, but the agenda will

probably be quite full and the evening a long one. Be

sure to advertise the meetings well in advance—in

local newspapers, on local radio and television stations, through public notices in the town hall and in

local businesses, and in mailings to interested parties.

Ask for volunteers for tasks such as conducting surveys, taking minutes at team meetings, organizing

public meetings, and reviewing information.

Invite the public to attend planning team meetings. If

elected officials serve on the team, allowing the public

to attend your meetings may be required by local or

state law. In any case, having at least some of your

team meetings open to interested members of the

public is a good idea.

Do a survey. Ask people how they feel about local

environmental issues. The survey can include questions

such as: “Which of the following do you think is the

most important environmental issue in our community,

and why?” List areas of particular concern in your

community. Also, use the survey to find out whether

and how much people would be willing to pay for

improvements in the areas about which they are most

concerned. The survey can be done in several ways,

such as mailing the survey to all or a percentage of

town residents (perhaps with a utility bill) or interviewing people about their concerns. Make sure that survey

respondents explain their views (such as why drinking

water quality is an important concern to them).

Organize school activities on local environmental

issues. You can hold a workshop, classroom program,

or festival on water conservation, recycling, or other

environmental issues. These events can be for children

only, or can be set up so that the activities are fun for

both adults and children. Children often communicate

ideas from school projects to their parents.

Talk to your friends and neighbors. Don’t forget how

much news is spread by word of mouth. Talk with and

listen to your neighbors about the community environmental plan at the barber shop, grocery store, gas

station, and post office. Let them know that the planning team wants their help.

10 Chapter 2: Getting the Right People Involved
How Ruraltown Got the Right 

People Involved

A Ruraltown town council member, a county health officer (Ruraltown

doesn’t have one of its own), and the Ruraltown public works director

got together to form the planning team. First, they made an announcement at

the next council meeting inviting all interested citizens to contact them about

becoming members of the planning team. They also asked the local paper to

carry the same announcement. Then, they made a list of people with particular

expertise in environmental issues, including local, county, and state government

officials, facility managers and operators, local businesses, scientists and engineers, environmental and civic groups, long-time residents, members of the

fire department, farmers, and school staff. They got some of these names by

looking at a local business directory and the phone book, and by asking people

in town for suggestions. They came up with a long list:

n Drinking water and wastewater

treatment plant manager.

n Town council member.

n County health officer.

n Landfill manager.

n Fire chief.

n Soil scientist from County 

Community College.

n Engineer from Tech, Inc..

n Manager of the Quarryville 

coal mine.

n Manager of the local tannery.

n Three farmers.

n Town clerk.

n Three retired members of the 

community.

n Member of PROTECT, a countywide conservation group.

n League of Women Voters member.

n Rotary Club member.

n Owner of Construction, Inc..

n County Extension Service agent.

n Staff person from State Department 

of the Environment regional office.

n Staff person from State Department of 

Health regional office.

n Restaurant owner.

Chapter 2: Getting the Right People Involved 11
Along with this list, they had a list of 12 people who responded to the town council and

local paper announcements about the planning team. The town council member, county

health officer, and public works director thought that if all of these people agreed to be

on the planning team, the team might be too large. So they reviewed the list and decided

to ask only one farmer, one high school teacher, and one retired resident. They also

decided to ask the staff from the state environmental and health departments, the engineer

from Tech, Inc., and the school principal to serve as advisors instead of serving on the

planning team. 

They then divided up the lists and spent a busy week talking to these people about the

community environmental plan. While some were too busy or declined for other reasons,

10 agreed to serve on the planning team and several others agreed to serve as advisors.

Two planning team members (a retired resident and the PROTECT member) agreed 

to find ways to get the public involved in the community’s environmental plan. They

decided to:

Set up a public meeting to introduce the idea of the environmental plan, get input and

direction from the community, and ask for volunteers. The meeting was scheduled for

one month later to allow the planning team time to prepare and to reserve the school

auditorium.

Write and send public service announcements (PSAs) to local radio and television stations

and a press release to the local newspaper. These were run free of charge. The PSAs

and press release announced that the community would be creating an environmental

plan and invited people to the first public meeting.

Develop a one-page flyer describing the purpose of the community environmental plan,

announcing the public meeting, and asking for volunteers to work with the team on

specific projects. This flyer was posted in local stores and the town hall. In addition,

the flyer was mailed out with water and sewer bills and, with the help of the gas and

electric cooperative, with electric bills to all local businesses and residences. The team

also offered to speak about the planning process and what it would mean for the

community at meetings of PROTECT, the League of Women Voters, the Rotary

Club, and other groups.

Organize an environmental poster contest in the elementary school. The theme would

be “How We Can Make a Difference in Ruraltown.” The team would present awards

to the winners, and the best poster would be printed in the local newspaper.

12 Chapter 2: Getting the Right People Involved
Developing a 

Community Vision

W

hat do you want your community to be like in 

10 or 20 years? This is one of the first questions 

that planning team members should ask themselves and other people in the community. The 

picture you come up with is your community vision. This 

vision should address not only environmental issues but all the issues you consider central to your community’s future, such as economic development, education, government services, and quality of life. You will be creating a framework to help you make

choices about environmental goals and solutions as you develop your comprehensive

environmental plan. 

To create your community vision, let your imagination go. Forget about what needs to get

done by tomorrow at noon, and instead picture what you would like to see when you look

at your town some time in the future.

Involving the Community

Because the community vision will shape important decisions, it needs to represent a broad

consensus. Your team needs to make residents aware of what is at stake for the community

and invite them to participate in creating the vision. If you have done this well, you are

much more likely to have support for the work you do later in the planning process.

A community meeting is a good place to develop a vision for the future. (See page 10 for

some ideas about how to interest people in attending such a meeting.) Explain to those

attending what comprehensive environmental planning is all about, and ask them to guide

the planning team by defining what they want for their community.

Asking the Right Questions

You can ask questions to help people focus on what they would like the community to be

like in the future. Questions that can help the process along include:

What makes our community what it is today? Who makes up our population

(average age, income, and other characteristics)? What is unique and important about

our community socially, culturally, and historically? What are the strengths and

weaknesses of the local economy? What are important characteristics of the community’s natural environment?

3

13
What are our community’s values with respect to the environment, economic

growth, and lifestyle? For example, different communities have different attitudes

toward growth: some prize stability and traditional ways of life, while others view

economic growth as much more important. Some communities place great value on

preserving their surroundings in a natural state; others are more interested in promoting

population growth or industrial development.

What changes or improvements would we like to see? Changes or improvements

in the following areas might be appropriate:

— Our community’s natural environment. Do we see any trends, such as loss of natural

resources or increasing pollution, that should be reversed?

— Land use. Is the current mix of land used for industrial, commercial, residential, and

recreational purposes a good balance? Should some areas be used differently in the

future? What is happening in surrounding areas? Could a major manufacturing

plant be built in the town next door? Should the planning area be enlarged to

include such possibilities? What does the county comprehensive plan call for?

— Infrastructure (roads, environmental facilities, parks, schools, libraries, police and fire

departments, etc.). What level of services do we think the community should provide?

Do we need to correct problems with our current infrastructure? How old are

components of the infrastructure, and how long will they last? If we expect the

population to grow, what new services or facilities will we need? How can these

best be integrated with existing services and facilities within the community and

neighboring communities?

— Demographics (population size, number of school-aged children, retired persons, etc.). Do

we want our population to grow or remain about the same? How much could the

population grow without seriously straining our infrastructure, resources, and the

environment?

— Economic growth. Do we want to attract new businesses to our community? What

kinds? What resources should be developed to attract new businesses? How will

this affect our quality of life?

— Community health. Does our community need to address health problems such as

infant mortality, childhood lead poisoning, nutrition, or access to health care? How

does public health in our community compare with national, state, and rural norms?

— Quality of life. What is our vision for our community in areas such as economic

well-being of residents, safety, recreational activities, aesthetics, and our sense of

community? 

— Local government. Would we like to change the size, role, or structure of local

government? Should it take on or drop any areas of responsibility? Will it be

adequate given how we see our community changing in the future? 

— Pollution prevention. What can be done to prevent pollution from occurring in the

first place?

14 Chapter 3: Developing a Community Vision
Pulling the Vision Together

List all the suggestions for elements of a community vision on a flip chart or blackboard

in your meeting room. After you have discussed the questions above (and any others you

decide are important), you are likely to have a fairly long “wish list” for the future—as well

as a list of problems that residents are concerned about. You might want to take a straw

poll to let participants choose the five or six elements of the community vision that are

most important to them. Ask for more discussion of items that seem controversial, and

take another straw poll. (Expect some extreme positions to come up—such as “no growth”

or “growth at any cost”—and encourage open, frank discussion of these views.) Alternatively, use a technique like that described in the box on the following page.

When you’ve reached some consensus, ask participants to discuss how the different parts

of the vision fit together. Do any of the goals for the future seem to conflict with each

other (such as preserving the natural environment and attracting certain businesses)? If so,

ask the participants to come up with some ideas for solving the conflict. (You might decide

to change your ideas about what types of industry you favor; or you might try to find out

whether a historically “dirty” industry has adopted cleaner manufacturing methods.)

A strong, unbiased chairperson or facilitator for this meeting is crucial to make sure that

everyone has a chance to participate and to keep the discussion on track. But don’t worry

about dotting every “i” and crossing every “t” in your vision statement. The important

thing is to get direction from the community as a whole about where the community should

be going. Think of the meeting as a group of artists creating a picture in broad, bold strokes;

you and the rest of the planning team can fill in missing details later.

To tap the creativity and energy that people will bring to the meeting, be flexible and make

the meeting fun. Don’t burden people with speeches that are too long or too technical.

Make sure everyone understands that they have something to contribute, even if they have

no training in planning or environmental issues. 

After you’ve created your initial community vision, it’s time for the next step: developing

a plan to make that vision a reality. This will be a dynamic process—you will need to revise

your vision as your team gathers new information and your community makes new

decisions.

Chapter 3: Developing a Community Vision 15
Techniques for Your Community Meeting

Many different techniques are available for helping a

group define problems and agree on solutions. One of

these is the Nominal Group Technique, developed by

Dr. Andre Delbecq of the University of Wisconsin/Madison. It is designed to help a group of people from

different backgrounds and experiences to clarify issues,

achieve insights into complex problems, and come to a

shared judgment. The technique allows the group to reach

conclusions in just a few hours, and it ensures equal

participation by preventing more outspoken participants

from having too much influence in group decisions.

No special training is necessary to lead a group through

the Nominal Group Technique. Materials for the method

include paper, pencils, and 3x5 index cards for the participants, and a blackboard or flip chart for each group

leader. The seven steps in the process are described

below.

Step 1: Introduction and Statement of Task

(5 to 10 minutes). On a flip chart, the coordinator writes

the question that the participants are to respond to and

briefly explains what is going to happen. Participants

are then divided into groups of five to seven people with

a leader assigned to each group. The coordinator can

lead a group, or float between groups to ensure they

are keeping on roughly the same schedule.

Step 2: Silent Generation of Ideas (10 to 20 minutes).

Each person works silently and independently using

paper supplied to list his or her own items in response

to the statement of the task. The group leader can also

participate.

Step 3: Round-Robin Listing of Items on Flip Chart (10

to 25 minutes). Each group member concisely states one

item from his or her list. The group leader writes the

item (without rewording) on the flip chart and assigns

it a number. There is no discussion at this time. Do not

be concerned if items appear to duplicate or overlap.

Continue in round-robin fashion until all items have

been covered.

Step 4: Discussion of Items (15 to 30 minutes). Each

group member, in turn, clarifies one of the items he or

she has listed on the sheet. Other members may ask

questions about the item to be sure of its meaning. Do

not combine items. This continues until each item has

been discussed.

Step 5: Silent Listing and Ranking by Priority (5 to 10

minutes). On separate 3x5 cards, each group member

lists, by name and number, 10 of the items that he or

she considers most important from the total list. Group

members then rank the items according to their personal

priorities and write a large number 10 (for 10 points)

on the corner of the card that has the highest priority;

9 (for 9 points) on the next, and so forth for all 10 cards.

The group leader collects the cards and has someone

help record directly on the flip chart the number of votes

each item received. The number of votes received for

each item is tabulated.

Step 6: Discussion of Vote (10 to 15 minutes). The

group discusses the results of the vote. If necessary, the

group members can get additional clarification about

the meaning of individual items.

Step 7: Silent Re-Ranking of Items (5 to 10 minutes).

Using the same procedure as in Step 5, re-rank those

10 items which received the highest total scores. Remember, use the number 10 for the highest priority item

and the number 1 for the lowest priority item. The group

leader and his or her assistant collect the cards, record

the number of votes each item received, and tabulate

them. If there is more than one group, each group

leader turns in the completed flip chart and the 3x5

cards to the coordinator.

Many other methods exist for reaching agreement in a

group. (See Effective Meeting Skills: A Guide for More

Productive Meeting, by Marion E. Haynes, Crisp Publications, Inc., 95 First Street, Los Altos, CA 94022.)

Choose or design a discussion or voting technique that

fits your particular meeting goals and needs.

16 Chapter 3: Developing a Community Vision
Ruraltown Creates a Vision for the Future

Nearly 50 people attended the public meeting that the planning team

held to kick off the planning process. The mayor of Ruraltown chaired

the meeting.

The planning team leaders devoted part of this meeting to discussing a vision for the future.

The people at the meeting listed some of the values and characteristics that defined the

community. The people of Ruraltown strongly value their self-reliance and independent spirit.

They don’t like to be told how to run their town. At the same time, the community is proud

that it is close knit, and that people look out for each other. The residents want to preserve

their rural lifestyle but are concerned about the slow economy and the slight decline in

population throughout Carroll County. Every year, a number of family farms go under, either

because they are in financial crisis or because the young people decide to live and work

elsewhere. Few new businesses have come to Ruraltown in recent years. The community is

also concerned about a growing number of residents living near the poverty line.

With respect to its natural environment, Ruraltown residents feel fortunate to have lakes,

streams, and woods in and near the town that have been popular for fishing and other

recreational activities. They have noticed a decline in fish catches in recent years, however,

and wonder if that problem might be linked to local industries, construction, or farmland

around Running River and lakes in the area. Many community residents expressed a desire to

strengthen the environmental awareness of Ruraltown, both to protect people’s health and to

preserve the natural resources of the area.

At the town meeting, residents agreed on a list of goals for the future. In 20 years, Ruraltown

should have:

A clean environment that supports fishing, hunting, swimming, and other recreational activities. These activities and surroundings would attract vacationers as

well as people wishing to retire to a rural setting.

A substantial number of new small businesses, although farming would remain the

mainstay of Ruraltown’s economy. These businesses would include those catering

to vacationers (stores, restaurants, motels) and a small to medium-size manufacturing firm.

Environmental facilities (drinking water, wastewater, solid waste) to support a

moderate and sustainable economic and population growth.

New residential housing for about 50 families.

A family physician to practice in Ruraltown.

A new community center to house recreation facilities for children and cultural activities, such as a library. This, along with the new jobs created by small businesses, would help keep young families in Ruraltown.

Chapter 3: Developing a Community Vision 17
Defining Your 

Community’s 

Needs

O

nce you have established your planning team 

and defined your vision for the future, it is 

time to turn to your community’s current 

environmental needs. The planning team 

should clearly identify the environmental needs 

within the community and collect information on 

these issues. Answering the following questions can help the planning team identify the

community’s needs:

What are the boundaries of your environmental planning area?

What environmental regulations affect your community?

Do any environmental problems threaten public health, the environment, or the quality

of life in your community?

How effective are your community’s environmental facilities?

This chapter helps you answer these questions.

What Are the Boundaries of Your Environmental Planning Area?

Defining the boundaries of your community’s environmental planning area will help you

determine your community’s environmental needs. Your community’s environmental

planning area should include:

“Problem” areas that might have actual or potential public health and ecological

impacts, such as waste disposal sites and industrial areas.

Areas and resources that you want to preserve and protect, such as drinking water

supplies and rivers.

Facilities and resources that are used to protect public health or environmental quality,

such as solid waste and wastewater facilities.

4

19
You can define the boundaries of your community’s environmental planning area in

different ways. Choose the approach that makes sense for your community.

Advantages of Beginning Small

Begin with a geographic area small enough to ensure that your community has the

resources and authority to carry out the plan it develops. For example, you could define

your environmental planning area as the area within your town or village boundaries,

if your community is incorporated. You might also wish to add nearby areas that are not

within the town or village boundaries but that might influence or be affected by your town’s

environmental planning, for example, areas served by your drinking water, wastewater,

solid waste, fire department, or other facilities. 

The Regional Advantage

Alternatively, you might wish to use county boundaries (or boundaries of other political

units) to define the environmental planning area. And, if an important natural resource,

such as an underground drinking water source, crosses county lines, consider including

the larger area served by this resource in your environmental planning area. County or

other regional boundaries offer the opportunity for several localities to work cooperatively

on common environmental and infrastructure issues and to share costs. If you are

considering a regional approach, consult with the neighboring communities to see whether

they are interested in collaborating with your community. Check with county agencies,

too; without county support, a lack of authority will limit the value of a regional approach.

Where permitted, special purpose districts may solve this problem.

Physical Characteristics and Natural Conditions

You could also limit your planning area by using physical characteristics rather than town

or county boundaries. This approach is appropriate for regions where a mountain ridge,

for example, tends to separate the towns on one side from towns on the other. If this is the

case in your community, consider limiting your community’s environmental responsibility

(facilities) to the area on your side of the mountain or other natural feature that separates

the two regions.

To prepare for the planning process, be sure to examine the natural conditions within your

planning area to identify locations that might be more or less vulnerable to environmental

damage. For example, if you overlay a map showing onsite septic system failures onto a

soil map, you might be able to see clearly the areas of good soil where onsite wastewater

treatment systems will work well and the areas where wastewater collection and cluster or

centralized treatment and disposal are needed. An additional overlay of ground-water

quality might further refine this analysis.

Adjusting the Area as Appropriate

In general, you should begin with your community boundaries. These boundaries can be

adjusted if needed, for example, if new data on projected growth becomes available, or if

one or more issues suggest that you should consider a combined (regional) approach. Once

you have defined the boundaries of your environmental planning area, you can identify

the environmental concerns within this area.

20 Chapter 4: Defining Your Community’s Needs
What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community?

As you develop a community environmental plan, keep in mind that you are not operating

in a vacuum. Federal, state, and county governments have many regulations covering

almost every environmental issue that could concern local governments. These regulations

are meant to protect everyone from the potential hazards associated with pollution.

Unfortunately, this goal cannot be achieved in the same way in all types of communities.

Local governments have justifiable concerns that these regulations cannot be implemented

without outside funding, but remember that pollution does not respect boundaries. If a

town upriver from your town dumps untreated sewage into the river, this sewage could

pollute your water supply. Even if your community is environmentally responsible, you

can’t be sure that other communities will be the same. Protecting the environment and

preventing pollution has to be a collective effort.

You should be aware of environmental regulations when you develop your environmental

plan for several reasons:

The regulations might help you identify some of the environmental issues that you face.

Complying with regulations will help you protect people’s health and the environment.

Complying with regulations will help you avoid the direct financial costs of pollution.

(Pollution of natural resources costs money and jobs.)

You might incur fines and legal fees if you don’t comply with environmental regulations,

even if your reason for noncompliance was being unaware of the regulation’s existence.

Understanding what regulations apply to your community will help you avoid these

costs.

Environmental regulations might themselves present major problems for small communities. These are some common complaints heard from small community decision-makers:

There are too many different regulations. (Actually almost 800 regulations exist, of

which half require the town to do something and the other half require the town to

oversee other people, places, or things.)

Finding out about new regulations that affect my community is difficult.

The regulations are written in complicated, technical language.

The regulation deadlines don’t give my community enough time to comply.

The regulations require my community to do something that it can’t afford 

and don’t help pay for it.

The regulations require costly actions to prevent or stop problems that do not 

exist in my community.

These are important concerns, addressed in part by Appendix B of this guidebook. The

appendix describes the major federal regulations that affect most small communities and

gives information on the steps your community is expected to take to meet these requirements. In addition, the assistance providers listed in Appendix D can help you understand

exactly which regulations apply to you and how.

Chapter 4: Defining Your Community’s Needs 21
Regulatory Compliance Needs 

in Ruraltown

Ruraltown planning team members consulted with state regulatory officials

to review the regulations that applied to the town. The team then made

a list of the regulations that the town was not meeting:

Drinking water samples at the community treatment plant recently exceeded the maximum contaminant level (MCL) for coliform bacteria.

The drinking water system cannot meet firefighting requirements in 

certain parts of town due to low pressure.

The drinking water plant is not meeting all the applicable monitoring 

requirements for chemical contaminants.

Discharges from the wastewater treatment plant exceed permit limits for 

suspended solids and organic matter during some periods.

The landfill does not meet state design requirements.

The elementary school has not been inspected for materials containing 

asbestos.

22 Chapter 4: Defining Your Community’s Needs
The information in Appendix B can help you determine which regulations apply to your

community and what the deadlines for compliance are. You will probably need to consult

with staff from your state agency to develop a complete and accurate list of the regulatory

requirements you must meet. This list can be important when you set priorities for action

(Chapter 6).

The descriptions in Appendix B are based on information available in 1994. Some of this

information is likely to change in the future. In addition, state and local requirements might

differ from federal regulations. Be sure to contact someone at your state regulatory agency

to find out if your state’s rules are different in any way. Also, find out whether there are

county regulations in addition to your state’s requirements.

Do Any Environmental Problems Threaten Public Health, Ecosystems, or

the Quality of Life in Your Community?

A key step in defining your community’s needs is determining whether any environmental

problems pose a serious threat to your residents and surrounding ecosystems. Your team

can develop a list of environmental problems by thinking about possible threats to the

health of residents (such as unsafe drinking water), specific pollutants or pollutant sources

in the community (such as pesticides used near drinking water wells or leaking petroleum

storage tanks), and natural resources being affected by pollution (such as a river with

degraded aesthetic qualities and a declining fish population). Also think about threats to

residents’ quality of life, such as loss of recreation areas or higher taxes to pay for replacing

a polluted drinking water well.

Your list of environmental problems should include not only concerns that exist today but

also possible future problems. For example, a town’s drinking water well might not be

contaminated now, but possible releases of pollutants from particular sources (such as gas

stations or a landfill) near the well might contaminate the well in the future. Such potential

risks should be included in your list of environmental concerns. To help determine

potential risks, ask “what if” questions, such as “If pollutants leaked from the landfill,

what effects might this have on people’s health or the environment?”

It’s a good idea to involve the broader community in this step. People outside your planning

team might have concerns that you haven’t considered. If these concerns are never heard

by the team, public support for the comprehensive environmental plan might suffer. If you

held a communitywide meeting to define a community vision, you probably came up with

a list of residents’ concerns at that time. If not, consider conducting a special open meeting

of the planning team to involve interested members of the public.

After you’ve developed a comprehensive list of environmental problems, your team should

determine which are the “high-risk” problems: which pose a serious threat to health, the

environment, or quality of life. This will help you target your resources wisely when putting

your environmental plan together. To help you figure out which problems are high-risk,

Appendix C presents a more detailed discussion about risks along with some questions to

help you assess risks. You might also want to consult with experts to help you determine

the high-risk problems in your community. Start with any scientists who have been

Chapter 4: Defining Your Community’s Needs 23
Potential Sources of Information About Risks in Your Community

Topic Potential Source (see key)

Air quality 1, 8, 14

Asbestos in public buildings 1, 8, 16

Business and industry information 7, 8, 17, 19

Chemical hazards 1, 6, 8, 14, 15, 19

Chemical releases/spills 1, 7, 8, 19

Climate 5, 14

Disease rates in the community 6, 8, 13, 14, 15, 16

Drinking water quality 1, 8, 13, 16

Ecosystem/habitat quality 1, 8, 9, 10, 14, 20

Fish and wildlife 1, 8, 9, 10, 14, 20

Flood hazard areas 2, 18

Forest quality 1, 8, 9, 10, 14, 20

Ground water 1, 2, 8, 14, 21

Hazardous waste sites 1, 8, 19

Land use/topography 2, 4, 8, 14, 18

Lead paint hazards 1, 8, 13, 15, 16

Nonpoint source pollution 1, 8

Parks and other recreation areas 9, 10, 20

Pesticides 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, 12, 14

Population figures 8, 16, 18, 22

Regulatory information 1, 8, 12, 13, 16, 18

Radon 1, 8, 13, 14, 15, 16

Soils 2, 4, 8, 12, 14

Solid waste 1, 8

Surface water 1, 2, 8, 13, 14, 16, 20, 21

Underground storage tanks 1, 8, 19

Wastewater system performance

(onsite)

1, 8, 12, 16

Wellhead/watershed protection 1, 2, 8, 12, 14, 21

Wetlands 1, 2, 4, 8, 14

Key

 1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) regional office

 2. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

 3. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

 4. USDA Soil Conservation Service

 5. National Weather Service

 6. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease

Registry (ATSDR)

 7. Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)

 8. State regulatory agency (e.g., department

of health, department of environment, department of natural resources)

 9. State department of fish and wildlife

10. State department of forestry; U.S. Forest

Service

11. State farm bureau

12. County agricultural extension service

13. Local or county board of health

14. Local university or college

15. Local physician

16. County health officer

17. Local chamber of commerce

18. Local/Regional planning board

19. Local emergency response team (usually

the fire department)

20. State, county, or local parks and recreation

department

21. Local water department

22. State data center

24 Chapter 4: Defining Your Community’s Needs
working with or advising your planning team. If they can’t provide the help you need, ask

them who might be able to, or get in touch with one or more of the following:

Representatives of the state department of health, natural resources, or environmental

protection, or of the EPA regional field office.

Scientists at a nearby college or university.

The county health officer or local physicians. 

The box on page 24 contains a more detailed list of information that might be available

from agencies and organizations. These experts will not have any magic formulas to help

you understand the risks you face. Scientific information about environmental risks often

does not exist, is incomplete, or is hard to interpret. Experts should, however, help you get

a clearer picture of what the most serious risks are, and perhaps help you uncover some

problems you otherwise would not have addressed. 

Of course, identifying certain problems as “high-risk” is only one of the tools to help you

put together your environmental plan—it does not mean you can forget about the rest of

the problems. You might need to address lower risk problems for regulatory reasons.

Community residents might consider lower risk problems of great importance. You might

be able to implement some simple, low-cost solutions to lower risk problems, while still

giving adequate attention to the highest risks. Chapter 6 discusses in more detail how you

can take all these factors into account and set priorities for action.

A number of states and cities have carried out complex “comparative risk” projects to

evaluate risks to people and ecosystems and to help them make the best use of their

environmental protection resources. These projects usually involve teams of scientists and

other experts who spend months analyzing data and discussing their relevance. Appendix

C includes a list of the states, cities, and tribes that have comparative risk projects

completed, under way, or in the planning stages. If such a project exists in your state, you

might be able to obtain valuable information or insight from the project to help you identify

high-risk problems in your community.

The box on pages 26 through 28 describes how Ruraltown went about defining the

boundaries of its environmental planning area, listing its environmental problems, and

identifying which problems were potentially serious threats to its residents and the

environment.

Chapter 4: Defining Your Community’s Needs 25
Ruraltown’s Environmental 

Problems: Defining Boundaries and

Identifying High-Risk Problems

The planning team discussed what locations to include in the community’s environmental planning area. Everyone on the team agreed that at least everything

within the town boundaries should be included, since the town had its own landfill

and drinking water and wastewater plants. Using town boundaries would also include

private wells and septic systems. A staff person from the State Department of Natural

Resources suggested that the team consider including a larger area than the town

boundaries, because some areas near the town’s drinking water wells but outside of

the town boundaries (including some farms and onsite septic systems) could affect

drinking water quality in the future. The team discussed this with county officials,

who agreed to help the team implement necessary programs in these areas where

they had the authority to do so.

The planning team held a meeting to develop a list of environmental concerns in

the community. The team opened the meeting up to interested members of the

public, placing a notice in the local newspaper several weeks in advance. At the

meeting, team members listed the following environmental concerns:

The drinking water treatment plant had recent violations of the coliform maximum contaminant level (MCL).

The drinking water treatment plant’s monitoring program for chemical contaminants had been cited as inadequate by the state.

The drinking water system is undersized; pressure is too low to meet firefighting requirements in some parts of town.

There are high fecal coliform counts in private well supplies near septic tank

systems in areas with high ground water. 

Pesticides are used near drinking water wells.

Underground fuel storage tanks at the school and fire station are aging and

might leak.

Discharges from the wastewater treatment plant occasionally exceed permit

limits for suspended solids and organic matter, especially after severe storms.

26 Chapter 4: Defining Your Community’s Needs
The landfill is almost full and doesn’t meet the new state guidelines.

Land-applied fertilizers in rainfall runoff are polluting lakes and streams.

Leaf burning by residents is blamed for some health problems in the town.

Improper disposal of used oil on the ground and to septic systems by “do-it-yourself” oil changers could cause contamination of drinking water wells.

Improper disposal of household hazardous waste to the landfill could result in contamination of drinking water wells.

The custodian suspects that there is deteriorating asbestos insulation in Ruraltown

Elementary School, which has not been tested for asbestos.

Several community residents attending the meeting added concerns to the list:

There is deteriorating lead paint in many homes.

Runoff from construction sites upriver from the town might be causing a reduced

fish catch in Running River; tannery wastes also might be polluting the river.

The planning team then spent time over the next several weeks talking to local and state

experts about each topic. They asked the experts to help them figure out the risks posed

by each problem. These advisors provided much of the information the team needed.

For example, the team had the drinking water from two private wells tested for pesticides

used on nearby farms. The wells chosen for testing were those located closest to and

“downstream” from the farms. The team asked a scientist from the state environmental

agency to explain the potential health effects from consuming water containing the small

quantities of pesticides that were detected. This scientist advised the team that the current

risks were small but could increase in the future if pesticide contamination continued.

She confirmed the town’s concern that the aging underground storage tanks and surface

water pollution from fertilizer were serious threats to natural resources. Several other

scientists suggested that the team consider radon in homes a potential concern, since a

number of homes in nearby communities had been found to have elevated levels of radon.

Armed with the information they had obtained, the team met again, discussed Ruraltown’s

environmental problems, and hammered out a list of the high-risk problems. They

were:

Drinking water samples that exceed coliform MCL (high risk to health).

Drinking water system that is undersized (high risk to quality of life).

High coliform counts in drinking water well supplies near septic systems in areas

with high ground water (high risk to health).

Chapter 4: Defining Your Community’s Needs 27
How Effective Are Your Community’s Environmental Facilities?

The most basic step in identifying your community’s needs is the evaluation of your

community’s environmental facilities, such as solid waste (some combination of landfills,

incinerators, transfer stations, and recycling centers), drinking water (some combination

of a centralized source and treatment plant, distribution system, and private wells), and

wastewater (either a centralized collection and treatment plant, smaller plants serving

several buildings with sewers, or individual home systems). Your environmental facilities

might also include structures involving little or no capital or equipment, such as buffer

strips, wet ponds, and swales for runoff management.

Your planning team should work with the people who manage and operate your environmental facilities to identify problems. A facility might perform ineffectively if it is too

small to serve the number of people in the community or if it is operated improperly or

inefficiently. Some problems might even pose a risk to health, ecosystems, or quality of

life. For example, a landfill could leach chemicals into ground water that constitutes the

town’s drinking water, or a wastewater treatment plant could generate odors in the

surrounding area.

Ineffective performance of environmental facilities is also a constant drain on a community’s finances. Inadequate performance might indicate that operations at the existing

facility could be improved or that a community needs a new or upgraded facility. Often,

minor modifications of an existing facility greatly improve performance and lower costs.

Evaluating facility performance also helps the community identify potential risks to

people’s health and the environment and helps determine whether the community is

complying with regulatory requirements. 

Aging underground storage tanks (high risk to health and quality of life).

Wastewater treatment plant effluent that exceeds organic matter and suspended solids limits (high risk to natural resources and quality of life).

Septic systems failing during wet seasons (high risk to health and 

quality of life).

Landfill that doesn’t meet design requirements and is almost full (high risk to 

quality of life).

Surface water pollution by fertilizers (high risk to natural resources and 

quality of life).

Lead paint in homes (high risk to health and quality of life).

28 Chapter 4: Defining Your Community’s Needs
To find out whether your community’s environmental facilities are performing adequately,

the planning team, along with each facility’s manager, should consider several factors,

including the design, administration, operation, and maintenance of each facility, as

discussed below. This step might require assistance from outside experts. Many states can

assist in this process, as can independent resource providers such as the National Rural

Water Association and the Rural Community Assistance Program (see Appendix D).

Does the Facility’s Design Meet the Community’s Needs?

Each facility, including its equipment and processes, was designed with certain goals in

mind. Determine whether your community has the same goals today. Your community

might or might not have changed since the facility was designed. Asking the following

questions will help the planning team determine whether the facility’s design is still

adequate: 

Is the plant design adequate for the community’s current requirements (such as the

number of people now receiving public drinking water)? Can it meet needs (such as

new people or businesses moving into the community)?

Does the facility meet the requirements of current regulations? Will it meet the

requirements of regulations that have been issued but are not yet in effect?

Are maintenance problems increasing as the plant ages? For example, do staff often

“jury-rig” solutions to operating problems?

Will the facility meet your future needs? (Refer to your community’s vision for the

future.)

Is the Facility Run Effectively?

Administration of a facility involves managing, staffing, training, and funding. You can

assess how well the facility is run by asking the questions below.

Management

Are facility managers clear about what the system is supposed to accomplish and

whether these goals are currently being achieved?

Have managers evaluated whether services, equipment, and facilities will need expansion to meet future needs?

Have alternatives (such as another water source, transfer of solid waste to another

facility, alternate wastewater treatment options, or intergovernmental agreement to

share equipment, personnel, or services) been identified if needed in an emergency or

for future increased use?

Staffing

Are there enough employees to handle the job?

Do employees understand their specific responsibilities?

Are staff encouraged to make recommendations for improved performance?

Chapter 4: Defining Your Community’s Needs 29
Are employees capable of handling future needs if services change or increase (for

example, if recycling is added to solid waste facilities)?

If the state requires certified (licensed) operators to perform certain tasks, does your

staff meet these requirements, or have you made other arrangements with neighboring

certified operators?

Training

Do any employees need specific training to perform tasks properly?

Do employees periodically receive additional training from universities or other sources

to update their knowledge and skills?

Do they receive proper training whenever they are required to perform new tasks or

procedures?

Is the staff encouraged to seek certification training (if a certification program exists)?

Funding

Are the revenues generated adequate to meet operation, maintenance, and all other

costs, including unanticipated emergencies? Do customer rates include all costs of

providing the service?

Are enough funds available to replace equipment at the end of its nominal or estimated

service life?

Are funds being set aside for improvements and expansions?

Has the community considered using qualified local people, rather than more expensive

outside personnel, to perform necessary tasks? Has the community considered recruiting qualified volunteers (individuals or service/professional organizations)?

Efficient Operations Are Key to Good Performance

The following operational factors should be evaluated for each of the environmental

facilities in a community:

Capacity. Are the drinking water and wastewater facilities operating close to the limits

of their design? Is the landfill almost full? If the answer is “yes” to either of these

questions and you expect the population to increase significantly in the near future,

increased capacity will probably be needed in the near future. Consider alternative

approaches to such costly expansion as soon as possible, while they are still viable.

Flexibility. Can the facility cope with potential changes in the quality of raw water supply,

changes in wastewater flow during storms, or changes in the flow of solid waste?

Equipment. Is old equipment breaking down often? Should it be rebuilt or replaced? Is

equipment performing as efficiently as possible? Does it meet design performance

specifications?

Processes. Are mechanisms that control each process operating well? Have adjustments

been made to make the process more efficient or effective?

30 Chapter 4: Defining Your Community’s Needs
Operational Hazards. Have potential hazards been identified, and are they controllable?

Ways to prevent operational hazards include employee training, building a secondary

containment structure to store and contain chemicals, and installing safeguards and

interlocks on equipment.

Procedures. Have operating procedures been developed and incorporated into an up-todate operations and maintenance manual? Are employees familiar with correct procedures? Are easily understandable, written operating procedures readily available to

employees at all times, and are they used? Are notices prominently displayed listing

procedures that should not be used (such as mixing incompatible chemicals)?

Emergency Response. Is emergency equipment readily available and regularly checked?

Have emergency procedures been established? Are all employees aware of emergency

procedures? Are telephone numbers and addresses of important officials and emergency

response team members readily available?

Recordkeeping. Are good records kept? (For example, for drinking water systems, this

should include records of the amounts of water treated; chemicals used and amounts;

results of water quality tests; and maps showing the entire distribution system, including

locations of mains, service connections, valves, pipes, pressure vessels, instrumentation,

and shutoffs.)

Chemical Use. Are chemicals being used efficiently in drinking water and wastewater

treatment plants? Is more of a chemical being used than was anticipated? If so, why?

Can a chemical be used that is less expensive, is less harmful, or requires less operation

and maintenance?

Corrective Actions. If operating problems were identified in the past, have they been

corrected?

Training. Are programs in place to train new employees and keep current employees

up to date?

Preventive Maintenance. Does the facility staff perform preventive maintenance on a

regular basis to minimize equipment failures? Are noncapital facilities, such as wet

ponds and buffer strips, adequately maintained?

If problems exist at a facility, the planning team has identified another potential environmental need: improving the environmental facility. The community might need to define

the problems further, for example, by undertaking a Composite Correction Program with

the help of a state or local assistance provider (see Appendix D). Once the problems have

been defined, the community needs to determine the possible costs of resolving the

problem (for example, the costs of buying new equipment, using supplemental processes,

or constructing a new facility). Make sure to consider the possibility of partnerships with

other units of government (towns, counties, special districts) to perform maintenance tasks

(see Chapter 7).

The boxes on pages 32 and 33 include additional information specifically for drinking

water, wastewater, and solid waste facilities. The box on page 35 describes how Ruraltown

evaluated its environmental facilities.

Chapter 4: Defining Your Community’s Needs 31
How Effective Is Your Drinking Water Facility?

Are water samples taken regularly and

properly as required by the state?

Has drinking water failed to meet regulatory limits? How many violation notices

has the facility received?

Have residents complained often about

the odor, appearance, or taste of the

water? 

Are operators knowledgeable about the

facility’s treatment processes (such as flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, and

disinfection)? Are these processes performing effectively, and are corrections

made when they are not functioning at

their best? 

Does the facility use water meters to

charge its customers for water use? Meters can provide an incentive to conserve

water, since the less a customer uses, the

less he or she pays. Is the accuracy of

meters checked periodically?

Does the facility manager know how

much “water loss” is occurring? Water

loss is the amount of water being produced that is not being received by or

billed to customers.

Do charges cover the cost of operation

and maintenance and planned replacement costs?

How Effective Is Your Wastewater Facility?

Are your wastewater treatment plant operators knowledgeable about the treatment facility’s processes, such as aeration,

clarification, and sludge (biosolids) handling? Do they regularly monitor and

adjust processes to improve performance?

Is your sludge management system capable of properly processing all the sludge

produced? 

Does excessive infiltration/inflow of

stormwater occur in the collection sewer

line? Does the flow bypass the treatment

system during peak flow conditions?

Is your system in compliance with all National Pollutant Discharge Elimination

System (NPDES) permit limits or conditions?

Has the facility received complaints from

residents regarding odors, appearance,

receiving water quality, overflows, or high

user charges?

How Effective Are Your Community’s Septic Systems?

Is the water draining slowly from or backing up into sinks or toilets? If so, the pipes

might be clogged (with disposable diapers, sanitary napkins, etc.), a pipe might

be broken (from heavy machinery traveling over the ground above the pipe), or

tree roots might have entered a pipe.

Is smelly or dark liquid present on the

ground surface above the drainfield? If

so, the drainfield or soil may be inadequate to soak up the liquid during wet

periods of the year.

How often has the tank been pumped? If

more often than every 3 years, the reason

should be determined. The problem is

usually in the soil, not the tank, and pumping only provides temporary relief.

32 Chapter 4: Defining Your Community’s Needs
How Effectively Does Your Community Manage Solid Waste?

Even if your community’s handling of solid

waste is not an immediate concern, it most

likely will be in the very near future. Think

about the following questions:

Landfill Concerns

Is the community’s landfill almost full?

Will you need a new place to dispose of

solid waste within the next few years?

Has the community identified an alternative disposal method or area?

Does the landfill meet state/federal

ground-water monitoring requirements?

(Check with your state agency.)

Waste Reduction

Does your community have a waste reduction program? Is one required by the

state?

Recycling Efforts

Does the community have a recycling program (including collecting the materials,

finding markets, and getting and keeping

residents involved)? Many states have

passed regulations requiring increased

recycling of various materials, such as

paper, glass, metals, yard wastes, and

plastics. Check with your state agency to

find out about your current and future

compliance with the regulations and the

markets for these materials in your area.

Costs

How much does solid waste disposal cost

your community? Is the cost rising significantly? If so, think about alternatives to

disposal (recycling, composting, or regional incineration programs).

Do fees charged to community residents

reflect all costs of solid waste management (such as costs to collect the trash, run

the disposal facility, and administer the

program)?

Can the community’s landfill meet state

requirements for financial assurance, liability, and postclosure care? Check with

your state agency about these requirements.

Management

Has the community conducted an analysis

of its solid waste to determine its content

and amounts produced? Most small communities have not done such an analysis,

but it could help the community decide the

best ways to manage wastes (such as what

percentages could be recycled, composted, incinerated, and disposed of in a

landfill). This information can also help

the community decide what services or

equipment are needed (such as trucks,

bins, landfill/incinerator capacity, types

of markets for recyclables). This analysis

should include anticipated future changes

in disposal and recycling patterns. (Refer

to your community’s vision for the future.)

Since local data are not likely to be available, national average data can be used

for planning purposes.

Regional Approaches

For many small communities, a regional

approach to solid waste management is

the best solution. If several communities

join together, they can:

— Share the task of looking for markets

for recyclables and offer these markets

larger quantities of materials (a big

plus in the recycling business).

— Combine the wastes that each community sends to landfills or incinerators

and pay lower user fees for these

higher volumes.

— Jointly use collection trucks.

Chapter 4: Defining Your Community’s Needs 33
Is Your List of Needs Adequate To Meet Your Community’s Vision 

for the Future?

After you have done the work suggested in this chapter, you will have defined your

community’s environmental needs using three approaches: what problems pose the greatest threat to your community’s residents and natural resources, how well your environmental facilities are serving your community, and what regulations you must meet. You

will probably see a lot of overlap among these three lists. Combine all three into a “master

list” of needs that eliminates duplication and is easier to work with. Then revisit the

community vision to make sure that the goals expressed there are addressed by your list

of current needs. If an important item is missing, you might want to add it to your list of

current needs. For example, if you envision economic or population growth in the coming

years, as Ruraltown does, make sure that you evaluate whether expanded capacity of your

drinking water, wastewater, and solid waste facilities is needed.

34 Chapter 4: Defining Your Community’s Needs
Ruraltown Evaluates Its 

Environmental Facilities

Ruraltown’s planning team talked with the people who manage and operate

the town’s environmental facilities, and summarized the facility needs in

the following list:

Landfill does not meet state requirements and is almost full; need to 

expand or find alternatives.

Need to increase capacity of drinking water treatment system; already unable to attain firefighting pressures at certain locations, and some people

with private wells want to be connected to public water supply. Also need

to meet coliform MCL and monitoring requirements for chemical 

contaminants in drinking water.

Need to improve performance of wastewater treatment plant with respect

to suspended solids and organic matter removal, because town wants to reduce reliance on septic systems, especially in areas with shallow ground

water. Improving the wastewater treatment system will encourage growth

and development in the town center and help prevent further loss of rural

landscape and farms. 

Before making any final decisions about the drinking water and wastewater

facilities, the planning team asked for help from state and local assistance

providers. The state performed a comprehensive performance evaluation on the

wastewater treatment plant. This evaluation showed that the plant could be

brought into compliance, except during rainstorms and snow melting periods.

(The town would need to make long-term improvements in the collection

system and the treatment plant, however, to realize its vision for the future.) A

coalition of resource providers analyzed the drinking water plant. This analysis

verified earlier findings that distribution system and disinfection system upgrades were needed.

Chapter 4: Defining Your Community’s Needs 35
Finding Feasible 

Solutions for Your 

Community

O

nce you’ve defined your community’s

needs and refined your community vision 

for the future, it’s time to look for possible 

solutions. You’ve pinpointed a destination 

on the road map and convinced many people 

in the community to make the journey. Now it’s 

time to look at the vehicles you can use to get 

there. There are many factors to consider: You 

probably can’t afford a Porsche, but you don’t 

want an old car that breaks down in the middle of a trip. To get adequate transportation,

you might need to car pool with neighbors. And you have to consider whether your vehicle

will need frequent maintenance.

This chapter helps you begin to figure out which solutions will work for your community.

Although most small communities do not have every problem discussed in this chapter,

and many will have problems that are not discussed, some of the best solutions for the

typical problems faced by small communities are presented. This chapter shows you how

to evaluate available options, taking into account such factors as cost and local environmental constraints. Some of the possible “vehicles” for reaching your destination are

technological (structural), such as new treatment technologies. Others are management

(nonstructural) solutions—setting up a water conservation program or an educational

program about household hazardous waste, for example. A solution to one problem might

affect (positively or negatively) another problem. At this step, you should determine all

solutions that are feasible for your community and estimate what they might cost and what

they might achieve. This information will be critical when you set priorities for action.

Technology and Management Options for Small Communities: 

An Overview

The list of solutions that can be applied to environmental problems is nearly endless. This

chapter presents a brief description of some of the solutions to issues that nearly all small

communities face. You will need to find out more about these solutions if you think they

5

37
might be suitable for your community. Your goal here is to gain information about the

solutions that might be suitable for your community, including:

What each solution can achieve.

What factors can limit a solution’s effectiveness.

What the capital and operating costs are.

How easy or difficult implementation is.

Pollution Prevention

Preventing pollution—rather than trying to treat it after

it happens—should be a basic principle of your community’s environmental plan. Pollution prevention is the

process of identifying areas, processes, and activities

that create excessive waste byproducts to try to minimize

or eliminate the amount or toxicity of these byproducts.

This approach will help you avoid the costs of cleaning

up pollution. Here are just a few examples:

Conserve water! A communitywide effort to conserve

water can help your town in several important ways.

Heavy pumping of an aquifer over time can cause

changes in the amount you can pump and the chemical

quality of the water you pump. High water usage also

means that more wastewater is generated that needs

to be managed. Some simple steps—such as starting

a leak detection program and using water-saving

devices in homes—can help prevent these problems

and help avoid the cost of developing additional

drinking water and wastewater facilities.

Don’t dump used oil! Used oil should be recycled or

disposed of so that it won’t pollute the environment.

Even small amounts of used oil poured on the ground,

down the drain, or into the water can contaminate the

drinking water supply of an entire community. Your

used oil should be taken to a collection center or

service station that can handle it properly. The community is responsible for providing a market or use for

this used oil for ensuring its safe disposal.

Safely dispose of household hazardous waste! Many

common household products (e.g., most cleaning fluids, disinfectants, pesticides, and paint thinners and

removers) contain hazardous constituents. Dumping

these household hazardous wastes down the drain,

into the garbage can, or on the ground can contaminate ground water, surface water, and soil. Many

communities have started household hazardous waste

collection programs (or worked with other communities to start them) to gather these wastes and dispose

of them safely.

Save energy! This is something every resident can do

to prevent pollution. In most areas of the country,

power plants burn oil, coal, or gas to generate electricity. Burning these fuels creates air pollution. If less

energy is needed, less air pollution is produced. Saving energy can also save you money. Your community

should promote energy conservation through public

service announcements and other means.

Protect the area around your drinking water wells!

Every state in the nation has had incidents of contaminated ground water. If you protect your water source

before it gets contaminated, you can avoid some major

costs, such as the costs of sophisticated treatment

equipment, cleanup and remediation, consulting and

legal fees, water rate increases, and even reduced real

estate prices. Ask your state environmental agency,

your state Rural Water Association, or other resource

provider how to start a wellhead protection program

in your community.

Don’t be a throw-away community! Landfill space is

becoming limited, and building a new landfill that

protects water, soil, and air from contamination is

expensive. At the same time, people keep generating

more and more trash. Try to reuse materials instead of

throwing them away. Try to recycle glass, plastic,

aluminum, and paper. Don’t buy products with extra

packaging that has to be thrown away. A community

can provide leadership in such efforts by developing

purchasing programs that reduce waste and maximizing the use of recycled materials.

Don’t litter! If everyone helps, the cost of litter collection

and management can be reduced.

Your environmental plan should also include teaching

community residents about pollution prevention. Pollution prevention is a “mind set”—a way of looking at

the world and the way we live. If everyone reduces

pollution in his or her own life, the community, its

environment, and the future will benefit.

38 Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 
How a solution might affect other environmental problems you face or other important

community considerations.

What opportunity costs are associated with various options. (Opportunity costs are the

costs of the next best alternative—what you are giving up by choosing the option you

choose.)

At the end of this chapter, some specific solutions are presented for the following issue

areas:

Drinking water.

Wastewater.

Solid waste.

Hazardous waste.

Nonpoint source pollution.

Underground storage tanks.

For more information, you can read the publications listed in Appendix D and talk to one

of your local experts, your state environmental agency, and some of the organizations listed

in Appendix D.

Evaluating Costs for Technology and Management 

Options

To evaluate the costs of possible solutions, consider several cost factors: 

Unit costs (such as the cost per thousand gallons treated, cost per cubic yard or ton of

waste disposed).

Capital costs (the costs of constructing, purchasing, or upgrading equipment or

facilities).

Annual operating costs (the costs of running equipment and facilities on a day-to-day

basis).

To make meaningful cost comparisons, the facility size must be comparable between

options and must be sufficient to handle the maximum material flows (drinking water,

wastewater, solid waste, recyclables) anticipated over the estimated life of the facility. For

example, a low unit cost for wastewater treatment will not save money if the minimum

plant size required to achieve that cost savings is four times the maximum expected

wastewater flow from your community.

Even before cost comparisons, the best screening method is to identify the conditions for

which the option is best suited. For example, small-diameter gravity systems are likely to

be the first choice where slopes provide gravity drainage to a treatment plant. “Pockets”

of homes that do not drain in this way because of their lower elevation can be fitted with

septic tank effluent pumping (STEP) units and fed into the small-diameter system.

Likewise, dense developments of 50 or more homes might be best served by vacuum

Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 39
sewers, while pressure sewers may be more suitable for developments of fewer than 50

homes. By knowing the best uses of each technology, a preliminary screening can assist

the planning group in discarding certain options that are unlikely to solve identified

problems.

All cost factors—unit costs, capital costs, and operating costs—should be evaluated

together. There might be a tradeoff between capital costs and operating costs. A well-designed facility with higher initial costs usually provides better performance and has lower

operating and maintenance costs than a lower capital-cost, high-maintenance facility. A

variety of financial factors should be considered when deciding among options, as discussed

in Chapter 7.

Narrowing the Options

Once you have a list of possible generic options for the key environmental issues facing

your community, you need to eliminate the options that are not feasible. First, you can

eliminate any option that will not work because of factors specific to your community.

These factors could include:

Population density.

Distance from significant population centers.

Type of water bodies and land features.

Water quality, chemistry, and quantity.

Soil type and geology.

Even though the solutions described in this guide are considered appropriate for small

communities, local conditions can preclude their use in certain circumstances. For example, there is little point in planning for long-term use of onsite septic tank systems if no

soils in the community can support their proper functioning (because they are all impermeable clay soils).

Second, you can eliminate solutions that are clearly more expensive than your community

can afford. Also consider whether the costs (economic, social, ecological, or health-related)

of failing to invest in a solution are acceptable. Be careful, however, not to underestimate

what your community can afford. Your community might be able to get grants and

low-interest loans to pay for some options. Your community can also cooperate with other

communities or form partnerships with private companies to pay for some solutions (see

Chapter 7).

Third, eliminate options that require more advanced technical skills than your community

has access to, or that are too complicated for your community to administer. For example,

waste-to-energy facilities are an option for solid waste management. Solid waste is burned

in these facilities, and the heat produced is used to generate electricity. Waste-to-energy

facilities use very advanced technology, however, and are probably not feasible for most

small communities. Keep in mind, though, that cooperating with other communities and

forming partnerships with private companies might allow you to use technologies that are

too complex for your community to use alone.

40 Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 
Make sure that you understand exactly what each remaining solution can achieve and

whether it will create any new problems. Reviewing this information for each solution still

on your list might cause you to remove some solutions from consideration. For example,

if your community has a corrosive water supply that causes the wastewater treatment plant

to exceed discharge limits for lead and copper, you might consider adding phosphate to

the drinking water to inhibit corrosion. This strategy, however, could cause wastewater

discharges to exceed phosphate limits, and removing phosphate before discharging the

treated wastewater will increase costs.

Finally, keep in mind that you might want to use a combination of solutions for some

problems. Different solutions can complement each other or be used to handle different

aspects of a problem. For example, a community experiencing problems with septic tank

systems might develop a combination of onsite, cluster, and centralized systems for treating

wastewater, along with a communitywide water conservation program to improve the

performance of all of them. A central treatment plant can be built to serve residences and

businesses in more densely settled areas of the community, while cluster systems can serve

outlying homes for which onsite systems are not suitable.

Looking at Characteristics of 

Soil and Ground Water in Your Community

To determine whether certain technology

options are feasible, it is important to understand the characteristics of soil and

ground water in your community. For example, some soil conditions, such as shallow bedrock or water table, might require

the use of special onsite wastewater systems

in unsewered areas. By the same token, a

shallow water table is more easily contaminated than a deep water table. The vulnerability of ground water affects site selection

for landfills, underground storage tanks,

and a variety of potentially contaminating

industrial/commercial activities.

Information about soil and ground water in

many areas is available from the U.S. Geological Survey and from soil surveys produced by the Soil Conservation Service

(SCS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

SCS has published soil surveys for most

counties in the eastern and midwestern

United States and many counties in western

states. SCS soil maps define map units containing similar soil characteristics based on

landscape position, slope, soil wetness,

depth to bedrock, type of bedrock, and

other factors. A published soil survey contains tables providing information for each

map unit, including: 

The number of acres mapped.

Ratings for corrosion risk for uncoated

steel and concrete.

Limitations for sanitary facilities, including

embankments, ditches and levees, septic

tank soil absorption fields, sewage lagoons, trench landfills, and area landfills.

Suitability ratings for use as daily cover

for landfill.

Suitability for dwelling structural support.

Potential for flooding.

These maps are a very useful planning and

evaluation tool. For example, the soil map

can be placed over a township map marked

with sites where septic systems have been

repaired or replaced. This can show

whether and where a long-term strategy

relying on these systems is feasible. Laying

a map of the wellhead protection area for

the community’s water supply over the other

two maps could show additional areas

where the use of septic systems should be

restricted. 

Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 41
Once you have narrowed the options, you will have a list of the solutions that are feasible

for your community, along with a good idea of what they cost and what they can achieve.

Finding Solutions: Drinking Water

Your community needs an adequate supply of safe drinking water. The solutions to

consider fall into two categories: quality (source protection and treatment) and quantity

(conservation, leak detection, and expansion of supply).

Drinking Water Quality: Protecting the Source 

About 95 percent of rural communities use ground water as a drinking water source. The

best way to protect ground-water resources is a wellhead protection program. A

wellhead protection program seeks to manage the land area through which water enters

the ground water that provides your drinking water. For communities that use ground

water as a drinking water source, a wellhead protection program minimizes contamination

of this valuable resource.

Similarly, your community can protect its drinking water source through a watershed

protection program if your drinking water is drawn directly from a lake, river, or other

body of surface water. Your watershed is the area of land from which water drains into

that source of surface water. Through a watershed protection program, your community

can protect its surface water resources by limiting contamination in surrounding areas.

Both wellhead protection and watershed protection are forms of pollution prevention,

which can directly benefit your community. Wellhead and watershed protection programs

involve:

Forming a community planning team.

Delineating the wellhead or watershed area.

Identifying and locating potential sources of contamination in the wellhead protection

area or watershed.

Managing the area to prevent contaminants from entering the water supply. This

includes regulatory (such as zoning), nonregulatory (such as public education), and

financing strategies (such as purchase of development rights).

Reviewing the protection program every year and developing a contingency plan for

alternative water supplies.

These programs are the “ounce of prevention” that can help you avoid some very expensive

cures—installing treatment, cleaning up the source, or finding a new water source, all of

which are far more costly than preventive measures. In most cases, your state and county

42 Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 
officials can help you implement simple, inexpensive preventive measures that go a long

way toward protecting your drinking water source.

Drinking Water Quality: Treatment Technologies

Drinking water must be treated to protect the health of the people who drink it. Different

types of treatment processes tend to be used for ground water than for surface water. The

major types of drinking water treatment include disinfection, organics removal, inorganics

removal, and filtration. Although filtration is sometimes used for ground-water sources,

this process is primarily used with surface water. Table 5-1 describes some of the advantages

and disadvantages of some treatment technologies appropriate for small communities.

Proper disinfection kills disease-causing microorganisms (viruses, bacteria, and some

parasites). The process that small communities use most often is chlorination, in which

chlorine gas or hypochlorite solutions are added to the water. Removal of organic

contaminants (such as pesticides and solvents) and inorganic contaminants (such as

nitrate and lead) is important if your drinking water contains any of these substances at a

level that might be harmful to human health (usually equated to a level higher than the

EPA maximum contaminant level [MCL]). For small communities, the most suitable

technologies for removal of organic contaminants might be aeration, which strips certain

organics from the water to the air, or granular activated carbon (GAC) treatment, in which

water passes through specially treated carbon particles that have an extensive surface area

onto which the organics can attach. In the few cases where the additional removal of

inorganic contaminants is required, any one of several processes listed in Table 5-1 can be

used. Filtration removes particles of solid matter from water, usually by passing the water

through sand or other porous materials. Filtration also helps to control biological contamination. Cloudy water (cloudiness is measured as turbidity) can contain harmful

microorganisms and reduces the effectiveness of disinfection. 

Drinking Water Quality: Restructuring Options

Small communities may at times feel overwhelmed by the cost and complexity of owning

and operating a water treatment and distribution system. Every community wants to

provide its residents with the best possible service at the lowest possible cost. Many small

communities have found that they can achieve this goal by restructuring their water system.

Restructuring refers to changes in ownership, management, or operations that allow a

system to improve service and/or lower costs.

There are many different restructuring options available to small communities. For

example, a community may wish to join together with some of its neighbors to form a

“mutual aid” network. Through such a network, communities can share expensive equipment and staff. Another restructuring option is contracting out the operation and maintenance of the water system. Contract service companies can be hired to handle some or

all aspects of operating and managing the water system. With contract operations, the

policy-making and financial decisions remain with the town council, thus preserving local

control. For some adjacent communities, physical interconnection with a neighboring

Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 43
system might be possible and might allow communities to share the cost of treatment

facilities. See Chapter 7 for more information about restructuring options.

Table 5-1

Technologies for Drinking Water Treatment

Purpose Technology Advantages Disadvantages Costs

Disinfection Chlorination ■ Economical.

■ Easy to operate.

■ Chlorine can combine 

with other compounds to 

create byproducts harmful 

to consumers exposed over

long periods.

■ Safety problems with 

gaseous units.

Capital:

O&M:

Low

Medium

Ultraviolet

radiation

■ Easy to operate and 

maintain.

■ Produces no known toxic

byproducts.

■ Safer than chlorine for

operations.

■ A secondary disinfectant

(chlorine) must be used to

prevent bacterial regrowth

in the distribution system.

Capital:

O&M:

Medium

Medium

Corrosion control Limestone 

contactor

■ Easy operation.

■ Compact.

■ Best for acid waters.

■ Not for very hard, 

high-iron, high-CO2

waters.

Capital:

O&M:

Medium

Low

Aeration ■ Easy operation.

■ No chemicals.

■ Also removes other

contaminant gases.

■ Best for high CO2 waters.

■ See aeration systems on

next page.

■ Energy costs higher.

■ May have high O&M

with hard water.

■ See aeration systems on

next page.

Capital:

O&M:

See

aeration

systems

on next

page

Chemical addition ■ Economical first cost.

■ Very compact.

■ Capable of best lead and

copper control.

■ High operation costs—

chemicals and 

equipment/controls

requirements.

Capital:

O&M:

Low

Medium

Organics removal:

Radon and organic

chemicals, including

volatile organic

chemicals (such as

benzene, PCBs,

carbon tetrachloride, and gasoline)

Granular

activated carbon

■ No gaseous emissions.

■ Low to medium O&M, labor, 

and power requirements.

■ Relatively low energy needs.

■ Potential waste disposal 

problems.

■ Very expensive.

Capital:

O&M:

High

High 

44 Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 
Table 5-1

Technologies for Drinking Water Treatment (continued)

Purpose Technology Advantages Disadvantages Costs

Organics removal

(continued)

Packed column

aeration

■ High efficiency for removing 

volatile contaminants.

■ Low O&M labor 

requirements.

■ Potential air emissions 

problems.

■ Might need pretreatment

to remove solids and to 

prevent iron deposits and 

biological growth.

Capital:

O&M:

High

Medium

Diffused aeration ■ Simple construction.

■ Low O&M requirements.

■ Potential air emissions.

■ Variable removal 

effectiveness.

Capital:

O&M:

Medium

Medium

Multiple tray

aeration

■ Simple construction.

■ Low O&M requirements.

■ Low energy needs.

■ Potential air emissions.

■ Variable removal 

effectiveness.

■ Might need pretreatment

to remove iron and 

manganese and to prevent

biological growth.

■ Might be subject to 

corrosion problems.

Capital:

O&M:

Medium

Low

Inorganics removal:

Cadmium, 

chromium, arsenic,

silver, and lead

Coagulation and

settling

■ Reliable process.

■ Also removes some organics,

bacteria, parasites, 

suspended solids, and

turbidity.

■ High capital and O&M 

costs.

■ Requires high skill level

for operation.

■ Removes only small

amounts of nitrogen,

nitrites, radium, or barium.

■ Large amounts of sludge

generated must be 

managed.

Capital:

O&M:

High

High

Inorganics removal:

All inorganics

Reverse osmosis

and similar

membrane systems

■ Very high removal efficiency.

■ Simple operation.

■ Insensitive to dissolved

solids content.

■ Bacteria and colloidal 

particles also removed.

■ High capital and 

operating costs.

■ High level of pretreatment 

required.

■ Very large volume

reject stream disposal 

problems.

Capital:

O&M:

High

High

Inorganics removal:

Barium, radium,

cadmium, lead, 

silver, chromium, 

nitrites, nitrates, 

selenium, and 

radionuclides

Ion exchange ■ Insensitive to flow variations.

■ Usually best choice for 

removing radionuclides.

■ Spent regenerant waste 

disposal problems.

■ Might need multiple 

treatments to remove all 

contaminants.

■ Pretreatment required to

protect resin.

Capital:

O&M:

High

High

Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 45
Drinking Water Quality: System Options

In some cases, when a contaminant reaches potentially harmful levels in only one part of

the service area and/or interferes with only one specialized use, a community might

consider point-of-use or point-of-entry devices. These devices are installed at a homeowner’s tap or at the point of entry to a larger area, such as a street or trailer park. Types

of treatment available with these devices include reverse osmosis, activated carbon,

activated alumina, and ion exchange. The public water supplier must monitor and ensure

the quality of water treated with these devices; therefore, the ability to monitor is the

controlling step in allowing the use of these devices.

Package plants might offer a low-initial-cost alternative to permanent treatment structures. These are modular units that usually are assembled off site and shipped to the

community. The plants contain a number of treatment technologies in one unit

and are usually used to treat surface water supplies to remove color, turbidity, and

microorganisms. Package plants that remove organic and inorganic substances, however,

are also available. Because the operational requirements for package plants are quite

significant, except in rare instances a small community should consider using them only if

the community can transfer the responsibility to another party (such as the county or a

private contractor) or restructure (e.g., combine the local system with other small systems)

to improve its ability to operate such sophisticated systems. 

Table 5-1

Technologies for Drinking Water Treatment (continued)

Purpose Technology Advantages Disadvantages Costs

Filtration Slow sand ■ Economical.

■ Easy to operate.

■ No chemicals required.

■ Minimal power needed.

■ High removal of diseasecausing organisms.

■ Significant quantities of 

land needed.

■ Only particular types of 

sands are suitable.

■ May require more 

maintenance if high-solids

or high-turbidity 

source is not pretreated.

Capital:

O&M:

High

Low

Dual or mixed

media filters

■ Economical first cost.

■ Only used with pretreatment

by coagulation and settling.

■ Land requirements less than 

for slow sand, but more when

coagulation/settling included.

■ Operator training 

necessary.

■ Pretreatment with 

chemicals required.

■ May not be suitable for 

small communities.

Capital:

O&M:

Medium

Medium

46 Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 
Drinking Water Quantity: Conservation

People can do many simple things to use less water, for example, use low-flow shower

heads and toilets, place a filled plastic bottle or toilet dam in the toilet tank, or shut off the

tap while brushing teeth. Every gallon saved is one less gallon pumped, treated, and

delivered to the consumer. A water conservation program can consist of updating building

codes, conducting public education, or promoting conservation through financial incentives, such as higher water rates or scaled charging systems. For example, a powerful tool

to keep water demand in check is regressive user charges, which charge customers who

use more water a higher fee per gallon used. These charges penalize usage beyond basic

requirements and encourage people to use less so that they can save money.

Check with your state about water conservation requirements. For example, for more than

10 years, California and other states have required communities planning expansion of

water infrastructure to compare structural approaches to expansion (wells, sewers, treatment plants) with nonstructural approaches (leak repair, rate structure modification, and

toilet and other water fixture retrofits).

Drinking Water Quantity: Leak Detection

Finding and preventing leaks can save a lot of water. A water audit compares the total

quantity of water produced with metered water consumption. If the total metered water

usage is less than 85 percent of the total metered water production, a systemwide leak

detection survey should be conducted. Distribution pipes, treatment facilities, and water

pumps all can be sources of large leaks. Finding a leak can be difficult and expensive. Fixing

the leak, which often involves excavating covered pipes, can also be expensive. If the leak

is severe, however, the expense can be justified.

Drinking Water Quantity: Finding a New Supply

Except for communities with large growth potential or a major new water-consuming user

(such as a large subdivision), water conservation, leak correction, reuse options, and

regressive user charges may be enough to keep a community from having to seek a new

water supply. To justify these programs to members of the community, explain that the

programs avoid major capital expenses that go along with developing new water supplies.

If a major increase in the demand for drinking water is expected, however, a new water

supply might be necessary. This could be an excellent long-term alternative if a relatively

pure supply is close and available. Depleting a natural resource, however, always has a price.

Keep in mind, too, that increasing the supply will increase the cost of drinking water and

will also affect wastewater management costs.

Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 47
Finding Solutions: Wastewater

Domestic wastewater must be properly managed to avoid public health problems. Three

types of wastewater handling systems can be used in small communities: onsite systems,

cluster systems, and centralized systems. Your community might need a combination of

these systems, such as onsite systems in outlying areas, cluster systems in small residential

subdivisions, and centralized systems in more populated or commercial areas.

Onsite Systems

Septic systems handle the wastewater from one residence on site. These systems are very

common in small communities where homes are not close together. Septic systems consist

of a tank that retains the wastewater solids and a drainage field (leachfield) where the tank

effluent is distributed. In the leachfield, natural processes purify the liquid as it drains

through the soil.

Conventional septic systems work best on large lots with deep, permeable soils. A variety

of alternative onsite system designs are available to accommodate a range of difficult site

and soil conditions. The most appropriate system depends on factors such as how

permeable the soil is, how high the water table is, and how shallow the bedrock is.

Poorly sited, designed, installed, or maintained septic systems can result in surface ponding

in yards. Surface ponding that continues for an extensive period is considered a health

hazard and requires corrective action. Because maintenance is the only factor that can be

controlled once an onsite system is installed, a program of periodic inspection and/or

pumping is advisable. This approach, combined with public education to ensure that

owners are putting only appropriate materials down the drain, is the easiest to implement.

Repairs and replacements should always be done by professionals with the approval of local

or state authorities, since exposure to inadequately treated sewage and hydrogen sulfide

gas presents a health risk.

Although individuals usually own septic systems, a community can take a variety of steps

to maintain effective systems, including:

Periodically inspecting the system and requiring pumping when necessary.

Requiring an operating permit that must be renewed periodically to ensure maintenance.

Keeping files of all septic system locations and maintenance performed.

Requiring prior approval by the town or county health officer of all repairs and

replacements.

48 Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 
Setting up a fund to help homeowners with needed repairs or replacements.

In some states, legislation permits setting up onsite wastewater management districts. Of

course, one important way to improve the performance of an onsite system is to conserve

water. This reduces the volume of water the system has to handle. Detecting and repairing

leaky faucets and toilets, using low-flow showerheads, toilet dams, low-flush toilets, and

faucet aerators, and eliminating wasteful water use habits all conserve water.

Cluster Systems

In some neighborhoods individual onsite systems are inappropriate, either because lots are

too small or because other land characteristics make them impractical. In this situation, a

cluster system might be appropriate. A cluster system normally uses low-cost alternative

sewers to collect wastewater from homes in the area and transport it to a reliable, low-cost,

easily operated treatment/disposal facility. This type of system can be suitable for developments or neighborhoods of up to 100 homes but is often used for smaller groupings.

Several types of alternative sewer systems can be used to collect and transport wastewater

from residences to the treatment facility. (See Table 5-2 for a description of alternative

sewer systems.) The treatment facility is usually a larger version of an individual onsite

system, such as subsurface soil absorption systems or sand filters.

As with any treatment system, a maintenance program is essential to ensure proper

operation of a cluster system. Compared with conventional collection and treatment

systems, cluster systems require minimal maintenance. The maintenance program, however, should always be in place and clearly spelled out to homeowners who use the cluster

system.

Centralized Systems

In more densely settled areas, where multiple cluster systems are needed and onsite systems

are not practical, a centralized wastewater system might be necessary. Constructing

conventional sewers to collect the wastewater, however, is almost never practical for small

communities because of the high cost. Conventional sewers usually account for over

three-quarters of the total cost of a conventional wastewater collection and treatment

system. The high cost of constructing the sewer system might be acceptable on a

per-household basis, however, if no lift stations are required, but alternative designs are

almost always cheaper under the same circumstances. Alternative sewers—small-diameter

gravity, pressure, and vacuum sewers—can save 25 to 50 percent of the capital cost of

wastewater collection in small communities.

Many types of technologies are available for treating wastewater at a centralized plant.

Natural treatment technologies use natural processes associated with soils, vegetation, or

wetland environments to treat wastewater and include land treatment, lagoons, slow sand

filters, and constructed wetlands (see Table 5-3). These systems generally require larger

land areas than mechanical systems. Wastewater must be treated (usually by sedimentation

or lagoons) before application to land, filters, or wetlands.

Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 49
Table 5-2

Alternative Sewer Systems

Sewer

Option Description Applications Advantages Disadvantages

Costs Relative

to Conventional

Smalldiameter 

gravity sewers

A septic tank at

each house,

usually followed by

a small-diameter

sewer of

lightweight plastic

that can be buried

at shallow depths.

Suitable for areas

with:

■ Topography

sloping 

downward 

toward treatment

site.

■ Low-density

population.

■ High ground

water or shallow

bedrock.

■ Can be easily diverted

around, above, or

below obstacles.

■ Installed at shallow

depth; can often follow

contours of land.

■ Low infiltration of

ground water and

stormwater.

■ No power required.

■ Each service

connection requires

a septic tank.

■ Pumping and

disposal of septage 

from each tank

required.

■ Pump stations might

be required in rolling

terrain.

Capital: Low

O&M: Low

Smalldiameter 

pressure 

sewers

■ Septic tank

effluent 

pump 

(STEP).

■ Grinder

pump (GP).

STEP sewers pump

settled septic tank

liquid to a

treatment facility.

GP sewers grind

up solids in

wastewater and

pump liquids and

solids to treatment

facility. Both use

small-diameter 

piping buried at

shallow depths.

Suitable for areas

with:

■ Flat or upwardsloping topography.

■ Low-density

population.

■ High ground

water or shallow

bedrock.

■ No infiltration of

ground water or

stormwater.

■ Can be built around

buildings and trees.

■ No septic tank

required for GP.

■ Installed at shallow

depth.

■ Some manufacturer

technical assistance

available.

■ Power required for

pumping units at

each house.

■ Higher operation

and maintenance

costs.

■ Septic tank

pumping and

septage disposal

required for STEP.

■ High-strength GP

wastewater.

Capital: Low

O&M: Medium

Vacuum 

sewers

Wastewater is

collected in sumps

and enters sewer

through valve.

Wastewater is

drawn through

small-diameter

pipes to a central

vacuum station,

where it is then

pumped to

conventional sewer

or treatment facility.

Suitable for areas

with:

■ Flat terrain.

■ Higher density

population.

■ High ground

water or shallow

bedrock.

■ Single central power

connection.

■ No septic tanks

required.

■ Least likely to have

odor and corrosion

problems.

■ Minimal infiltration of

ground water and

stormwater.

■ Installed at shallow

depth.

■ Manufacturer provides

technical assistance 

program.

■ Skilled operation

and maintenance

required.

■ Minimum number of

connections is about

50 homes per

vacuum station.

Capital: Low

O&M: Medium

50 Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 
Table 5-3

Centralized Wastewater Treatment Technology Options

Technology Description Advantages/Disadvantages Costs

Land application:

■ Slow-rate infiltration (SRI).

■ Rapid infiltration (RI).

■ Overland flow (OF).

■ Subsurface wastewater

infiltration systems (SWIS).

Treated wastewater is sprayed or

flooded onto vegetated soils, sandy

basins, or a grass-covered slope,

or is distributed from pressurized

laterals below the surface in gravel

trenches. Natural processes purify

the wastewater.

■ All but SWIS require buffer area

for separation and require a 

long-term commitment of a 

large land area.

■ Ground water contamination by

nitrates might be a concern with

SWIS and RI.

■ Except for overland flow, no

discharge permit required.

■ SRI and OF unsuitable for

treating wastewater in cold

weather, requiring holding ponds

for storage during winter months.

Capital: Medium

O&M: Low

Lagoons:

■ Facultative.

■ Aerated.

■ Controlled discharge.

Wastewater is placed in a large

pond and is treated by the

interaction of sunlight, wind, algae,

and oxygen over time. Deeper

lagoons can be aerated to provide

additional oxygen. 

■ Odors possible.

■ Large amount of land required.

■ May not always meet

effluent requirements.

■ Aerated lagoons require

significant power.

Capital: Low

O&M: Low to 

medium

Constructed wetlands:

■ Free water surface (FWS).

■ Submerged flow (SF).

Settled wastewater is applied to a

SF-constructed wetland. Lagoontreated effluent is applied to FWS

wetlands. Natural processes purify

the wastewater.

■ FWS requires very large land

area.

■ Present SF design removes

organics and solids.

■ Low energy requirements.

Capital: Low

O&M: Low

Trickling filter Settled wastewater trickling down

through a bed of rock or plastic

media is purified by the bacteria

living in the medium. The bacteria

slough off and separate as sludge

in a final settling tank.

■ Process is vulnerable to 

freezing temperatures.

■ Less effective removal of toxics

and metals than activated sludge

(AS) systems.

■ Capable of meeting secondary

effluent standards.

■ Large volume of sludge 

generated.

■ High power requirements.

Capital: Medium

O&M: Medium

Oxidation ditches Screened and degritted raw

wastewater is mechanically aerated

in an oval ditch. After treatment,

liquid and sludge are separated in

a final settling tank.

■ Most stable performance of all

continuous flow mechanical

biological systems.

■ May be designed and operated

to meet water quality limits

beyond secondary effluent.

■ Skilled maintenance required.

■ Large volume of sludge

generated.

Capital: Medium

O&M: High

Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 51
Mechanical treatment technologies use engineered facilities that treat large volumes of

wastewater in a relatively small space. They require more skilled attention and energy to

operate and are less sensitive to changes in climate compared with most natural systems.

Mechanical systems appropriate for small communities include trickling filters, oxidation

ditches, and sequencing batch reactors.

All of the above treatment systems are usually capable of meeting state standards for

discharge to surface water. (All systems that discharge to surface water must obtain a

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System [NPDES] permit, which determines

the amount of treatment and monitoring required.)

All treatment systems produce some amount of sludge, which must also be treated and/or

properly managed. Sludge treatment systems reduce sludge volume by removing water

(dewatering). They can reduce the number of disease-causing organisms in sludge and

reduce its attraction for insects, rodents, and other animals through digestion, composting,

or adding lime. Spreading treated sludge on the land to improve soil or placing it in a

landfill are the most common disposal methods for small communities.

Depending on the wastewater discharge standards that apply to your community, a

centralized wastewater treatment facility might be required to disinfect the effluent before

discharging it to a water body. Your state may also restrict the use of certain natural

wastewater treatment or sludge disposal techniques.

Technology Description Advantages/Disadvantages Costs

Sequencing batch 

reactor

A tank is filled with screened and

degritted wastewater. Wastewater

is aerated, solids are allowed to

settle, and the effluent is drawn off

and discharged. One tank or

multiple parallel tanks can be used.

■ Subsequent (disinfection)

processes must be oversized

or require equalization.

■ Most flexible mechanical

biological treatment systems

capable of phosphorus and/or

nitrogen removal.

■ Large volume of sludge

generated.

■ Can be designed and operated

to meet water quality limits

beyond secondary effluent.

Capital: Medium

O&M: Medium

Slow sand filters:

■ Recirculating (RSF).

■ Intermittent (ISF).

Settled wastewater is applied to the

surface of a sand bed and allowed

to percolate through the bed,

where it receives treatment.

■ Reliable, high-quality treatment.

■ RSF capable of removing (~50%)

nitrogen.

■ Required land area intermediate

between natural and mechanical

system.

Capital: Medium

O&M: Low

Table 5-3

Centralized Wastewater Treatment Technology Options (continued)

52 Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 
Finding Solutions: Solid Waste 

The best approach to solving a community’s solid waste problem is integrated solid waste

management—using a combination of techniques and programs to manage the municipal

waste stream. An integrated system is designed to address a specific set of local solid waste

management problems, and its operation is based on local resources, economics, and

environmental impacts.

The idea behind integrated solid waste management is that a combination of approaches

can be used to handle targeted portions of waste stream. Local officials should consider a

series of activities, each of which is designed to complement the others. For example, a

recycling program can have positive impacts on the development of a waste-to-energy

facility. Source reduction, recycling, combustion, and landfilling can all have positive

impacts on the local municipal waste management problem.

To reduce waste management problems at the national level most effectively, states,

municipalities, and the waste management industry should first consider source reduction—reducing the amount and toxicity of the solid waste generated. Recycling of useful

waste materials is the next most desirable approach. Finally, composting, incineration, and

landfilling complete the solid waste hierarchy. Suitable combinations of these alternatives

are considered an integrated management program.

For small communities, regional cooperation in solid waste management offers several

advantages. Communities that join forces can share the resources needed to promote

reduction at the source and operate recycling and composting programs. For example,

communities often can obtain better contracts for selling recyclable materials with the

higher volume of materials resulting from regional cooperation. With incineration, a

regional facility is probably the only economically feasible approach. With landfilling,

regional cooperation can result in greater efficiency and cost savings in collecting and

transferring trash and in operating the solid waste facility. Larger facilities are more

attractive to private industry, which can relieve individual towns of the responsibilities of

operating these facilities. Host counties and communities can also claim additional cost

savings.

Pollution Prevention: Source Reduction, Recycling, and Composting

Source reduction, recycling, and composting reduce the total volume of waste that must

be disposed of, thereby lowering disposal costs and extending the life of your disposal

facility (landfill).

Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 53
Source Reduction

Source reduction is an approach that changes the way products are manufactured,

purchased, and used so that less solid waste is generated. You can ask community members

to generate less waste by:

Reusing plastic and paper shopping bags, lunch bags, and containers. For example, local

merchants can cooperate by offering a reward for each bag returned.

Eliminating unnecessary packaging.

Using long-life and energy-efficient products (such as light bulbs).

Avoiding disposable products if reusable items are available (such as razors and batteries).

Using mulching mowers so that grass does not have to be bagged.

Similarly, your town government should consider leading by example, revising its purchasing practices to follow the same principles listed above. Your community could also

consider using “pay-as-you-throw” rates for garbage collection to reduce the amount of

garbage. Over 1,000 communities, including many small communities, have adopted this

kind of system, which charges residents different disposal rates based on the amount of

garbage they generate. However, charges should reflect community attitudes. At many

locations where these systems were initiated without community support, illegal dumping

of solid waste has increased.

Recycling

Some solid wastes can be collected separately and sold to manufacturers as raw materials

for making products. Town leaders can tap into the desire among community members to

“do the right thing” by designing programs that make it easy to recycle. Recycling

collection programs range from simple, low-technology dropoff centers to complex

separation at material recovery facilities. Table 5-4 shows several recycling options. 

Critical to the success of a recycling program is the availability of markets for collected

materials. Without proper markets, storing, transporting, and disposing of the recyclables

that have been collected can result in significant costs. You will need to identify marketable

materials and the potential volume of each, and find potential buyers for the materials. In

general, marketable recycling materials include:

Aluminum cans Other metal cans

Glass bottles Some plastic bottles

High-grade office paper Newspaper and magazines

Cardboard Metals

Wet cell batteries (such as car batteries)

For the recycling process to go full circle, the recyclable materials that have been collected

must actually be reused. Small communities can help “close the loop” by purchasing

products with recycled content and encouraging citizens and local industries to do the

same; this helps create markets that ensure collected recyclables are reused.

54 Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 
Recycling alone will not solve a community’s solid waste problems, but it can divert a

significant portion of the waste stream from disposal in landfills or combustion facilities.

For a community of 1,000 people, recycling the materials listed on the previous page would

typically reduce the amount of waste disposed of in a landfill by about 5 percent.

Composting

Yard wastes (leaves, grass, weeds, and remains of plants) account for close to 20 percent

(by volume) of the municipal solid waste stream. Yard wastes can be easily decomposed by

bacteria and fungi to form a humuslike product useful as a soil amendment for gardening,

landscaping, and agriculture. A centralized yard waste composting program can be

relatively inexpensive and easy to operate, and can help reduce the amount of solid waste

bound for disposal. You can encourage homeowners to compost yard waste on their

property if a centralized system is not practical. Because home composting might attract

unwanted animal life or breed insects if not done properly, a public education or assistance

program is important. In addition, community programs that encourage the use of

mulching mowers and low-maintenance plantings can be very effective in reducing the

amount of yard waste generated.

Table 5-4

Recycling Options for Small Communities

Collection System Description Advantages/Disadvantages

Recycling in conjunction with

other public service

Recyclables are collected with other

public services, such as solid waste

collection.

■ Profits from sales of recyclable materials

are internalized within the solid waste

management program.

Regional facilities Collected materials are pooled in a

regional recycling center or facility.

■ Practical in areas with sparse population.

■ The recycling program has independent

budgeting and money-raising power.

■ Able to handle more recyclable

materials, which are more marketable 

for buyers.

Private recycling 

operations

Recycling is done through private entities,

such as industry or waste management

firms.

■ Reduces capital investment in collection

equipment.

■ Can be selective in accepting recyclable

materials (low-value materials such as

mixed paper may not be accepted).

Public recycling drives with 

volunteers

Recycling programs are run as

fundraising or public service activities.

These programs are often operated in

conjunction with local governments,

which may supply buildings, equipment,

and staff.

■ Increases public involvement and 

awareness.

Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 55
Solid Waste Collection and Transfer

Because it is labor intensive, collection is often the most costly part of a community’s solid

waste management program. Efficiency in the collection system can therefore save a

community a significant amount of money. Municipal workers or private collection

services can operate the collection system. Table 5-5 describes the advantages and disadvantages of alternative collection systems.

Collected solid wastes are delivered either to a transfer station or directly to disposal

facilities. Transfer stations are centralized facilities where waste is unloaded from several

small collection vehicles and loaded into a large vehicle; the large vehicle then transports

waste to the disposal facility. In this way, only one vehicle has to travel the last segment of

the journey to the disposal facility. In addition, operation of a transfer station can be

integrated with other waste management options such as recycling programs. Because of

its high capital and operating costs, however, you will need to perform a careful cost-benefit

analysis when evaluating the use of a transfer station. By sharing a regional transfer station,

communities that use the same disposal facility can substantially reduce their individual

costs.

Table 5-5

Alternative Collection Systems for Sparsely Populated Areas

Collection System Description Advantages Disadvantages

Direct haul Wastes are directly hauled by

residents to a transfer or

disposal facility.

■ Appropriate in sparsely

populated areas, where a

collection system is impractical.

■ Low costs.

■ Can be inconvenient for 

residents.

■ Difficult to control waste 

separation.

■ Higher incidence of illegal

dumping.

Green box or roll-off

containers

8- to 12-cubic-yard (or larger)

steel containers are placed

strategically throughout the

community, to which residents

must deliver waste. A larger

collection vehicle collects the

waste from the container.

■ Reduces the travel distance

for residents, compared with 

direct haul.

■ Less traffic congestion near

disposal facilities.

■ Reduces incidence of illegal

dumping compared with direct

haul.

■ Difficult to control waste

separation.

■ Costs somewhat more than

direct haul.

“Mailbox” collection Residents leave their waste

near their mailboxes for

scheduled collection.

■ No community capital costs

for purchasing containers 

and constructing pads.

■ Minimizes illegal dumping.

■ Assumes a collection vehicle

can travel same routes as 

mail delivery vehicle.

■ More expensive due to labor

and need for collection vehicle.

Green bag/blue bag

collection

Residents separate their wastes

for curbside pickup.

■ Allows collection of compostable and noncompostable

waste.

■ Usually feasible only for a

large (e.g., countywide)

program.

56 Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 
For most rural and sparsely populated communities, green box or mailbox collection

programs are the most practical approach, but in some very rural settings, direct haul

might be the only option.

Solid Waste Disposal

The most common methods for solid waste disposal are landfilling and incineration.

Landfilling involves placing wastes in a large, specially designed cavity, then covering them

with soil (or approved alternative materials) each day. The daily cover prevents attraction

of animals and insects. Federal law mandates many specific requirements for landfills,

including that the bottom of the landfill be lined with more than one layer of impermeable

materials (synthetic plastic and natural clay) to prevent the contamination of ground water

by liquid leaching from the landfill.

Incineration involves burning combustible solid wastes (such as paper and plastic materials) in a large, specially designed furnace. The waste is reduced to an ash, which must

then be disposed of, usually in a landfill. Incinerators can generate valuable energy as a

byproduct.

Regional landfills and incineration facilities can provide practical and cost-effective regional solutions for several small communities. Capital and operating costs for these

facilities are shared by a larger number of users, reducing the cost to individuals in any one

community.

Finding Solutions: Hazardous Waste

Improper disposal of household hazardous waste (HHW), including used oil, can have

major environmental consequences for small communities, especially for drinking water

supplies. A number of small communities have begun HHW collection programs and used

oil recycling programs to prevent pollution from these substances.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection Programs

Many common household products contain hazardous constituents (see Table 5-6). These

products become HHW once the consumer no longer has any use for them. The average

U.S. household is estimated to generate more than 20 pounds of HHW per year. As much

as 100 pounds can accumulate in the home, often remaining there until the family moves

or does an extensive cleanout. HHW can pose risks to people and the environment if it is

not used and stored carefully and disposed of properly.

HHW programs benefit communities by reducing the risks to health and the environment

resulting from improper storage and disposal of HHW. While programs vary across the

Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 57
Table 5-6

Some Potentially Harmful Components of Common Household Products

Product Typical Toxic or Hazardous Components

Antifreeze (gasoline or coolants systems) Methanol, ethylene glycol

Automatic transmission fluid Petroleum distillates, xylene

Automobile battery acid (electrolyte) Sulfuric acid

Degreasers for driveways and garages Petroleum solvents, alcohols, glycol ether

Degreasers for engines and metal Chlorinated hydrocarbons, toluene, phenols, dichloroperchloroethylene

Engine and radiator flushes Petroleum solvents, ketones, butanol, glycol ether

Hydraulic fluid (brake fluid) Hydrocarbons, fluorocarbons

Motor oils, waste oils, grease and lubes,

gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, 

#2 heating oil

Hydrocarbons

Rustproofers Phenols, heavy metals

Carwash detergents Alkyl benzene sulfonates

Car waxes and polishes; bug/tar 

removers

Petroleum distillates, hydrocarbons, xylene

Asphalt and roofing tar Hydrocarbons

Paints, varnishes, stains, dyes Heavy metals, toluene

Paint and lacquer thinner Acetone, benzene, toluene, butyl acetate, methyl ketones

Paint and varnish removers, deglossers,

strippers

Methylene chloride, toluene, acetone, methanol, xylene

Paintbrush cleaners Hydrocarbons, toluene, acetone, methanol, glycol ethers, methyl ethyl ketones

Metal polishes Petroleum distillates, isopropanol, petroleum naphtha

Laundry soil and stain removers Hydrocarbons, benzene, trichloroethylene, 1,1,1-trichloromethane

Other solvents Acetone, benzene

Refrigerants 1,1,2-trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane

Household cleansers, oven cleaners Xylenols, glycol ethers, isopropanol

Drain cleaners 1,1,1-trichloromethane

Toilet cleaners Xylene, sulfonates, chlorinated phenols

Disinfectants Cresol, xylenols, heavy metals

Ointments Heavy metals

Pesticides (all types) Naphthalene, phosphorus, xylene, chloroform, heavy metals, chlorinated

hydrocarbons

Photochemicals Phenols, sodium sulfite, cyanide, silver halide, potassium bromide

Printing ink Heavy metals, phenol-formaldehyde

Wood preservatives (creosote) Pentachlorophenols

Swimming pool chlorine Sodium hypochlorite

Lye or caustic soda Sodium hydroxide

Jewelry cleaners Sodium cyanide

Cosmetics Heavy metals

Source: Adapted from University of Rhode Island. 1988. Natural resources facts: Household hazardous wastes. Fact sheet no. 88-3 

(August).

58 Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 
country, most include both educational and collection components. Public education about

HHW is necessary no matter what collection/disposal strategy is used. Education can focus

on:

How HHW contributes to pollution.

Which kinds of products contain hazardous constituents.

Which alternative products contain fewer or no hazardous constituents.

How to reduce the amount of HHW generated in the home (such as using up household

products or giving away what cannot be used).

How to properly store, handle, and dispose of products in the home containing

hazardous constituents.

Communities usually begin a HHW program by designating a specific day for residents

to drop off HHW. Organizing a collection event, perhaps with neighboring communities,

is an important first step in reducing and managing risks associated with HHW. Options

for HHW collection are shown in Table 5-7.

Table 5-7

Selected Household Hazardous Waste Collection Systems

System Description Advantages Disadvantages

One day dropoff 

collection

A licensed hazardous waste

contractor signs a contract with

the community (or several

communities) to collect HHW

on site. Residents drop off the

wastes at specified locations

on a specified day.

■ Most HHW is accepted.

■ Costs may be reduced if

more communities are involved.

■ Most widely used collection

method.

■ Possible congestion or delays

at collection point.

■ Public participation is limited

to volunteers.

■ Some cost to community.

Mobile facility 

dropoff

A moveable facility allows

periodic collections on a

regular schedule at different

sites within a county or several

communities.

■ Increases public participation

over dropoff method as

number of sites increases.

■ Initial investment is very high

(contract rental may reduce 

the costs).

Curbside collection Scheduled collection 

conducted by contract collector

(usually 1–4 times/year).

■ Efficient if well managed.

■ Maximizes public 

participation.

■ Most convenient for 

participants.

■ Expensive.

■ Types of wastes usually

limited to waste oil, paint, 

or certain hazardous wastes

such as explosives and

corrosive wastes in corroded

containers.

Point of purchase Residents return HHW to retail

stores where the products were

originally purchased.

■ Low cost.

■ Deposit requirement on

purchase may enhance public

participation.

■ Types of wastes are limited

(usually car batteries and

waste oils).

Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 59
Finding Solutions: Nonpoint Source Pollution

Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution comes from many different sources and affects both

surface water and ground-water quality. NPS pollution can especially be a problem when

it affects drinking water supplies. Even water bodies that are not used for drinking water,

however, can become so degraded that they can no longer be used for desirable purposes,

such as fishing and swimming.

Because of the strong relationship between drinking water and NPS issues, many of the

technology and management options presented in this chapter for drinking water are also

useful for NPS pollution. NPS pollution control should be part of wellhead and watershed

protection programs. The most important aspects of NPS pollution control programs are:

Identifying sources of NPS pollution.

Developing management strategies to control NPS pollution. As with wellhead and

watershed protection, this includes regulatory strategies, nonregulatory strategies, and

financing strategies, as well as control methods that the local government can use

directly.

Educating the community on NPS pollution problems and strategies to reduce those

problems.

Sources of NPS Pollution

Many different activities and land-use patterns create NPS pollution. Commonly, NPS

pollutants are carried by rain and snowmelt that run into lakes, streams, and other water

bodies. Stormwater runoff can carry soil, fertilizers, pesticides, oil and other car fluids,

trash, and other materials that affect water quality. Runoff increases when natural vegetation, which captures and uses much of the rainwater, is removed. Problems also occur when

natural lands are developed and covered with houses and hard surfaces such as asphalt that

do not absorb water. Rainwater that falls on these surfaces quickly runs into surrounding

areas. This problem is worsened when contaminants on these surfaces, such as antifreeze

leaked from cars, are washed with the runoff into surrounding water bodies.

Runoff is also a major problem on surfaces that cannot absorb water quickly enough, such

as exposed soil. This is a particular concern because runoff over bare soils causes erosion,

which increases water quality problems and wastes valuable soil resources.

Air pollution also contributes to NPS water pollution. Contaminants that are released to

the air settle or are ultimately washed out of the air by rain or snow.

60 Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 
Management Strategies for NPS Pollution

There are two practical ways to reduce NPS pollution:

Reducing contaminants that are applied to the soil or released to the air.

Keeping stormwater runoff to a minimum.

For small communities some of the most common contaminants that contribute to NPS

pollution are pesticides and fertilizers. Most pesticides contain toxic substances that can

contaminate drinking water and poison plant or animal life. Fertilizers can cause excessive

levels of nitrate in ground water and can cause excessive algae growth in surface water

bodies. Too much algae reduces the oxygen and sunlight available in the water, which

harms naturally growing plants and animals. When too much of a pesticide or fertilizer is

applied to plants or soils, the excess is washed away into receiving waters. When pesticides

and fertilizers are used before a rainstorm, much of what has been applied can be

immediately washed away. Using too much of these substances and using them at the wrong

time also wastes money.

The best way to reduce NPS pollution is to reduce the amount of nonabsorbent and

minimally absorbent ground cover. A good approach is to surround areas such as parking

lots with plant-covered strips that can capture and soak up runoff. Finally, exposed or bare

soil should be limited as much as possible. Stalks, leaves, and other plant residue can be

left to cover the soil after crops are harvested, or quick-growing plants such as grasses can

be planted on exposed soils. These methods protect the soil for the next growing season

and help reduce pollution of nearby water bodies.

Examples of regulatory, nonregulatory, and financing strategies available to small communities for NPS pollution control are presented in Table 5-8.

Educating the Community

Because NPS pollution control strategies can help both the environment and community

residents, educational programs can be extremely successful. Before people will change

their actions to reduce NPS pollution, they need to be made aware of how their activities

affect local water bodies. They also need to be educated on how to best reduce NPS

pollution. You can make a big difference by educating community residents. Use public

service announcements and press releases to spread the word about the causes of NPS

pollution problems. Set up a committee that can provide advice to local residents on how

best to reduce NPS pollution and save money at the same time. Send out pamphlets that

outline the problems and possible solutions.

Educational programs can be both popular and powerful. Communities around the

country have used educational programs to spur actions that protect their valued waterways. People are willing to help once they are armed with the knowledge they need.

Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 61
Table 5-8

Reducing Nonpoint Source Pollution: Options for Small Communities

Program Type Description Advantages Disadvantages

Protective zoning Areas within the community

are separated into land-use

zones and districts. Sensitive

areas, such as wetlands and

strips along rivers, lakes, and

other water bodies, are

identified. Potentially

damaging activities in these

areas, such as excessive

pesticide use and

development, are restricted.

■ Water bodies susceptible to

NPS pollution can be directly

protected.

■ Environmentally beneficial

land-use practices can be

encouraged, while land-use

practices that cause

environmental problems can

be discouraged or eliminated.

■ Does not affect current landuse practices that are causing

pollution.

■ Can be controversial because

it affects how residents can 

use their land.

■ Requires significant administration and enforcement.

Acquisition Sensitive areas, or buffer

zones around sensitive areas,

are purchased by the

community. The community

can then directly control

activities in these areas to

reduce NPS pollution.

■ Offers the most direct

protection for water bodies

susceptible to NPS pollution.

■ Can achieve other goals,

such as flood management,

creation of open space for

recreation, and preservation 

of ecologically important

settings.

■ Potentially high costs.

Tax incentives Landowners that keep their

land in a state that reduces

NPS pollution, such as forest

land, are taxed at a lower rate

than those that develop their

land.

■ Promotes environmentally

beneficial land-use practices

while discouraging practices

that cause environmental

problems.

■ Limits local government 

intervention.

■ Might result in lost tax

revenue for the community.

■ Requires significant

administration, assessment, 

and bookkeeping.

■ Landowners might still

develop their lands, despite 

the program.

62 Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 
Finding Solutions: Underground Storage Tanks

Thousands of small and rural governments own and operate underground storage tanks

(USTs). Eighty percent or more of the USTs in small towns are made of unprotected steel

and might leak after as few as 10 years in the ground. Leaking tanks pose a major threat

to ground water. In 1992, corrective action costs for a spill or leak contaminating only soil

ranged from $10,000 to $125,000. Cleanup costs involving ground water can range from

$100,000 to over $1 million, depending on the extent of contamination. 

Your community should develop a list of private existing and abandoned underground

storage tanks, as well as those owned and operated by the community. Contact your state

regulatory agency to see if it has a list of USTs in your area.

 A community has two basic options for reducing the potential risks associated with owning

an UST:

Closing existing USTs. This option eliminates potential future liabilities. The cost of

removing old tanks and assessing the site ranges from $5,000 to $10,000. Table 5-9

shows a number of options that small communities can choose if they close existing

USTs. More than one of these options can be used at the same time.

Upgrading existing community-owned USTs through repair and installation of required systems that protect against leaks and spills. This may be a very expensive option

—$20,000 to $30,000 for equipment and labor and $2,000 to $6,000 annual operating

costs—and does not relieve the community of liability for future leaks and spills.

Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 63
Table 5-9

Options for Communities That Close Existing USTs

Costs*

Option Description Advantages Disadvantages Category Range

1. Using

commercial

supplies

Maximize use of

nearby commercial

petroleum product 

suppliers.

■ If conveniently

located suppliers 

are available,

eliminates future

liability with only

slightly higher costs.

■ Depends on the

availability and 

long-term stability 

of the suppliers.

■ Slight increase in

fuel costs.

■ Additional fuel

costs.

$0.05–$0.20

more for each

gallon of fuel

purchased.

2. Using 

alternative

fuels

Use alternatives to oil

(such as electricity or

natural gas) for

heating purposes.

■ Potential added

benefit of reduced

pollution.

■ Fuel costs may be

substantially higher.

■ O&M costs may

be changed.

■ Conversion costs 

can be substantial.

■ Conversion and

operating costs.

Determined 

by type of

alternative.

3. RegionalizationSeveral communities

share one large,

centrally located

facility with one or

several USTs and

close some or all 

their USTs.

■ Has some of the

advantages of 

closing existing 

USTs.

■ Communities share

the cost of compliance and liability.

■ Not practical in

sparsely settled areas.

■ Possible

inconvenience due 

to travel distance 

and time.

■ New tank

installation and

operating costs.

Determined by

facility size

and complexity.

4. Privatization

of USTs

Community signs

lease agreement with

a private vendor;

under agreement, 

the vendor constructs,

operates, and owns

the facility.

■ Reduces or

eliminates liability.

■ Capital costs are

spread out over the

term of the lease.

■ Used where #1 is

not feasible.

■ Higher costs per

unit of storage 

capacity.

■ Typical annual

lease payments

for 5 years.

$9,000–

$15,000 

annually.

5. Aboveground tanksConstruct storage

tanks above the

ground.

■ Reduces many

environmental risks

associated with USTs.

■ Lower O&M 

and possibly 

capital costs.

■ Easy leak detection

and remediation.

■ Subject to more 

dangerous 

explosions from 

vapor leaks.

■ Safety issues may

result in prohibition 

of construction in

certain areas.

■ Tank installation. $20,000–

$50,000.

6. Installation 

of new USTs

Install state-of-the-art

UST for best

performance and

management.

■ Protection against

leaks and spills.

■ Most expensive 

option.

■ Still liable for spills

and leaks.

■ Typical

operating costs.

■ Typical

installation costs 

(equipment and

labor) per tank.

$2,000–

$6,000

(annual only).

$25,000–

$50,000.

* Costs are in addition to the $5,000–$10,000 cost of closing existing USTs (removing old tanks and assessing sites).

64 Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 
Ruraltown Narrows the Options: 

Septic Tank Problems

Septic systems are a serious problem in certain areas of Ruraltown,

causing high coliform counts in nearby private wells. Some septic

systems had been installed in areas where they could never accept the

wastewater properly because the soil was too shallow or impermeable.

After discussion with the local extension agent and a state official, the

planning team obtained soil maps for the area. Overlaying the septic system

failures revealed that certain areas of the town were unsuitable for the use

of these systems, with the areas of failures generally matching the areas

with unsuitable soils. Other, outlying areas had good soils for septic systems,

and the overlay revealed few problems there.

The planning team drew up a list of possible options to address this problem

and eliminated some from consideration. Where conventional onsite septic

systems wouldn’t work, the team learned, some other types of onsite systems

(such as mound systems) might be feasible for the soil conditions in the

area. Conveying wastewater from a number of homes via a small diameter

effluent sewer to a “cluster” treatment facility (large soil absorption system

or sand filter) might also be possible on a suitable site a short distance

away. The team ruled out conventional sewers and centralized wastewater

treatment for the homes in question because of the large distances between

homes and between these homes and the existing underused collection

system, which would have resulted in prohibitive costs. Low-cost sewers,

however, could be used to carry wastewater to the existing mains.

The Ruraltown team narrowed the options in this manner for each of the

problems and needs it had identified. The list of feasible options is shown

on the next page.

Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 65
Feasible Solutions to Ruraltown’s Problems

Problem Solution

Drinking water samples exceed

coliform MCL

Obtain outside assistance (such as a circuit rider or

contract O&M) to provide on-the-job training and

supervision for Ruraltown’s operators/administrators.

Improve chlorination equipment (upgrade mixing system

and contact tank).

Implement wellhead protection program.

Hire engineering firm to evaluate long-term needs.

Inadequate drinking water system

capacity

Conduct full professional evaluation.

Upgrade current treatment facility.

Dig new wells in protected areas.

Replace portions of distribution system.

Implement water supply program (water conservation,

leak detection, new rate structure, and public education).

Drinking water plant does not

meet all monitoring requirements

Determine and conduct all required monitoring.

Investigate possibility of monitoring waiver for some

contaminants.

Seek agreement with other communities to pool

samples to reduce costs of commercial laboratory, or

consider using an academic institution in area.

High coliform counts in 

private well supplies near septic

systems in areas with high ground

water

Install new onsite mound systems (for problem systems).

Install cluster collection and treatment facility.

Add point-of-use and point-of-entry disinfection units

at problem locations.

Pesticide use near drinking water

wells

Set limits on type and amount of pesticides applied in

wellhead protection areas.

Encourage farmers and homeowners to use less

hazardous chemicals with more efficient application.

Provide hazardous waste collection system for area.

Aging underground storage tanks

owned by town

Close all underground petroleum tanks.

Get petroleum products from nearby commercial

sources.

Replace tanks.

66 Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 
Problem Solution

Poor wastewater treatment plant

performance; effluent exceeds

organic matter and suspended 

solids limits

Conduct full professional treatment plant evaluation.

Obtain circuit rider assistance and training.

Implement water supply program (water conservation,

leak detection, new rate structure, and public education).

Failing septic tank systems Replace with new onsite systems where soils acceptable.

Collect with low-cost sewers to cluster disposal system.

Collect with low-cost sewers to existing sewer mains.

Landfill doesn’t meet state design

requirements; almost full

Construct a new landfill with new required design.

Close landfill and build transfer station.

Implement a source reduction program with public

education; charge residential customers by the bag and

review results annually.

Enter regional agreement to build new disposal facility

and materials recovery facility.

Pollution of surface water by

fertilizers (nitrates and phosphates)

Educate farmers on use of grassy strips and other

means to contain runoff pollutants.

Educate farmers, commercial appliers, and residents

on more efficient use of fertilizers in the watershed

protection area.

Leaf burning Encourage yard waste composting by residents.

Initiate townwide yard waste collection and composting.

Household hazardous waste 

(including used oil) contaminating

ground water near landfill

Start public education program about household

hazardous waste and used oil.

Identify or provide a market/use for used oil.

Ask the gas station to collect used oil.

Start periodic household hazardous waste collection

days with neighboring communities (e.g., once or twice

per year).

Feasible Solutions to Ruraltown’s Problems (continued)

Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 67
Problem Solution

Might be asbestos in elementary

school

Make sure school is inspected.

If asbestos is found, see if containment option is feasible.

Lead paint in homes Start educational program through schools about what

the hazards are and how to minimize them.

Radon in homes Determine if radon exists in planning area; if so, start

educational program about what the hazards are and

how to check for and minimize them.

Runoff from construction sites and

tannery

Notify construction companies and tannery about NPS

pollution regulations and provide information on stormwater best management practices (BMPs) alternatives.

Monitor their implementation of these practices and

keep authorities informed of violations.

Feasible Solutions to Ruraltown’s Problems (continued)

68 Chapter 5: Finding Feasible Solutions for Your Community 
Putting 

the Plan 

Together

B

y this point, you have gathered 

together the information you need to 

put together your community environmental plan. You have defined your 

community’s vision for the future, your 

community’s environmental problems and 

needs, and feasible solutions. Now it’s time 

to set priorities for action and produce a coherent plan—your road map and your schedule

for reaching your goals.

To create your community environmental plan, three steps remain:

Target the most important problems for your community to solve.

Set priorities for action and choose the solutions to implement.

Put the plan together, making sure that all the solutions fit together

(including coordinating with regulatory agencies to make sure that they agree).

Targeting the Problems

At this step, the planning team needs to decide which problems to target. You have already

laid much of the groundwork for this in Chapter 4, when you determined the greatest

hazards to people and the environment, determined the regulatory requirements you have

to meet, and evaluated how effective your environmental facilities are.

You should target the problems your planning team considers to pose the highest risk,

since protecting the health and environment of your community’s residents is your first

priority. If your community is not in compliance with regulations covering other problems,

however, it is in your community’s best interest to consider these regulations as you put

your plan together. Make sure that you discuss this situation with your state agency as early

as possible. Explain your community’s desire to solve the high-risk problems first. Let them

know that, in your plan, you will address how and when your community will meet the

regulatory requirements that cover the other problems. Be willing to discuss a timetable

for compliance. If you have a clear plan for addressing the regulatory requirements in the

6

69
future, regulatory agencies should be able to negotiate with you to develop a long-term

agreement and exercise some flexibility in their enforcement roles. The state can be a

valuable ally in your efforts to “do the right thing.”

If you have facilities that are not performing well, you might want to target those problems

too, even if they don’t yet pose a high risk or cause you to be out of compliance with

regulations. Poorly working environmental facilities waste money and other resources and

are likely to cause bigger problems in the future. 

Finally, your community probably has other important considerations besides risks,

regulations, and performance of environmental facilities. These might be social or economic goals, such as:

Attracting businesses to the community.

Making the community a nicer place to live.

Promoting tourism.

Each community has its own set of considerations and priorities. For some communities,

these other considerations might even be more important than reducing risk. This would

be a good time to revisit your community vision to see what goals residents value the most.

At this stage in the planning process, you should rearrange the list of your community’s

needs and problems according to the considerations that are most important to your

community. Since some will probably be equally pressing, you can arrange them in

categories, such as “action is urgent,” “action is necessary,” and “action is desirable.” The

box entitled “Ruraltown’s Priorities” shows how Ruraltown grouped its needs and problems.

Setting Priorities for Action

Which solutions will you implement to address your problems and needs? Which will you

implement now, and which will you implement farther down the road?

You should already have a handle on which solutions are feasible for your community, how

quickly or easily they can be implemented, approximately how much they cost, and what

they can achieve (see Chapter 5). List these solutions, along with key information about

them, next to the problems.

70 Chapter 6: Putting the Plan Together
Ruraltown’s Priorities

The Ruraltown planning team grouped its environmental problems as shown

below. The “urgent” problems were those that presented the highest risks to

human health. Those grouped under “action is necessary” were high or medium

risks, or were regulatory violations. Those grouped under “action is desirable”

were not regulatory issues and had lower or longer term risks.

In its discussions with state officials, the Ruraltown team learned that the town

might be able to obtain “use waivers” from the expensive drinking water monitoring

requirements for certain organic and inorganic chemicals. States can grant these

waivers when it can be shown that a contaminant has not been used, manufactured,

or stored in the wellhead area. The state agreed to help the team develop a plan

to apply for a waiver and comply with all other monitoring requirements.

Action Is Urgent Drinking water samples exceed coliform MCL

High coliform counts in wells near septic systems in areas with high

ground water

Landfill doesn’t meet state design requirements; almost full

Action Is Necessary Poor wastewater treatment plant performance

Failing septic tank systems

Inadequate drinking water plant capacity

Drinking water plant does not meet all monitoring requirements

Improper disposal of used oil and household hazardous waste 

Pesticide use near private drinking water wells

Might be asbestos in elementary school

Pollution of surface water by fertilizers

Aging underground storage tanks owned by town

Lead paint in homes

Action Is Desirable Runoff from construction sites and tannery

Radon in homes

Leaf burning

Chapter 6: Putting the Plan Together 71
Setting your priorities for action requires a balancing act. You want to solve as many of

the most urgent problems as you can with the resources you have. You might also want to

address problems that don’t necessarily pose a high risk but that have easy and inexpensive

solutions. For example, littering generally does not pose a great hazard to public health or

to ecosystems. The littering problem, however, might be easily solved by providing trash

cans in public places, having school children make posters that can be displayed throughout

town asking people not to litter, or even getting local law enforcement involved, if

necessary. Activities that involve a broad spectrum of your community help generate public

support for the overall environmental program.

Also, keep in mind that your resources might not be as limited as you think. Chapter 7

provides some information about obtaining resources to implement your plan, including

how to draw on the resources of other communities and the private sector. Be creative

when making your choices, and be open to new resource possibilities.

Give special attention to solutions that can address more than one problem. For example,

you might decide that leaf burning is a low-priority problem in your community, while

managing solid waste is a high priority. Yard waste composting is a solution for reducing

solid waste that also helps discourage leaf burning and its associated air pollution problems.

The matrix below can help you set short-term priorities for action. Keep in mind that your

community is likely to have longer term needs that might require substantial resources to

solve.

Remember, this is the environmental plan for your community. Only the people in your

community know what the priorities for action should be. So take charge, be creative, and

do your best to juggle your options to solve as many of your community’s environmental

problems as possible while maintaining public support and using resources wisely.

Looking at the Big Picture

At this stage in the planning process, your community environmental plan will be pretty

well hammered out. The only thing left to do is to look at the big picture. For each of the

problems that are priorities for action in your environmental plan, try to predict the full

outcome of using the solution (or solutions). See if any of the solutions you have chosen

might cause new problems or interfere with one another. Say, for example, that your

community decides to expand its ground-water supply system. This could mean that the

“zone of contribution” for the well—the area of an aquifer that recharges the well—could

Problem Is Very Important

for the Community to Solve

Problem Is Less

Important for the

Community to Solve

Solutions Require Few

Resources

Include solutions in the plan Probably include solutions

in the plan

Solutions Require Many

Resources

Include as many solutions as

possible in the plan

Don’t include solutions in

the plan

72 Chapter 6: Putting the Plan Together
expand to encompass more septic tank leachfields or other potential sources of contamination. Talk to your local experts and county, state, and federal contacts. Ask them if they

foresee any problems with how the solutions fit together.

Community support will be crucial to the success of your plan. As you look at each solution,

ask yourselves questions about how much support it will have in the community:

How concerned is the community about the problem that the solution addresses?

Do you have local leadership necessary to undertake and complete the needed changes?

Can you draw on local capabilities, equipment, and ingenuity to implement the

solution?

Consider that the county, state, and federal governments have to protect the broader public

interest and might find your plan too narrow. Keeping an eye on environmental problems

that you might be exporting to other communities will help you anticipate and avoid

conflicts with higher levels of government.

Finally, never lose sight of your community vision. Looking at each problem independently can make it difficult to see how it all fits together. Throughout the process, stop

and consider what you are really trying to accomplish.

Chapter 6: Putting the Plan Together 73
Ruraltown Puts Together Its

Environmental Plan

The Ruraltown planning team, with the assistance of representatives from

the state environmental agency, selected the solutions to implement based

on several factors. After reviewing the list of feasible solutions, the team clearly

saw that lower cost strategies emphasizing pollution prevention and public

education would provide major benefits for the town. In several cases, the team

selected educational strategies over more coercive methods. For example, the

team decided to provide information to farmers and residents about ways to

reduce pollution from pesticides and fertilizers. In its work with residents, the

team found several people who were enthusiastic about developing education

programs for the community.

Despite the benefits of voluntary efforts, Ruraltown still needed major improvements to its environmental facilities. To address the failing onsite septic

systems in areas with unsuitable soils, the team determined that a new cluster

treatment system would be the most cost effective of the feasible options. The

team contacted local construction companies about using equipment to help

construct such a system. A civic organization and the residents who would be

served by the systems agreed to donate time to the project to help reduce costs.

For the drinking water and wastewater treatment plants, the team decided to

obtain circuit rider assistance to improve operator skills in the short term

(instead of hiring a trained full-time operator) and to plan for major capital

improvements over the next 5 years. In the long term, the plants may have to

be upgraded and expanded to accommodate growth in the area (if the growth

demand exceeds water savings due to the new rate structure designed to discourage unnecessary water use.) Ruraltown would fund a professional evaluation

of the long-term needs of both plants after the immediate programs have been

in place long enough for the town to assess their effects.

Finally, the town would pursue a regional agreement to build a new disposal

facility and materials recovery facility. The team determined that in the long

run this would be less expensive than building and using a transfer station,

especially since several other towns in the county were also experiencing problems managing their solid waste.

74 Chapter 6: Putting the Plan Together
Ruraltown Chooses Priorities for Action

Action Is Urgent

Drinking water samples 

exceed coliform MCL 

✔ Obtain assistance from a circuit rider (immediately)

✔ Improve chlorination equipment

✔ Take the first steps in setting up a wellhead protection program;

determine low-cost ways to protect ground water (immediately)

✔ Hire engineering firm to evaluate long-term needs (later)

High coliform counts in

wells near septic systems

in areas with high ground

water

Install new onsite mound systems

✔ Have engineers design and install cluster collection and treatment

facility 

✔ Install point-of-use/point-of-entry disinfection units in affected homes

(temporary)

Landfill doesn’t meet state

design requirements; 

almost full

Construct a new landfill with new required design

Close landfill and build transfer station

✔ Enter regional agreement to build new disposal facility and materials

recovery facility

✔ Implement source reduction program with public education; including

yard waste collection/composting

✔ Charge residential customers by the bag and review results annually

Action Is Necessary

Poor wastewater treatment

performance; effluent

exceeds organics and

suspended solids limits

✔ Conduct full professional treatment plant evaluation

✔ Obtain circuit rider assistance/training

✔ Implement water supply program (water conservation, leak detection,

new rate structure, and public education)

Failing septic tank systems Replace with new onsite systems where soils are acceptable

✔ Collect with low-cost sewers to cluster disposal system (see above)

Collect with low-cost sewers to existing sewer mains

Inadequate drinking water 

system capacity

✔ Conduct full professional evaluation

✔ Begin planning capital improvements (5 years) to upgrade current

treatment facility and replace portions of distribution system

Dig new wells in protected areas

✔ Implement water supply program (see above)

Drinking water plant does not

meet monitoring requirements

✔ Apply for monitoring waiver for contaminants not present or used in

the area

✔ Conduct all other monitoring

✔ Seek agreement with other communities to pool samples to obtain

better analytical rate from commercial laboratory or academic

institution in area

Chapter 6: Putting the Plan Together 75
Action Is Necessary (continued)

Household hazardous

waste (including used oil) 

contaminating landfill

leachate and ground water

✔ Start public education program about household hazardous waste

and used oil disposal

✔ Identify or provide a market/use for used oil

✔ Ask the gas station to collect used oil 

✔ Start periodic household hazardous waste collection days with

neighboring communities (once or twice per year)

Pesticide use near private

drinking water wells

Set limits on type and amount of pesticide application in wellhead 

protection areas

✔ Encourage farmers and homeowners to use less hazardous chemicals

with more efficient application

✔ Provide hazardous waste collection system for area (see above)

Might be asbestos in

elementary school

✔ Make sure school is inspected

✔ If asbestos is found, determine if containment solution is feasible

Pollution of surface water

by fertilizers (nitrates and

phosphates)

✔ Educate farmers on use of grassy strips and other means to contain

runoff pollutants

✔ Educate farmers and residents on more efficient use of fertilizers in

the watershed protection area

Aging underground

storage tanks owned by

town

✔ Close the community-owned underground petroleum tanks

✔ Get petroleum products from nearby commercial sources

Replace tanks

Lead paint in homes ✔ Start educational program through schools about what hazards are

and how to minimize them

Action Is Desirable

Runoff from construction sites

and tannery

✔ Notify construction companies and tannery about NPS pollution

regulations and provide information on stormwater BMPs

✔ Monitor their implementation of these practices and keep state

authorities informed of violations

Radon in homes ✔ Determine if radon exists in planning area; if so, start educational

program through schools about what hazards are and how to check

for and minimize them. If not, no action necessary

Leaf burning Encourage yard waste composting by residents

✔ Initiate town-wide yard waste collection and composting

Ruraltown Chooses Priorities for Action (continued)

76 Chapter 6: Putting the Plan Together
Implementation: 

Putting the Plan Into Action 

and Keeping It On Track

N

ow you have your community 

environmental plan—your 

road map to the destination 

your community wants to 

reach. But even the best map will be

worthless if you never buy your 

vehicle, gas it up, and hit the road. 

You’ll need a maintenance schedule 

to keep things running smoothly. And don’t forget—no matter how good your road

map is, detours, flat tires, and accidents might force you off course. You need to check

your progress regularly and see whether you need to change your route.

This chapter is about implementation: putting the plan into action, evaluating how well

the plan works, and revising the plan as you need to. In your environmental plan, your

community has outlined the solutions it wants to use to manage environmental issues. Now

it is time to iron out the approach for implementing the plan, which includes:

Developing a schedule for putting the plan into action.

Financing the plan.

Determining the role your local government and other governments and organizations

will play.

Determining the role individuals in your community will play.

Evaluating and revising the plan as necessary.

Developing a Schedule for Putting the Plan Into Action

To begin implementing the plan, develop a step-by-step approach for each solution your

community has chosen. Start by making a list of concrete actions that must be taken, in

the order in which they should be taken, for each solution. Once these step-by-step

approaches have been ironed out, draw up a schedule for taking the steps. The schedule

should include a start date and a completion date for each step, when possible. Sometimes,

however, the actual dates will have to be established after other actions are completed. An

77

7
approximate target date should be included in these situations. In some cases, the solutions

will take only days or weeks to complete. In other cases, however, completion will take

years. A schedule is especially important for issues that involve regulatory requirements;

you will need to show regulatory agencies when you will be able to comply with those

regulations.

After the schedule has been drawn up, determine who is responsible for “making things

happen.” List those responsible for completing each step. This way, you can easily check

with the right people to see if the plan remains on schedule and to determine what should

be done if the schedule slips. Check the schedule regularly to make sure things are

happening as planned. If not, take steps immediately to keep up the momentum.

Your community should also set up a way to measure the plan’s successes and failures. For

each solution, specific goals should be given. For example, a specific goal might be to cut

the amount of trash each family produces from three to two bags a week.

Your community might consider focusing on one major project in your plan that addresses

a key concern—such as beginning a water conservation program—and mobilizing the

community to get results. This can help build momentum and community support for

other actions specified in your plan, and can help you identify and correct weaknesses in

one project before you’ve gone far on other projects.

Financing the Plan

The approach your community uses to implement its environmental plan must include a

strategy for how to pay for solutions. Your community must cover both the operating

costs and the capital costs of any equipment and facilities included in your plan.

Generally, different types of financing are used for operating costs than for capital costs.

You will need to choose which combination of financing options you will use to cover both

of these costs. Some excellent guides to financial management for small communities are

listed in Appendix D.

Common operational costs include the costs of employee salaries and benefits; supplies; fuel,

utility, rent, and insurance bills; maintaining equipment; monitoring; and interest payments on loans. Another type of operational cost that all communities face, but many do

not think about, is depreciation, the reduction in value of a facility or piece of equipment.

All of the equipment and facilities that your community uses are getting older. The older they

get, the less valuable they are because they are more likely to break down. Each piece of

equipment has a useful life, which is the duration of time that the equipment is expected

to last before it must be replaced. Financially preparing to replace equipment when its

useful life is over is important. Although depreciation is an operational cost, replacement

is a capital cost, which is discussed on the next page.

Operational costs tend to stay about the same from year to year, although they can rise

because of the age of equipment and because of inflation. A steady flow of funds should

therefore be used to finance operational costs. Small communities usually generate these

funds through local taxes and fees. 

78 Chapter 7: Implementation
Capital costs are different from operating costs because they involve a one-time investment

that is usually relatively large. Common capital financing options are grants, loans, bonds,

and notes. For many of these options, the useful life of the equipment or facility must be

considered when choosing a financing option and the level of debt. If the equipment or

facility must be replaced before the debt is repaid, your community will be carrying more

than one debt for the same service.

Table 7-1 presents information about common financing options for both operational and

capital costs.

Another important alternative is saving money. Saving money allows your community to

become more efficient and provide services at a lower cost. A community can save money

in many ways, such as by using local people, equipment, and financial resources (including

business donations and volunteer help); increasing employee productivity; properly maintaining equipment; running equipment at times when electrical costs are lower; and buying

supplies in bulk with other towns at a discount. Although financing minor capital costs

with money saved is possible, this rarely happens. Instead, savings are usually used to fund

operational costs and to avoid the need to raise taxes or fees.

The affordability of your environmental solutions depends on community involvement as

well as the funding available. If community residents have not participated in shaping the

environmental plan, its affordability may well be reduced, because residents will be less

willing to pay for changes in which they have had no role.

Roles of Government and Other Organizations

Your local government has three basic choices about the role it will play when implementing your community environmental plan: implement solutions alone, cooperate with other

local governments, or form a partnership with private companies. Your community does

not have to choose just one of these roles; you can mix and match roles to implement

different solutions. For example, your local government can implement an underground

storage tank program alone, become partners with other local governments to build and

operate a wastewater treatment plant, and contract with a private company to collect and

dispose of solid waste. 

Working Alone

Working alone may be the easiest role for your community to play because it does not

require you to develop any special arrangements. Working alone may be an option if the

solutions you choose are inexpensive and do not require advanced technology. When more

complicated systems or facilities are needed, you should consider cooperating with other

communities or forming a partnership with private companies.

If local government organizations are understaffed or do not have the expertise to

implement the new solutions, new organizations might be necessary. In these cases, your

community can set up committees or agencies and delegate the power to perform certain

functions. The members of the committee can also be specially trained to deal with the

solution they are implementing. For example, many communities have set up wellhead

protection committees that work with state agencies or local experts to define wellhead

Chapter 7: Implementation 79
protection areas, identify sources of ground-water contamination in those areas, and

implement strategies to protect the community’s ground-water resources.

Cooperating With Other Local Governments

Cooperating with other local governments can be the best way to implement some of the

solutions in your community environmental plan. Small communities can cooperate

through joint ownership and operation of drinking water, wastewater, and solid waste

management facilities. Communities can also cooperate by sharing personnel who do

certain common jobs, such as billing customers, purchasing supplies, maintaining equipment, and testing samples. To cooperate with other local governments, decide the role

each community will have, how conflict among the communities will be resolved, and how

the cooperative activity or facility will be paid for. 

There are many advantages to cooperation. For example, communities can pool funds so

that they can afford facilities or technologies that individual communities cannot afford

alone. Providing a service to a small number of people is often more expensive per person

than providing a service to a large number of people. Economies of scale allow you to

increase the number of people that are served to achieve lower costs per person. Finally,

larger operations are often more efficient than smaller operations because they allow full

use of staff who otherwise are not fully occupied by a single smaller operation.

The major disadvantage to cooperation is some loss of local control. When you are

cooperating with other communities, your community will no longer be able to act alone.

Negotiations will have to occur to make any changes to the ways in which environmental

services are provided. In addition, when communities are far apart or there is rugged terrain

between them, increased costs for distribution pipes or transporting wastes can outweigh

some of the savings achieved through economies of scale and increased efficiency.

Table 7-2 shows the different options for formally cooperating with other communities,

along with their advantages and disadvantages.

Forming a Partnership With the Private Sector

In many cases, there are advantages to the private sector rather than the public sector

providing environmental services. Your community might therefore want to consider

forming a public-private partnership. The five main types of public-private partnerships

are:

Contract Services. The community contracts with a private company to provide a service

(such as garbage collection) or to run a facility that is owned by the community (such

as a wastewater treatment plant). Firms or experts also can be contracted with to

perform specific duties, such as accounting or maintenance of electrical systems. 

Turnkey Facilities. The community owns a facility but contracts with a private company

to design, construct, and operate the facility. The community is responsible for funding

the facility, while the private company is responsible for providing a certain level of

service or regulatory compliance.

80 Chapter 7: Implementation
Leasing. The community pays rent to a private owner in exchange for using a facility

for a specified period. The community controls the facility until the lease is over, when

the facility is returned to the owner. With a finance lease, however, the community pays

to lease a facility but then owns the facility at the end of the lease. 

Developer Financing. A private developer finances construction or upgrading of a facility

to gain the right to build homes, stores, or other buildings.

Privatization. A private firm owns, builds, operates, and partially or totally finances a

facility or service. The local community decides it wants the facility or service, and

might partially fund it.

Merchant Facility. This is similar to privatization except that the private firm also decides

to provide the service. The local community plays no role at all.

Just like cooperating with other communities, the main disadvantage of public-private

partnerships is some loss of local control. To get rid of the headaches of responsibility, you

also have to be willing to allow someone else to make most of the decisions. Partnerships

also take work: Legal issues have to be ironed out, and the actions of the private company

have to be overseen. Public-private partnerships aren’t the right choice for all small

communities because many communities do not need to use sophisticated technologies,

or they are not located close enough to a company that provides the services they need.

If your community decides to use a private company to implement part of your environmental plan, you should choose that company carefully. Try to identify companies with

experience working with small communities with problems similar to yours. Ask those

communities about the company to make sure that it has a good track record. The

companies should also have experience with the type of technologies you are interested

in. In many cases, you can also find companies with experience helping small communities

get the financing that they need. Finally, try to choose the company that can give the best

service for the best price. (The state utility commission must approve rates, an important

protection for the ratepayer.)

Some Reasons To Form a Public-Private Partnership

A public-private partnership can help your

community by:

Allowing your community to use a more

sophisticated technology that the private

company uses. 

Giving your community ways to finance

environmental services using private 

capital. 

Letting your community know exactly how

much the service will cost, because the

cost is written into the contract. 

Chapter 7: Implementation 81
Table 7-1

Financing Plan Options

Financing

Method Description Advantages Disadvantages

Taxes Property taxes (e.g., on

buildings, land, and/or

vehicles) are the most common

type of taxes used by local

governments. 

■ Easy to administer.

■ Generate a relatively steady

flow of funds, therefore good 

for financing operational costs.

■ Tax burden is spread over 

a small number of people in 

a small community.

■ Taxes are unpopular and tax

increases may require formal

approval by those affected.

Hotel taxes, rental taxes, and

taxes on other tourist activities

(such as restaurants,

nightclubs, and guided tours)

can be used by communities

with high tourist populations.

■ Can increase revenues 

without placing a higher burden

on permanent residents.

■ Higher taxes might

discourage tourism.

■ Amount of revenue varies

according to the number of

tourists during a season.

Fees Service fees can be charged

for using an existing service

(such as billing customers for

the drinking water they use) or

demanding a service (such as

charging homeowners to be

hooked up to the wastewater

treatment system). Fees can be

flat fees (everyone who uses

the service pays the same

price) or graduated fees

(based on the amount each

person uses).

■ Generate a steady flow of

funds, therefore better for

financing operational costs.

■ Graduated fees could provide

customers with incentives to use

less if fee rates are increased 

as more water is used.

■ Flat fees discourage

conservation and promote

wasteful use.

■ Service fees might be 

unpopular.

■ Fees based on how much

water is used could

discourage industries and

other businesses from 

locating in an area.

Punitive or corrective fees can

be charged to people or

businesses that pollute (e.g., 

releasing chemicals into

wastewater treatment systems).

The community can also give

special fee reductions for

industries that start out with

water conservation and

pollution prevention measures.

■ Generate revenue while

discouraging pollution.

■ In some cases, avoid 

noncompliance with permit

requirements caused by

industrial pollutants.

■ Cannot be relied upon as 

a source of income.

■■ If too stringent, could lose

industry to another location 

or encourage illegal

avoidance fees.

Recreational fees can be

charged for hunting and

fishing licenses or privileges.

■ Only paid by those who

participate in certain activities.

■ The money raised can be

earmarked to protect the

environment and maintain

recreational areas.

■ Generate a relatively small

amount of money.

■ If recreational fees are too

high, they might encourage

illegal activities.

82 Chapter 7: Implementation
Financing

Method Description Advantages Disadvantages

Fees (continued) Impact fees can be charged to

developers, who will create

demand for local infrastructure.

■ Only paid by those who profit.

■ Money can be used to offset

costs.

■ Might reduce potential for

development.

Grants Grants are funds that are 

provided by the federal

government, states, or other

organizations to pay for

special projects (e.g., U.S.

Department of Agriculture’s

Rural Development

Administration, the U.S.

Department of Housing and

Urban Development [HUD]).

■ Small communities may be 

eligible for many different 

grants to build or upgrade 

their environmental facilities.

■ Grants do not have to be 

paid back.

■ Most grants have specific

eligibility requirements that 

a community must meet.

■ Grants tend to be very 

competitive. Your community

must invest time and money

to apply for a grant that you

might not get.

■ Grant use requirements may

be expensive.

Loans A loan is money lent with

interest. Low-interest loans

might be available through the

state (e.g., State Revolving

Funds) or federal government

(e.g., from the Rural

Development Administration or

HUD). If federal and state loans

are not available, your small

community can borrow from a

commercial bank.

■ A long-term, low-interest loan

will allow your community to 

pay for capital expenses that

require a large one-time

investment.

■ Loan payments can be spread

out over time so that repayment

is manageable.

■ Loans can be used for shorter

term financing while waiting for

grants or bonds.

■ Unlike a grant, a loan must

be repaid. Over time, both

interest and principal must be

repaid with money collected

through taxes, fees, or money

previously saved.

■ State Revolving Fund loans

require adherence to federal

rules and regulations.

■ Commercial bank loans may

be difficult to obtain without

adequate collateral.

Revolving Funds Revolving funds are selfsustaining funds set up to

provide loans to communities for

construction and modification of

facilities. As the loans are

repaid, the money is returned to

the fund so that it can be

borrowed by other communities.

State Revolving Funds currently

finance wastewater treatment

plants, but can be used for NPS

pollution control and drinking

water facilities.

■ Offer below-market interest 

rate loans.

■ Are often targeted toward the

improvement of environmental 

facilities in communities.

■ Legal requirements can limit

the use of funds.

■ Most communities have legal

limits on the amount of debt

they can accrue, including

through revolving fund loans.

Privatization Under privatization, a private

firm owns, builds, operates,

and partially or totally finances

a facility or service.

■ Reduces or eliminates debt

needed to provide service.

■ Reduces local government

responsibility for providing

service.

■ Some loss of local control 

occurs.

■ Oversight of private firm is

necessary.

■ Legal issues must be 

resolved.

Table 7-1

Financing Plan Options (continued)

Chapter 7: Implementation 83
Financing

Method Description Advantages Disadvantages

Bonds A bond is an interest-bearing

certificate of public or private

indebtedness, often sold to

finance long-term projects with

high capital costs.

■ Bonds typically are used for

financing capital costs.

■ The community only has to

make interest payments until 

the bond is due.

■ Issuing bonds can be

complicated and may require

 the help of a financial advisor.

■ Bonds are usually only used

when large amounts of money

are needed for long periods.

General obligation bonds are

secured by the taxing power of

the community, which means

that the community pledges to

pay back the interest and

principal through taxes (if

necessary).

■ General obligation bonds

should be used, when possible,

to save money in interest

payments.

■ Most communities have legal

limits on the amount of 

money they can borrow

through general obligation

bonds, and voters often must

approve of using these bonds.

■ Because of the limits placed

on them, general obligation

bonds are usually used for

facilities that do not generate

revenues.

Revenue bonds are secured by

money that will be generated

by the use of the loan, such as

user fees from a wastewater

treatment facility that will be

built or upgraded.

■ Most communities do not have

a limit on the amount of money

they can borrow with revenue

bonds.

■ Revenue bonds are appropriate

for environmental facilities since

most can generate revenues

through user fees and tipping

fees.

■ The interest rates for revenue

bonds are usually higher 

than for general obligation

bonds.

Many states now have bond

banks from which communities

can obtain bond money. The

state uses its taxing power to

secure a large bond issue that

can be divided among its

communities.

■ Because the state has more

taxing power than individual

communities, it can get a bond

at a lower interest rate.

■ Because the costs of issuing a

bond are about the same no

matter how big the bond is, 

bond banks also save money 

by spreading out the costs of

issuing the bond.

■ With a state bond bank, the

state can issue the bond in

anticipation that its communities

will need it, reducing the time it

takes for each community to get

bond money.

■ Many communities compete 

for a limited amount of 

available bank bond funds.

Table 7-1

Financing Plan Options (continued)

84 Chapter 7: Implementation
Roles of Community Members

Once your community has a picture of which organizations will play a role in implementing

the plan, you’ll need time to figure out how individuals will be involved. Your community

should decide who is responsible for making the solutions work and what their specific

responsibilities are. Some people on the planning committee might continue to be involved

as the plan is implemented. Stay on the lookout for new people who might step forward

to help carry out new programs and activities.

When the approach to implementing the environmental plan calls for community residents to play a role, they should be knowledgeable about their new responsibilities. If the

plan includes a used oil program, for instance, the people of the community must be

provided with clear instructions on how to collect their oil and where to bring it for

recycling or proper disposal.

Actively seek volunteers to donate both time and materiel. The more you involve people in

implementing the plan, the greater the support from the community and the fewer the problems.

Financing

Method Description Advantages Disadvantages

Certificates of 

Participation

Certificates of participation

(COPs) can be issued by a

community instead of bonds.

Unlike bonds, COPs are issued

to several lenders that all

“participate” in the same loan.

■ Costs and risks of the loan are

spread over several lenders.

■ Where authorized under 

state law, COPs may be issued

when bonds would exceed debt

limitations.

■ Requires complicated

agreements among the

participating lenders.

Notes A note is a written promise to

pay a debt. The community

promises to pay the principal

and the interest at a specified

time. Notes are a short-term

option usually used to finance

costs during construction.

Grant anticipation notes are

secured by a community’s

expectation that it will receive a

grant. In essence, it allows the

community to “borrow against”

the grant. (You should never

request a grant anticipation note

for more money than the grant.)

Bond anticipation notes are

secured by the community’s

ability to sell its bonds. Your

community must therefore satisfy

all legal requirements for issuing

a bond before it applies for a

bond anticipation note.

■ Notes can be used as a shortterm financing option while you

are waiting for money from

grants or bonds.

■ Grant anticipation notes

should only be used when the

organization giving the grant

has made a firm commitment

that your community will get

the grant, and when you need

money immediately and you

don’t expect to receive the

grant for some time.

■ Voters usually have to

approve a general obligation

bond, making a bond

anticipation note very risky

unless the community has

shown overwhelming support.

Table 7-1

Financing Plan Options (continued)

Chapter 7: Implementation 85
Table 7-2 Options for Cooperating With Other Communities

Option Advantages Disadvantages

Authorities—Communities and counties

can establish an authority to finance,

build, and operate a public facility or

system that generates revenues. The

authority is a corporate body with a

charter that must be approved by the state

legislature. Authorities operate outside the

regular structure of government and are

financed through user fees or other

revenues.

■ Local debt ceiling doesn’t affect

financing.

■ Voter approval of financing isn’t

necessary.

■ Local politics are less likely to affect

service because private citizens, rather

than government officials, are on the

board.

■ Can increase efficiency by avoiding

government budgeting and

administration.

■ Revenues can make the service selfsupporting.

■ Capital financing is tax-exempt.

■ Financing can be complex to

administer.

■ Government or public control can be

too limited.

■ In some areas, authorities can compete

with private industry.

Special districts—Communities can

establish a special district to perform a

single function, such as drinking water

treatment. The special district acts as a

government agency outside the regular

structure of government and uses special

taxes for financing. Special districts must

respond to local needs and cooperate

with local jurisdictions to be successful.

■ The residents to which the district is

responsible are a distinct constituency.

■ Elected officials can serve on the board

for the district to give the local

government some say.

■ State statutes limit powers.

■ Financing requires special taxes that

must be approved by voters.

■ Might not be as responsive to residents

as arrangements where voters elect the

board.

Nonprofit public corporations—These are

similar to authorities except that they must

be approved by all member communities

and state officials, as required by law.

They are financed by issuing bonds, and

directors of the corporation must be local

government or state officials.

■ Local debt ceiling doesn’t affect

financing.

■ Voter approval of financing isn’t

necessary.

■ After bonds are paid, the corporation

gives assets to member communities.

■ Not subject to real estate or federal 

taxes.

■ Capital financing is tax exempt.

■ It is difficult to get out of the

corporation if better service becomes

available.

■ The corporation cannot use taxing

power of local governments to secure

financing.

■ Local government and state officials

might exert political influence.

Multicommunity cooperatives—This is a

way to gain cooperation between

governments without legal charters or

agreements. Communities agree to work

together to build a facility or provide a

service. Usually, one community takes the

lead.

■ These have less restrictive legal and

institutional structure than other 

multicommunity options.

■ Communities can pool resources to

provide services that they may not be

able to provide alone.

■ Member communities lose

independence and must cooperate in

making decisions about how the service

will be provided, where the facility will

be sited, etc.

■ Interest rates on loans or bonds could

increase if leader community is not as

financially strong as other communities.

Intergovernmental agreements—Formal

and informal agreements can be made 

between two or more local governments

to provide services. Contracts are the most

commonly used type of intergovernmental

agreement.

■ Contracts are flexible, predictable, 

and enforceable.

■ Basic government structures are not

affected.

■ Saves time because no new structures

are necessary.

■ Because each community, rather than

a single unit, must borrow money, it

may be more difficult to get financing.

■ Misunderstandings may occur if the

agreement is not spelled out in detail in

a contract.

■ Each participant must reach agreement every time a new issue comes up.

86 Chapter 7: Implementation
Evaluating and Revising the Plan

No matter how much thought your community has put into the environmental plan, you

might find that some of the solutions you have chosen just don’t work out. Other solutions

might work, but not as well as your community had hoped.

When solutions do not meet expectations, it’s time to reevaluate your community environmental plan. In some cases, your community will decide not to do anything because

the flaws in the plan are not big enough to justify the money and time it would take to fix

them. For example, if trucking solid waste to the landfill costs more than you expected,

building a more central landfill would probably not be a better solution.

Sometimes your community will have to modify solutions only slightly. If your plan

includes wellhead protection and people are still accidently polluting the wellhead area,

the only change that might be necessary is to increase public education and post signs that

tell people what they can’t do in the wellhead area. Unfortunately, in some cases major

changes to the plan might be necessary. Some of Ruraltown’s solutions, for example, relied

on voluntary action by residents. To address surface water pollution by nitrates, the

community got the local extension agent to explain to farmers the value of using fertilizers

more efficiently and using grassy strips to contain runoff. If problems with nitrate

pollution of surface water continue, the town might have to take stronger action to reduce

fertilizer use.

Even if your community finds that all of the solutions in its environmental plan are

effective, the plan might still have to be revised in the future. Changes outside the

community might affect your plan. For example, new technologies might be developed

that can better solve environmental problems, and new regulations might be made on how

communities should handle environmental issues. Your community should be aware of

these changes so that its environmental plan can be updated when revisions make sense.

Changes within your community might also affect the environmental plan. As your

community grows, for example, solutions might have to be revised to handle unforeseen

problems. Also, growth might allow you to implement solutions that previously were too

expensive for a smaller community. Finally, the people in the community might develop

new priorities, and your plan will need to change to reflect those priorities.

Just as water, soil, and air are connected, so are creating the plan and implementing it.

What your community does with one will continue to affect what happens to the other.

Chapter 7: Implementation 87
Ruraltown Sets a Schedule

After Ruraltown chose the solutions it would implement in its environmental

plan, the planning team filled out an implementation worksheet (page 89).

First, the team drew up a detailed schedule for implementation. The schedule

included the specific goals to be achieved, a step-by-step approach for each solution,

and a list of people responsible for the plan. The team also listed the financing

methods it would use for each solution.

The state environmental agency, which had helped the team throughout this process, approved Ruraltown’s priorities for action and the schedule the team had set.

The state agreed that, if the town implemented the strategies according to the

schedule the team developed, no enforcement actions would be taken regarding

temporary, intermittent violations of effluent permit limits or drinking water requirements. To keep the plan on track, the team decided to meet every 3 months

to review the schedule and progress with the plan. The team also agreed that the

goals listed in the implementation worksheet would help them in the evaluation

and review process.

88 Chapter 7: Implementation
Ruraltown’s Implementation Worksheet

Problem/Specific Goals Solutions Step-by-Step Approach Start/Completion Date Person(s) Responsible ACTION IS URGENTPROBLEM: Drinkingwater exceeds coliformMCLGOAL: Consistently provide safe drinkingwater

SOLUTION: Obtain

assistance from a circuit

rider.

Call circuit rider to set up meeting. Tomorrow (2/6/95). Public works director. Hold meeting to discuss problems. ASAP (target date 2/9/95). Planning team (including public work

director).

Follow appropriate

recommendations of the circuit rider.

ASAP (target date depends on

recommendations).

Depends on recommendations.

SOLUTION: Improve

chlorination equipment.

Research alternatives. 2/13/95 - 2/20/95. Drinking water plant personnel and p

team.

Review research, rank alternatives,

and present to town council.

2/21/95 - 3/1/95. Public works director.

Purchase and install new equipment. When received (target date 4/21/95). Drinking water plant personnel.

SOLUTION: Begin

setting up a wellhead

protection program,

and determine low-cost

ways to protect ground

water.

Form a wellhead protection team. 2/14/95 - 2/28/95. Led by the planning team. Conduct research to delineate the

wellhead protection area.

3/7/95 - 4/4/95. Wellhead protection team. 

Delineate wellhead protection area. 4/4/95 - 4/25/95. Wellhead protection team.Identify and locate potential sources

of contamination.

4/25/95 - 5/16/95. Local volunteers led by the wellhead

protection team.

Develop strategies to

prevent/minimize contamination,focusing on low-cost alternatives.

5/16/95 - 6/13/95. Wellhead protection team.

Present to town council. Depends on strategies chosen by town

council (target date 8/1/95).

Depends on strategies chosen.

SOLUTION: Hire

engineering firm to

evaluate long-term

needs.

Research firms in the area

specializing in drinking water plants.

2/22/95 - 3/1/95. Planning team. 

Review research and interview firms. 3/2/95 - 3/16/95. Public works director.Choose and hire best firm. 3/17/95. Public works director.Complete evaluation. 9/20/95. Engineering firm.Review firm’s evaluation, discuss,

and present to town council.

9/20/95 - 10/4/95. Planning team (including public work

director).

SOLUTION: Follow appropriate recommendations from the

engineering firm’s evaluation.

Target date depends on recommendations

(goal is to implement allrecommendations by 2001).

Depends on recommendations. 

Chapter 7: Implementation 89
Problem/Specific Goals Solutions Step-by-Step Approach Start/Completion Date Person(s) Responsible 

ACTION IS NECESSARYPROBLEM: Wastewatertreatment plant performance is poor: effluentsometimes exceeds organic matter and suspended solids limits.GOAL: Consistently meetall effluent limits by 2005.

SOLUTION: Implement

water supply program.

Form a water supply team. 6/10/96 - 6/24/96. Led by the planning team. Quantify all water users in

Ruraltown.

7/1/96 - 7/22/96. Water supply team. 

Conduct water leak detection

study.

7/1/96 - 7/22/96. Public works division.

Develop a plan to reduce water

usage, including a revised feestructure.

7/29/96 - 9/9/96. Water supply team.

Create a fact sheet describing the

water conservation plan.

9/16/96 - 9/30/96. Member of the water conservation team.

Send the fact sheet out with the

water bills.

10/1/96. Drinking water plant personnel.

Develop and distribute a press

release on the water conservationplan.

10/1/96 - 10/15/96. Member of the water supply team.

Research and purchase modern

leak detection and repairequipment.

10/15/96 - 10/28/96. Public works director.

SOLUTION: Conduct

full professional

treatment 

plant evaluation.

Research firms in the area

specializing in wastewater facilityevaluations.

4/1/96 - 4/15/96. Planning team and wastewater plant

personnel.

Review research, and interview

firms.

4/16/96 - 4/30/96. Planning team.

Choose and hire best firm. 5/1/96. Town council.Complete evaluation. 8/4/96. Consulting firm.Review firm’s evaluation and 

present to town council.

8/4/96 - 9/1/96. Planning team (including the public work

director).

SOLUTION: Follow appropriate recommendations from the

professional treatment plant evaluation.

Target date depends on recommendations

(goal is to implement allrecommendations by 2001).

Depends on recommendations. 

90 Chapter 7: Implementation
Problem/Specific Goals Solutions Step-by-Step Approach Start/Completion Date Person(s) Responsible 

ACTION IS DESIRABLEPROBLEM: Leaf burning.GOAL: Prevent disposalof yard waste with municipal solid waste.

SOLUTION: Initiate a

townwide yard waste

composting program.

Form yard waste team. 1/7/97 - 1/21/97. Led by the planning team. Research yard waste composting

alternatives.

1/28/97 - 3/11/97. Composting team. 

Identify a composting site. 3/18/97 - 4/15/97. Composting team.Develop a pamphlet that describes

the benefits of composting andexplains to residents how toparticipate in the compostingprogram.

3/28/97 - 4/25/97. Member of the composting team.

Mail the pamphlet to all town

residents.

4/26/97. Composting team.

Begin yard waste composting. 5/14/97. Member of public works department wh

in charge of composting.

Chapter 7: Implementation 91
Appendix A:

Environmental Community Agreement

Between the Kenai Peninsula Borough

and the Alaska Department of

Environmental Conservation

a. Introduction

The goal of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is to protect

public health and the environment through cost-effective environmental problem solving.

In the spirit of achieving this goal DEC and the Kenai Peninsula Borough (KPB) agree to

develop, maintain, and update a cooperative working agreement to identify public health

and environmental issues.

This agreement is not to be construed as an enforceable document, but rather as a checklist

for identifying issues, and solving problems within reasonable timeframes.

This agreement is limited to programs and activities that are the primary responsibility of

the Department of Environmental Conservation.

b. Purpose Statement

By this agreement, KPB and DEC establish a common agenda to work together on

environmental protection objectives and specific goals. This will include efforts to solve

environmental problems in the KPB in a cost-effective manner.

c. Changes to the Agreement

The signatories will review this document annually from the effective date of this agreement. Amendments or additional appendices may be developed and implemented by

mutual agreement at any time, without renegotiating the entire environmental community

agreement.

93
d. Effective Date of Agreement

This agreement is effective March 20, 1992.

e. Contact Persons

The contact persons for initiating any of the activities defined in this agreement are: for

DEC, Les Buchholz, the DEC District Manager (or his successor) located in Soldotna;

for KPB, the Mayor or his designee.

f. Schedule and Purpose of Meetings

The contact people for KPB and DEC will meet at least once every two months at a

mutually agreeable location. The purpose of these regular meetings is to identify and

address environmental concerns within the KPB.

g. Regulations Assistance Workshops

DEC is available to conduct a regulations assistance workshop on state environmental

regulations that affect the KPB. The workshop agenda can be expanded to allow participation from other communities and state and federal agencies. DEC expects to conduct

the workshops on various regulation topics and issues in central locations around the state.

h. Pollution Prevention

KPB agrees to promote pollution prevention practices that focus on eliminating or

reducing pollution to the air, land, and water rather than on controlling pollution after it

has been created. In order to minimize present and future threats to human health and

the environment KPB, with assistance from DEC, agrees to the pollution prevention

hierarchy as local policy, declaring that:

1. pollution should be prevented or reduced at the source to the maximum extent

possible;

2. pollution that cannot be prevented should be recycled in an environmentally

safe manner;

3. pollution that cannot be prevented or recycled should be treated in an environmentally safe manner; and

4. disposal should be employed only as a last resort and should be conducted in an

environmentally safe manner.

i. Pollution Prevention Technology Roundtable for Local Governments

KPB agrees to designate one or more local governmental personnel to attend Pollution

Prevention Technology Transfer Roundtable meetings as they occur. The next scheduled

meeting will occur in Anchorage on April 9 and 10, 1992. The Roundtables were

established by DEC in cooperation with the Alaska Municipal League. The purpose of

the Roundtable is to transfer information to local governments about opportunities to

prevent pollution through waste reduction and recycling in their communities.

94 Appendix A: Environmental Community Agreement
j. KPB Comprehensive Planning Effort

DEC is available to assist in developing environmental quality goals and objectives for the

KPB Comprehensive Plan and to also assist in incorporating state regulations with

borough regulations.

k. Areas of Agreement

The following pages will outline the programs that KPB and DEC have agreed to initially

address as priority issues. The programs are ranked in the order of their priority.

l. Other Programs

Pursuant to the authority granted to DEC by A.S. Title 46 and the authority granted to

KPB by A.S. Title 29, and their respective regulations and ordinances, other programs

may be identified and added to the list of priority issues.

The department is available to assist KPB in these program areas.

Village Safe Water (Facility Planning, Construction, and Operations)

Safe Drinking Water

Domestic & Industrial Waste Water Treatment

Solid & Hazardous Waste

Water Pollution Prevention

Animal Health and Dairy

Pesticides

Radiation Protection

Underground Storage Tanks

Pollution Prevention (waste reduction and recycling )

Environmental Health

The following consent to the above agreement for the mutual benefit of the State of Alaska

and to the Kenai Peninsula Borough.

Appendix A: Environmental Community Agreement 95
Don Gilman, Mayor

Kenai Peninsula Borough Date

Jon Sandor, Commissioner

Alaska Department of Environment Conservation Date

Svend Brandt-Erichsen

Regional Administration

Southcentral Regional Office

Alaska Department of Environment Conservation Date

Les Bucholz

Kenai District Manager

Alaska Department of Environment Conservation Date 

96 Appendix A: Environmental Community Agreement
Present Situation Strategy Goals

1. Oil and Hazardous Substance

Spills

There have been a number of

hazardous substance spills in the

KPB.

DEC recognizes local concern

about hazardous substance spill

prevention and response.

Assist KPB with development of a local

emergency plan.

If the Emergency Response Commission

approves the local emergency plan, then

an amendment to this agreement will be

developed which assures that DEC will

reimburse KPB for expenditures that may

occur in the event KPB participates in oil

spill or hazardous substance discharge

response and cleanup.

Assist KPB with implementation of the

local emergency plan after it is approved

by the SERC. Ongoing.

2. Solid Waste and Disposal

The KPB has responsibility for

solid waste disposal throughout

the entire borough. KPB operates

a number of landfill sites with

DEC permits.

DEC will process applications for solid

waste disposal permits as efficiently as

possible, assist the city in public meeting,

and provide suggestions for different

techniques for disposing of wastewater

and solid wastes.

Assist in long-range planning for

operation of solid waste sites in a costeffective and environmentally safe

manner.

3. Leaking Underground 

Storage Tank Program

There are leaking underground

storage tanks in the KPB area.

DEC will meet regularly and coordinate

activities with other State agencies, local

governments within the KPB to assist in

problem identification and to promote

compliance. Assist tank owners to remain

in compliance with all applicable State

and federal regulations to maintain

eligibility for participation in the State’s

Underground Storage Tank Assistance

Fund Program.

Cleanup of existing leaks and spills,

prevent future leaks from UST systems in

order to prevent the public from

contamination of drinking water and to

protect the environment.

4. Treatment/Disposal of 

Contaminated Soils

There are contaminated soils at

many and scattered locations

within the borough but there is

no place to store or dispose of

this material.

Assist in locating an acceptable site for

disposal of contaminated soils. Assist in

developing methods for treatment of

contaminated soils. 

To provide an environmentally safe

location for storage/disposal of

contaminated soils. To assist in

development of treatment methods.

5. Household Hazardous Waste

(Spring Cleanup)

Residents and small businesses

generate hazardous wastes.

Since 1983 DEC has funded an annual

hazardous waste cleanup. The strategy is

to first determine how much waste exists

and to divert as much hazardous wastes

from landfills.

Continue to fund KPB for this year and

divert as much residential and small

business waste as possible from the

landfills. In the future DEC wants to bring

this service to more communities.

6. Air and Water Quality

There are concerns regarding 

existing and the future quality 

of air and water resources.

Continue to identify sources of pollution

and provide monitoring assistance.

Work toward improving and

maintaining high quality of air and

water resources.

Appendix A: Environmental Community Agreement 97
Present Situation Strategy Goals

7. Subdivision Plan Review

There are conflicting interpretations of the subdivision review

process.

Cooperate in resolving procedural

problems regarding subdivision plat

reviews and approvals.

To ensure that new parcels created by

subdivisions are adequate to support

onsite septic systems.

8. Hazardous Waste Sites

There are a number of hazardous waste sites located in the

KPB.

The ADEC will provide to the KPB

quarterly copies of the Hazardous Site

Status Report and provide the KPB with

further guidance and assistance to

determine the impacts of these sites.

A detailed impact assessment of existing

hazardous waste sites as identified in the

Kenai cleanup inventory is needed.

9. Septage Disposal and Small

Incinerators

The KPB is concerned about the

number and impact of small

incinerators as well as the

impacts of septage disposal.

A continued dialogue will be maintained

with the KPB with regard to incinerator

sites and impacts from septage disposal

to ensure that actions serve the public

purpose.

Ensure that ADEC actions meet with

goals of the KPB and serve the public

purpose.

10. Public Relations

The amount of information provided to the public and the KPB

regarding environmental issues

and regulations is limited.

Provide for continued dialogue with the

KPB to ensure adequate transfer of

information and enhance the relationship

and understanding between the KPB and

the ADEC.

Develop a Kenai Environmental Advisory

Board to provide community input and

guidance regarding local environmental

issues.

Ensure that the KPB and the public are

kept informed about changes to and new

environmental regulations and issues in

their community.

11. Oil and Hazardous

Substance Release and

Response Fund (OHSRRF)

Limited information is available

regarding the expenditure of

OHSRRF monies.

Provide the KPB a statement of

accounting for this fund upon request.

Ensure that the KPB has adequate

information regarding the expenditure of

OHSRRF monies.

98 Appendix A: Environmental Community Agreement
Appendix B:

What Environmental Regulations

Affect Your Community?

T

his appendix is a starting point for determining which federal regulations affect your

community. Not all of the regulations described here will apply to your community,

and many others, not described here, might affect you. In addition, state and local

regulations might differ from the federal regulations listed here. The best approach

is to contact your state environmental or health agency to find out how their regulations

differ. Staying in contact with your state regulatory agency also will help keep you informed

about any new regulations that might affect your community in the future.

Finally, remember the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) first rule of thumb:

Prevention is the best medicine. The best way to protect people’s health and your

community’s environment is to reduce the amount of waste and pollution created in the

first place. Pollution prevention should be a priority for every community.

Drinking Water Quality

Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1974 to make sure that the drinking

water supplied to the public is safe. In 1986, Congress strengthened the Act because of

concerns about the growing number of threats to the safety of the nation’s drinking water.

The Safe Drinking Water Act applies to your community if you have a public water system

with at least 15 service connections (homes and businesses that receive water from your

system) or that regularly serves at least 25 people. In most states, the State Department

of Health or Environmental Protection provides technical and regulatory assistance for

public water systems. 

99
The Safe Drinking Water Act also applies to privately owned public water systems such

as mobile home parks and water companies. noncommunity systems, such as factories,

schools, and campgrounds with their own water supply, also fall within the regulations.

Compliance is the responsibility of the owner/operator of these nonmunicipal systems,

but people will probably turn to local officials if something is wrong with their water

system. Therefore, if such systems exist in your community, it’s a good idea to be aware of

the requirements for these systems and work with the systems’ owners/operators to provide

safe drinking water. These systems may also benefit from consolidation with the municipal

system.

As a local official responsible for a community water system, you need to do several things

to make sure that your community is in compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act:

Make sure that a certified operator runs your public water system. Most states have

mandatory certification for operators.

Make sure that your operator takes advantage of training opportunities by the state

and others.

Your operator is responsible for water quality testing. Make sure that your operator is

taking water samples correctly and sending them to a state-certified laboratory for analysis.

Test results must be reported to the state agency within 10 days of receiving them. If samples

exceed safe levels of a regulated contaminant, the operator must notify the state within 48

hours and the public as soon as possible and begin efforts to correct the problem.

According to the Surface Water Treatment Rule, if your water system uses surface

water (an intake in a river or lake) or ground water that is under the direct influence of

surface water (your state agency will determine this), you must disinfect your water.

Your state agency can tell you if your system also requires filtration. If your drinking

water source is surface water, you may also want to work with the state to protect the

watershed area from contamination.

If your drinking water source is ground water, find out more about wellhead protection. Work with your state to protect wellhead areas from contamination. Also consider

working with private water systems in your community to implement wellhead protection.

Some communities find that forming partnerships with neighboring communities to

share the cost of needed monitoring, improvements, or qualified personnel is a good

way to save money.

What Contaminants Does My Community Need To Test For?

EPA has established maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) based on estimated health

risks that many contaminants might cause. Eighty-three substances are regulated by the

Safe Drinking Water Act, and the list is growing. Most of these substances fall into one of

the following categories: coliform bacteria, disinfection byproducts, inorganic 

chemicals, synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, fluorides, lead and copper,

radionuclides, nitrate/nitrite, and asbestos. Information about each of these categories

100 Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community?
is provided below. In addition, basic monitoring requirements for these categories are listed

in the table on page 106. Contact your state agency to find out more information about

drinking water standards as they apply to your community.

Coliform Bacteria

Total coliform bacteria are known as “indicator organisms” because they are easily

measured and serve to “indicate” if disease-causing bacteria (pathogens), such as fecal

coliform, are present.

Most community water systems, as well as most noncommunity water systems (public

water systems that do not serve residential populations), must submit samples for coliform

bacteria on a regular monthly basis. You are required to submit at least one routine sample

per month for your system depending on its size. Follow procedures for sampling provided

by your testing laboratory or state agency.

If your system does not test positive for total coliforms:

Continue to submit regular samples and review results.

Maintain a good operation and maintenance program for your water system, including

regular line flushing at fire hydrants and on dead ends.

If your system has a positive total coliform sample result:

Immediately call your state agency and ask for help in repeating sampling and analysis

and locating any possible sources of contamination.

Follow the state agency’s direction in issuing public notices and any state emergency

measures that may be required.

Correct any problems causing contamination immediately. Contact one of the resource

agencies listed in Appendix D of this book if you need technical support or help in

financing arrangements.

Disinfection Byproducts

Disinfectants (such as chlorine) are the primary defense against diseases caused by

microbiological contaminants in public water systems. The disinfectants themselves,

however, have the potential to react with organic materials in the water and form

byproducts that can contaminate the water. All public water supply systems are required

to disinfect their water, although exceptions may be granted if the water comes from

sources that are determined not to be at risk from microbiological contamination. Individual states will determine if monitoring for disinfection byproducts is necessary, depending on each system’s vulnerability to byproduct development. At present, four disinfection

byproducts are regulated, but only in community water supplies serving populations of

10,000 or greater. New rules are under development that might include smaller systems.

Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community? 101
Contact your state agency for more information about monitoring for disinfection byproducts.

Inorganic Chemicals

Even if your community has little pollution, inorganic chemicals are likely to enter your

water naturally from the rocks and soil surrounding the water supply. Exposure to high

levels of certain inorganic chemicals can cause damage to the liver, kidneys, nervous system,

and circulatory system.

EPA has set MCLs for 17 inorganic chemicals. All community water supply systems must

monitor for regulated inorganic chemicals in their water supplies. Under the present rules,

sampling for inorganic chemicals is required every 3 years from each sampling point for

ground-water supplies and every year from each sampling point for surface water supplies.

Contact your state agency to obtain more detailed information about sampling requirements and MCLs for inorganic chemicals.

Nitrates/Nitrites

Nitrates and nitrites are inorganic compounds that can occur naturally or can be introduced into drinking water from feedlots, fertilizers, and wastewater. Community water

systems must monitor annually for nitrates/nitrites if they use ground-water sources and

quarterly if they use surface water sources. Contact your state agency for more information

about nitrate/nitrite monitoring requirements.

Synthetic and Volatile Organic Chemicals

Synthetic organic chemicals are human-made compounds used for a variety of industrial,

manufacturing, and agricultural purposes. For testing purposes, synthetic organic compounds are divided into two groups: volatile synthetic organic chemicals (VOCs) and

nonvolatile synthetic organic chemicals (SOCs), depending on how easily they are released

into the atmosphere. The effects of these chemicals include damage to the nervous system

and kidneys, as well as possible cancer risks.

Unless you are granted a waiver by the state, all public water supply systems are required

to test for SOCs, such as pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). All small water

systems (defined as less than 150 service connections) must monitor for 21 regulated

VOCs. Contact your state agency for more specific information on monitoring requirements and MCLs for both SOCs and VOCs.

102 Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community?
Fluoride

Fluorides are compounds that contain the element fluorine. They occur naturally in many

water sources and are added in the treatment process by many public water supply systems.

In small amounts (between 1.0 and 1.5 milligrams per liter), fluoride helps reduce tooth

decay; amounts greater that 2.0 milligrams per liter can have harmful health effects.

All community public water systems must test for fluoride at every entry point to the

distribution system after treatment. Tests must be made every 3 years for ground-water

supplies and/or every year for surface water supplies. Contact your state agency for

information about fluoride sampling requirements.

Lead and Copper

Lead and copper are inorganic chemicals that often come from pipes or plumbing fixtures

in water systems that have corrosive water. Lead can cause damage to the nervous system

and kidneys, and can be very toxic to infants and pregnant women. Copper causes stomach

and intestinal problems.

In June 1991, EPA published new rules requiring tests at customer taps. Monitoring must

be conducted in “high-risk” homes (those with newer lead solder, lead pipes, or lead service

lines). High levels of lead and copper require treatment to reduce the corrosiveness of the

water, and possibly replacement of lead service lines. Ask your state agency for more

information about monitoring, treatment, and public education requirements.

EPA also banned the use of solder and flux with more than 0.2 percent lead and the use of

pipes containing more than 8.0 percent lead in new plumbing installed in facilities

connected to the public water supply. This law only applies to plumbing that distributes

drinking water and does not require the removal of existing solder. Check with your state

agency for more information about the Lead Materials Ban.

Radionuclides

Radionuclides are radioactive particles that occur naturally in areas of uranium and radium

deposits and also are found in nuclear waste. Radionuclides that can occur in drinking

water include gross alpha, gross beta, radium 226 and 228, uranium, and radon. Radionuclides, even in very small concentrations, pose a cancer risk. Radon, for example, can occur

in almost all ground-water supplies, and concern exists about possible cancer risks from

air exposure to radon volatilized through shower heads or laundry.

All community public water supply systems must test for radionuclides (except radon and

uranium) every 4 years. Check with your state agency to find out if there have been any

changes to the monitoring requirements.

Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community? 103
Asbestos

Asbestos fibers in drinking water are a suspected cancer-causing agent. Asbestos occurs

naturally in some water supplies, or it can enter water in the distribution system as a result

of corrosive action on asbestos cement water pipes. All public water supply systems must

monitor for asbestos. If asbestos is not likely to occur in your water source, you do not

have asbestos cement pipes, or your water is noncorrosive, you could be eligible for a

waiver from your state agency. Contact your state agency for more information about

asbestos monitoring requirements and waiver eligibility.

What Should I Do if Test Results Exceed MCLs? 

In all cases, if the level of a contaminant in the public water supply is higher than the

MCL, you should:

Notify your state agency as soon as possible.

Notify the public of the violation as directed by your state agency.

Work with your state agency and/or an engineer to find the source of contamination

and the best way to reduce the amount of the contaminant in your water supply.

Work with your state agency to see if your community can continue to use the water

supply while you explore solutions to the contamination.

Ask your state agency and other assistance agencies (listed in Chapter 8) for help in

finding the financial resources you need to make the necessary changes in the water

system.

Public Notification

The Safe Drinking Water Act requires that all owners or operators of public drinking

water systems notify their customers when drinking water standards are violated. The

purpose of public notification is to inform consumers of any potential adverse health

effects, and to tell them what steps they can take to minimize their impact. Always notify

your state agency of the violation first, and ask their direction in proceeding with public

notification.

Where Are the Regulations Published?

The regulations implementing the Safe Drinking Water Act can be found in the Code of

Federal Regulations, Title 40, Parts 141, 142, and 143.

104 Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community?
Wellhead Protection

The best way to avoid contamination and expensive cleanup procedures is to prevent your

water supply from becoming polluted in the first place. The 1986 Amendments to the Safe

Drinking Water Act ask each state to develop a wellhead protection program to protect

public water supply wells and wellfields from contamination. The law specifies that all

states participate; however, there are no penalties for states that do not participate, nor are

there funds available to help states develop these programs. In addition, EPA has no

authority to set up a wellhead protection program if a state chooses not to establish one.

According to the 1986 Amendments, each state must develop a wellhead protection

program that:

Specifies roles and duties of local governments, state agencies, and public water

suppliers with respect to the state’s wellhead protection program.

Establishes a wellhead protection area for each wellhead.

Identifies the sources of contamination at each wellhead.

Develops ways to protect the water supply within wellhead protection areas from those

contaminants.

Develops plans for each public water supply to respond to well or wellfield contamination.

An effective wellhead protection program requires the participation of all levels of

government. Your responsibilities as a local government official depend on the specific

requirements of your state’s wellhead protection program. Frequently, local governments

are responsible for ensuring that the wellhead areas are properly protected from contamination. Typical practices used by local governments to protect ground-water quality include:

Implementing zoning ordinances that protect wellhead areas, such as ground-water

protection districts, and implementing restrictions on certain types of land uses.

Developing land-use plans, such as a regional or local master plan.

Developing health regulations that prohibit certain activities, such as the use of

underground fuel storage tanks or chemical septic cleaners, within the wellhead

protection area. Local health regulations also can require businesses using hazardous

materials to register with local authorities, who can inspect these facilities periodically

to ensure proper handling of those materials.

If your state adopts a wellhead protection program, you will be required to enforce your

state’s specific requirements for your area. Even if your state does not adopt a wellhead

protection program, it is in your community’s interest to do everything possible to protect

your water supply. To find out more about protecting the quality of your community’s

water supply, contact your state agency.

Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community? 105
Drinking Water Regulations

Substance

What Should Be Done To Comply With

the Regulation?*✝ How Often Do I Need To Take Samples?

Coliform 

bacteria

■ Test for total coliform bacteria.

■ Work with state to establish a “sample-siting

plan” for your community that lists where

samples should be taken each month.

■ Complete a sanitary survey of your water

system at least once every 5 years. This is

usually done by the state agency. The initial

survey must be conducted by June 29, 1994.

■ Take and submit at least one sample per month. The

number of samples required depends on your system’s

size.

■ If the sample tests positive for total coliform, collect

four repeat samples within 24 hours of notification of 

the positive result. Repeat samples must be collected

within five service connections of the original sample, 

with at least one at the original location, one upstream

and one downstream. Analyze the positive sample for

fecal coliform (E. coli).

■ After the state reviews the sanitary survey, it can

change the monitoring frequency, which may reduce 

the number of routine samples required. Without the

sanitary survey, you need to collect five routine samples

every month.

Inorganic

chemicals

■ Test water for inorganic chemicals.

■ If levels of inorganic chemicals in your 

water are low, apply for a waiver from your

state agency to reduce required testing.

■ Nitrate/nitrite sampling requirements cannot

be waived.

■ Test surface water systems yearly and groundwater systems every 3 years.

■ With waiver, test every 9 years (from 1993).

■ For nitrates, test surface water systems quarterly 

and ground-water systems yearly.

■ Every public water system must sample for nitrites

once. The state then determines whether and how 

often systems must do repeat sampling.

SOCs ■ Cooperate with your state agency to

determine your water supply’s vulnerability 

to SOCs. If your system is not vulnerable,

apply for a waiver from the state exempting

you from sampling requirements until 1996.

■ If your system is vulnerable, work with your

state agency to take the first round of samples. 

■ Vulnerable systems must be sampled every 3 months,

beginning in 1993.

■ If no SOCs are found in the first round of sampling,

repeat sampling as follows:

Population Served Number of Samples

> 3,300 Two samples every 3 years

< 3,300 One sample every 3 years

■ With a waiver, no monitoring is required until 1996.

Before 1996, the vulnerability assessment must be

updated and a new waiver must be granted for the 

next compliance period.

VOCs ■ Conduct initial sampling and repeat

sampling, if necessary, for regulated 

VOCs in the water supply.

■ Inform your customers if you find out 

that your public water supply has VOCs

violations or a monitoring waiver.

■ For initial sampling, take one sample every 3 months

for 1 year before 1996. Your state will designate 

either 1993, 1994, or 1995 as the year in which 

your system will be required to take samples.

■ For repeat sampling, take yearly samples for both

ground-water and surface water systems.

■ Conduct a “vulnerability assessment” and use data

from initial sampling or previously collected data to

apply for a waiver for additional sampling requirements.

*

If MCL is exceeded, see “What Should I Do If Test Results Exceed MCLs?” on page 104.

✝

Contact your state agency for more detailed and up-to-date information on drinking water regulations affecting your 

community.

106 Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community?
Drinking Water Regulations (continued)

Substance

What Should Be Done To Comply With

the Regulation?*✝ How Often Do I Need To Take Samples?

Fluoride ■ Test water at every entry point to the

distribution system after treatment.

■ If fluoride levels are over 2.0 mg/L, ask your

state agency and/or engineer how to lower

the fluoride level, and notify the public about

the health effects of fluoride.

■ Test surface water systems yearly and ground-water

systems every 3 years.

Lead and 

copper

■ Complete a “materials evaluation” of the

distribution system.

■ Collect tap water samples from high-risk

places (homes with lead pipe, lead service

lines, and copper pipe with lead solder

installed after 1982). Contact your state

agency for sampling procedures.

■ If the system exceeds either action level in

more than 10 percent of tap samples, additional monitoring, corrosion control, and public

education requirements apply. Your state will

help you.

■ Collect one tap sample from the following number of

sites every 6 months:

Population Number of Sites

<100 5

< 500 10

501-3,300 20

■ Collect samples from each entry point into the

distribution system every 6 months.

■ If the system meets the action levels for copper and

lead for two consecutive monitoring periods, check 

with your state agency about reducing the sampling

frequency to once per year. If the system continues to

meet action levels for 3 years, sampling frequency 

may be further reduced.

Radionuclides ■ Test for gross alpha particle activity and

combined radium 226 and 228.

■ For initial sampling, take one sample every 3 months

for 1 year.

■ Unless the average of initial tests results shows

radionuclide levels above or near the MCL, repeat the

test once every 4 years.

■ A revised regulation, which will include monitoring

requirements for uranium and radon, is scheduled to 

be published in April 1995. Contact your state agency

to find out how the new regulation will affect your

community.

Asbestos ■ Cooperate with the state agency to perform

a vulnerability assessment.

■ If you have asbestos cement pipes, take

samples from the tap.

■ If you have asbestos in the source water only,

take samples from each entry point to the

distribution system.

■ If asbestos is unlikely to be in your

system, apply for a waiver from your state

agency to avoid unnecessary testing.

■ Test for asbestos once every 9 years (at least once

before 1996).

■ With an asbestos waiver, no testing for asbestos is

required.

*

If MCL is exceeded, see “What Should I Do If Test Results Exceed MCLs?” on page 104.

✝

Contact your state agency for more detailed and up-to-date information on drinking water regulations affecting your 

community.

Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community? 107
Wastewater Treatment

Federal regulations have been developed to govern various aspects of wastewater treatment. These regulations cover:

Pretreatment of industrial wastewaters.

Limitations on the level of pollutants in wastewater discharged into waterways.

Management of the solid materials removed from the wastewater during the treatment

process (sludge).

Each of these topics, and the federal regulations governing them, are discussed below.

Pretreatment of Industrial Wastewater

Pretreatment of industrial wastewaters refers to the steps that industries take to remove

pollutants from wastewater before they discharge it into the public sewer system. Pretreatment must remove toxic and hazardous pollutants from wastewaters, which could either

pass through or interfere with the community treatment plant. The Clean Water Act of

1977 set National Pretreatment Standards to control pollutants that cannot be removed

by or might interfere with wastewater treatment processes. 

The National Pretreatment Standards specify quantities or concentrations of pollutants

that may be discharged to a treatment plant by industrial users. In addition, the National

Pretreatment Standards prohibit everyone, including the public, from putting the following pollutants in their wastewater:

Flammable, corrosive, solid, or viscous pollutants.

Any pollutant released at a high concentration that can interfere with the collecting

sewer and the treatment process.

Petroleum oil, nonbiodegradable cutting oil, and products of mineral oil origin.

Pollutants that result in toxic gases or vapors.

Any trucked or hauled wastes, except at discharge points designated by the publicly

owned treatment works (POTW).

Does This Regulation Apply to My Community?

Traditionally, small wastewater treatment plants with a design flow of less than 1 million

gallons per day are not required to establish local pretreatment programs. Very small

communities often have few, if any, industrial users. 

108 Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community?
If your community does have industrial users (such as sawmills, food processing plants,

and metal finishers) that discharge the type of pollutants described on the previous page,

which could pass through or interfere with your treatment facility, your community might

have to implement a pretreatment program to satisfy the National Pollutant Discharge

Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements. EPA or approved state environmental

control agencies have the responsibility for administering these permits. (NPDES permits

are discussed later in this section.) In addition, state agencies will implement pretreatment

programs for communities that are too small to implement their own.

What Action Should My Community Be Taking?

To determine whether you are required to set up a pretreatment program in your

community, contact your state water quality agency. If such a program is necessary, the

agency will assist you in its development. Make sure that all affected industries are aware

of the pretreatment standards that they need to meet.

If you are required to establish a pretreatment program, you must establish local ordinances

and other procedures to implement program requirements. You must also identify personnel who will be responsible for administering and enforcing the program.

Finally, any time you suspect a problem caused by a nondomestic wastewater producer, notify

your treatment works operator, county sanitarian, and appropriate state agency or department.

Where Are the Regulations Published?

The regulations for pretreatment of industrial wastewater are in the Code of Federal

Regulations, Title 40, Part 403.

The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System

In response to the nation’s growing concern about water pollution, major federal laws were

passed in the 1970s that required the restoration and maintenance of clean water for

residential, commercial, recreational, and agricultural uses. The 1972 Amendments to the

Water Pollution Control Act, which was later amended and renamed the Clean Water

Act in 1977, set federal water quality standards and cleanup schedules for meeting

pollution control requirements. One way in which the goals of these acts are achieved is

through NPDES permits, which set limits on the level of pollutants allowed to be

discharged. These permits, issued mostly by state agencies but in some cases by EPA, are

issued to operators that discharge any pollutant from point sources to a navigable waterway,

such as a lake, river, stream, wetland, or ocean.

Under the Clean Water Act, states must determine how each body of navigable water is

to be classified. This classification designates the water body for one or more of the

Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community? 109
following uses: drinking, fishing, swimming, and deep water ports. The water quality standards

used to develop NPDES permits are intended to maintain the designated use or uses of the

water body. For example, permits are likely to be less restrictive for a facility that is discharging

wastewater into a river that is not used for drinking water or recreational purposes than for a

facility that is discharging into a recreational lake that is designated for fishing and swimming.

New permits also will include residuals quality. These same regulations also govern the disposal

of septic tank pumpings (septage) for unsewered communities.

NPDES permits are required for wastewater treatment plants that discharge into waterways.

For most wastewater treatment plants, their NPDES permit requires that they must (at a

minimum) meet secondary treatment standards. Secondary treatment means that the plant

must install technologies that go beyond the settling of solids to remove 85 percent of the

conventional pollutants (materials that deplete oxygen from the water) and control acidity.

Do These Regulations Apply to My Community?

Every community deals with the issue of wastewater. Not all communities, however, have

to comply with the surface water quality standards established under the Clean Water Act.

Thousands of towns and communities are subject only to state and local requirements,

since they use septic tanks or communitywide systems that do not discharge treated

wastewater into navigable waters.

All wastewater treatment facilities that discharge to U.S. waters, however, must comply

with the NPDES requirements. Most of these plants need only meet the secondary

treatment standards, but plants that discharge into high-quality waters may have to meet

more stringent standards.

What Action Should My Community Be Taking?

To make sure that your community complies with the wastewater regulations established

by the Clean Water Act, you should do the following:

If your community has a wastewater treatment facility that discharges into a body of

water, make sure that you have an NPDES permit for operating the treatment plant.

Make sure that the treatment plant operator meets all permit requirements, such as

monitoring pollutant discharge quantities and reporting the results to state authorities.

If you suspect that your community has a problem with wastewater or water pollution

and might need to install a wastewater treatment plant, contact your state environmental agency to find out information about technology options, NPDES permits, and

potential funding sources.

110 Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community?
Where Are the Regulations Published?

The regulations governing the NPDES permitting process are in the Code of Federal

Regulations, Title 40, Parts 122 to 125. The Secondary Treatment Regulations are in Title

40, Part 133.

Sludge Management

Sewage sludge (biosolids) is removed from wastewater during the treatment process.

Federal regulations require that sludge be handled properly when it is used for beneficial

purposes (such as for a soil conditioner or fertilizer) or when it is disposed of in a landfill,

other surface disposal site, or an incinerator. Different requirements apply for sludge that

is used for beneficial purposes and sludge that is disposed of. Sludge can be stored on site

for up to 2 years before use or disposal. Sludge that remains on site for more than 2 years

must meet disposal requirements.

Do These Regulations Apply to My Community?

These regulations apply to all communities that use a central wastewater treatment plant

or mechanical plant, including a lagoon, which produces sludge.

What Action Should My Community Be Taking?

If your community generates sludge through its wastewater treatment process, you should:

Contact the water division of your EPA regional office to find out about obtaining a

permit for sludge generation and management. You will have to apply for a sludge

permit during your next NPDES permit renewal.

Collect representative samples of the sewage sludge and test for regulated metals.

Properly dispose of the sludge. Sludge may not be placed in unlined surface areas when

arsenic, chromium, and nickel levels are above regulatory pollutant levels.

If your community uses sludge for beneficial purposes, you should be aware of and follow

proper methods for the agricultural and nonagricultural land application of sludge. The

use of contaminated sludge can threaten the health of the residents of your community.

Where Are the Regulations Published?

Sewage Sludge Program Regulations are contained in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title

40, Parts 122, 123, and 501. Technical regulations for sewage sludge use and disposal are

in Title 40, Parts 258 and 503.

Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community? 111
Wetlands Protection

“Wetlands” are marshes, swamps, bogs, and other similar wet areas. Wetlands can be

coastal or inland, saltwater or freshwater. They are an important resource because they

help improve water quality, reduce flood and storm damages, provide important fish and

wildlife habitats, and support hunting and fishing activities. The two most important laws

dealing with wetlands protection are Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and the

Swampbuster Section of the Food Security Act.

Under Section 404, EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers established a permit

program to control the release and dumping of dredged or fill materials into most wetlands.

As a result, you need to apply for a permit for almost any type of activity that affects or

might affect wetlands, such as dumping or building on or near a wetland. The Swampbuster

program withholds federal farm program benefits from anyone who:

Plants a crop on a wetland that was converted into farm land after December 23, 1985.

Converts a wetland to use as farm land after November 28, 1990.

Does This Regulation Apply to My Community?

Wetlands can be found in almost every county of every state in the United States. Although

there are many exceptions, especially for farmers, you should always assume that you need

a permit and check with someone from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before you

begin any activities that might affect a wetland. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will

be able to tell you if you need an individual permit or not. Anyone who violates Section

404, either by not getting a permit or by disregarding the conditions of a permit, may have

to pay to restore the area, pay fines, and/or go to jail.

What Action Should My Community Be Taking?

To comply with Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, you should:

Find out where wetlands are located in your community by ordering wetland maps

(800-USA-MAPS).

Before beginning any projects that might affect wetlands in your area, check with the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to see if a Section 404 permit is needed.

Inform your community about the requirements of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act

through public education, particularly directed to land developers and builders, so that

correct procedures are used and costly violations are avoided.

112 Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community?
Where Are the Regulations Published?

The regulations implementing Section 404 of the Clean Water Act are in the Code of Federal

Regulations, Title 40, Part 230.

Nonpoint Source Pollution

Nonpoint source (NPS) pollutants—such as grease and oil from streets and parking lots,

pet wastes, lawn fertilizers, pesticides, chemicals from agricultural and industrial sites, soil

from construction sites—can enter ground water and surface waters, causing problems

with water quality in your community. NPS pollutants are typically carried over and

through the ground by rainfall and snowmelt. Rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal waters, and

wetlands all experience major negative effects as the result of nonpoint source pollution.

NPS pollution is difficult to regulate because it comes from a variety of sources and often

results from the ordinary and necessary things that we do, such as farming and building

houses. EPA has decided that flexible state and local decision-making is the best way to

control NPS pollution. The National Nonpoint Source Program under Section 319 of

the Clean Water Act requires states to identify:

Any navigable waters that are affected or threatened by NPS pollution

The pollution sources affecting those same waters

How Do NPS Pollution Control Regulations Affect My Community?

Control of NPS pollution is voluntary for most small communities. If NPS pollution is having

a major effect on the water quality of your community, it is in your best interest to control the

problem. EPA’s system for choosing a plan to control NPS pollution is called best management

practices (BMPs). BMPs can be cost effective and easy to use if they are prudently applied.

What Action Should My Community Be Taking?

As a local official, you are responsible for finding out if your state has laws regulating NPS

pollution. You should:

Contact your state environmental agency to ask if any navigable waters in your

community are affected or threatened by NPS pollution.

Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community? 113
If your community has a problem with NPS pollution, cooperate with your state

environmental agency to develop BMPs. Many states already have carefully planned

management strategies to control NPS pollution and protect water quality. Your state

agency will help you develop a BMP program that considers local environmental,

economic, and geographic factors as part of the solution.

Keep informed about new stormwater regulations that could affect small communities. For

more information on stormwater regulations, call the Stormwater Hotline at 703-821-4823.

Where Are the Regulations Published?

The stormwater regulations are contained in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, Parts 122 to 124.

Solid Waste Management

Municipal solid waste is nonhazardous waste generated by people in their homes, offices,

schools, restaurants, and other places. Solid waste that is not recycled must be disposed of

and landfilling is still the most common disposal method. The regulations affecting

municipal solid waste disposal facilities (landfills) are the Resource Conservation and

Recovery Act (RCRA) Subtitle D, Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Criteria.

The purpose of Subtitle D is to prevent solid waste from polluting the soil or ground water

by being disposed of improperly. Subtitle D regulates the location, design, operation,

ground-water monitoring, and closure and postclosure care (including financing) for both

old and new municipal landfills.

Subtitle D applies if your community owns and operates a landfill, is planning to build a landfill,

or is disposing of solid waste anywhere except in a landfill. If you have questions about the

regulations and whether they apply to your community, contact your state environmental

agency for help. Also contact your state agency to discuss your options, and cooperate with

neighboring communities to find an appropriate solid waste management solution.

Planning for New Landfills

RCRA Subtitle D restricts the construction of new landfills in floodplains, wetlands, fault

areas and seismic zones, unstable areas, and in the vicinity of airports. According to Subtitle

D design requirements, in states with EPA-approved permitting programs, landfills must

be designed to ensure that federal drinking water standards are not exceeded in the ground

114 Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community?
water. In states without EPA-approved programs, landfills must be designed with a

composite liner (made of synthetic material) covering a 2-foot clay liner and a collection

system to capture and treat leachate.

Small community landfills are exempt from the design requirements of the regulation if

they receive less than 20 tons of solid waste each day (based on a yearly average), show no

evidence of ground-water contamination, and meet one of the following conditions:

Weather or other causes make it difficult for community residents to get to a regional

landfill for 3 months in a row of every year.

There are no practical alternatives for solid waste disposal, and there is less than 25

inches of precipitation each year.

Your state agency must approve of the design before a landfill can be built or structural

changes to an old landfill or dump can be made.

All landfills must have monitoring wells to detect any ground-water contamination. If

ground water is contaminated, the owner/operator is required to clean it up to acceptable

standards to protect people’s health and the environment.

Check with your state agency to learn the schedule you must follow to comply with the

ground-water monitoring requirements.

Operation

Owners and operators of both new and existing landfills must observe the following

operating criteria:

Keep out hazardous waste.

Cover each day’s waste with soil to prevent the spread of disease by rats, flies,

mosquitoes, and other animals.

Monitor for methane gas. If emission levels in the landfill are over a certain limit, notify

your state agency and develop a plan to solve the problem.

Restrict access to the landfill to prevent illegal dumping and other unauthorized intrusions.

Control stormwater runoff and discharge to surface waters.

Refuse bulk or noncontainerized liquid waste, such as from tank trucks or in 55-gallon drums.

Control air emissions. Emissions from landfills may not violate state and federal clean

air laws and regulations. Open burning of waste is prohibited at landfills.

Keep records.

Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community? 115
Closure and Postclosure Care

Landfills can close for many reasons. Eventually every landfill becomes full and cannot

accept more solid waste. Landfills also may be required to close if they violate a requirement, such as location or design, or if the presence of the landfill has become a threat to

people’s health or the environment in the area. When a landfill closes, the owner and

operator must follow very specific procedures to prevent the closed landfill from causing

health or environmental problems:

Prepare, in advance, a written plan that describes all of the steps that will be taken to

close the landfill.

Develop a plan to pay for the maintenance, closure, and postclosure care of the landfill.

Owners and operators need to prepare a detailed written cost estimate of how much it

would cost to hire someone else to complete the closure, postclosure care, and any

necessary cleanup. They need to assure the state that they will set aside at least that

much money. Each owner or operator should consult with the state agency about the

best way to do this.

Notify the state agency of the intention to close the landfill.

Complete closure activities within 180 days of starting closure.

Install a final cover over the landfill to prevent rainwater from getting into the landfill

and to prevent as much erosion as possible.

Hire an engineer to verify that the closure has been completed according to the closure

plan. 

Make a note on the property deed to inform anyone who might buy the land in the

future that the land had been used as a landfill and therefore its use is restricted.

Prepare, in advance, a written plan for postclosure that includes:

— A description of the required monitoring and maintenance equipment.

— The name, address, and telephone number of the person or office to contact about

the landfill during the postclosure period.

— A description of the planned uses for the property during postclosure.

The owner or operator is also responsible for postclosure care of the landfill area for 30

years after the landfill closes. Postclosure care includes:

Maintaining the final cover, including making repairs caused by erosion or any other

damage.

Maintaining and operating the leachate collection system, if there is one.

Monitoring the ground water as necessary.

Maintaining and operating a gas monitoring system.

Hiring an engineer to inspect the landfill at the end of the postclosure period to verify

that everything has been done according to the postclosure plan.

116 Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community?
What Action Should My Community Be Taking?

To comply with the Subtitle D Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Criteria, you should contact

your state agency to find out if your community’s landfill is exempt from any of the Subtitle

D regulations. Then follow the regulations that do apply.

In addition, as a community leader, you should try to reduce the amount of solid waste

that your community produces by:

Conducting public education programs that encourage people to buy reusable products

and products with less packaging.

Evaluating a recycling program for materials such as glass, aluminum, plastic bottles,

white paper, and newspaper, either alone or in cooperation with other communities in

your area.

Considering the pros and cons of a community program for composting yard wastes.

Educating your community about the proper way to deal with wastes that should not

be taken to the landfill, such as tires, batteries, used motor oil, and many hazardous

household products. Contact your state agency about ideas for collecting these materials.

Where Are the Regulations Published?

The Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Criteria can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, Part 258.

Hazardous Waste Management

RCRA, as amended in 1984, regulates the disposal of all household, municipal, commercial, and industrial waste, including hazardous waste. The main goals of RCRA are:

To protect people’s health and the environment from the potential hazards of waste

disposal.

To reduce the amount of waste generated, including hazardous waste.

To conserve energy and natural resources.

To ensure that wastes are managed properly.

A hazardous waste is a waste that poses a potential danger to people’s health and/or the

environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed of, or otherwise

Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community? 117
managed. RCRA Subtitle C regulates hazardous waste from the moment the waste is

generated until its ultimate disposal. 

There are three categories of hazardous waste generators under the RCRA program

requirements:

Large Quantity Generator—Facilities that generate more than 1,000 kilograms

(2,200 pounds) of any hazardous waste each month, or more than 1 kilogram (2.2

pounds) of any acute hazardous waste. Large quantity generators are subject to all

RCRA requirements.

Small Quantity Generator—Facilities that generate between 100 and 1,000 kilograms

(220 to 2,200 pounds) of hazardous waste each month. Small quantity generators

generally may accumulate hazardous waste on site for up to 180 days, and may not

accumulate more than 6,000 kilograms on site at any one time.

Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generators—Facilities that generate less

than 100 kilograms of any hazardous waste each month. These facilities are exempt

from most RCRA hazardous waste requirements. Conditionally exempt small quantity

generators, however, must identify waste to determine if it is hazardous; treat or dispose

of the waste in either a recycling or permitted hazardous waste facility; and not

accumulate more than 1,000 kilograms of hazardous waste at any given time.

Does This Regulation Apply to My Community?

The requirements of RCRA Subtitle C apply to hazardous waste generators, transporters,

and storage, treatment, and disposal facilities. Some types of hazardous wastes might be

generated by businesses in your community or by your municipal facility operations

themselves. A waste is considered hazardous if it has been listed by EPA as a hazardous

waste or if the waste has any of four hazardous characteristics:

Ignitability—Wastes that are easily combustible or flammable, such as paints or

solvents.

Corrosivity—Wastes that dissolve metals or other materials, or burn the skin. Examples are rust removers, acid or alkaline cleaning fluids, and battery acid.

Reactivity—Wastes that are unstable or undergo violent chemical reactions, such as

explosions, and/or release toxic fumes, gases, and vapors when mixed with water or

other materials.

Toxicity—Wastes that are harmful or fatal when eaten or absorbed. When toxic wastes

are disposed of on land, contaminated liquid can drain (leach) from the waste and pollute

= 1 barrel = about 55 gallons or 200 kilograms of hazardous waste

118 Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community?
ground water. Toxicity is identified through a laboratory test called the Toxicity

Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP). 

EPA regulations require all waste generators to evaluate whether their wastes have any of

the four hazardous characteristics. Wastes that have any of these characteristics are subject

to Subtitle C hazardous waste regulations. In addition, some wastes are considered to be

“acutely hazardous.” These are wastes that EPA has determined to be very dangerous, even

in small amounts, such as certain pesticides and wastes containing dioxins.

The following wastes are among those not included in the RCRA hazardous waste

regulations:

Domestic sewage.

Irrigation return water or industrial wastewater effluent permitted under NPDES (see

the section on wastewater treatment).

Household hazardous wastes.

Agricultural wastes generated by the growing or harvesting of crops or raising of

animals (including animal manures) that are returned to the soil as fertilizer.

Wastes from businesses that generate fewer than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of

hazardous waste each month.

If you are not sure if a business, industry, or municipal facility in your community is

generating a hazardous waste or is subject to the RCRA hazardous waste regulations,

contact your state agency or the RCRA Hotline at 800-424-9346.

Where Are the Regulations Published?

The hazardous waste regulations can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40,

Parts 260-272.

Underground Storage Tank Safety

There are several million underground storage tanks (USTs) in the United States that

contain petroleum or hazardous chemicals. As many as 20 percent of all USTs might now

be leaking, and many more are expected to leak in the future. Leaking USTs can cause

fires or explosions that threaten people’s safety. They also can contaminate nearby ground

water and cause problems with drinking water quality.

Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community? 119
Congress responded to the problem of leaking USTs by adding Subtitle I to RCRA. The

goals of the UST regulations are to:

Prevent leaks and spills.

Find, correct, and clean up leaks and spills.

Make sure that owners and operators of USTs can pay for fixing the problems caused

by their leaks.

Does This Regulation Apply to My Community?

These regulations apply to you if you own or operate a UST storing either petroleum or

certain hazardous chemicals. A UST is one or any combination of tanks, including

underground piping connected to the tank, that has at least 10 percent of the volume

underground. 

Some kinds of tanks are not covered by these regulations:

Farm and residential tanks holding 1,100 gallons or less of motor fuel used for

noncommercial purposes.

Tanks storing heating oil that is used on the premises where it is stored.

Tanks on or above the floor of underground areas, such a basements or tunnels, where

it is possible to physically inspect the tank for leaks.

Septic tanks and systems for collecting stormwater and wastewater.

Tanks holding 110 gallons or less.

Emergency spill and overfill tanks.

If you are unsure whether or not the UST regulations apply to you, contact your state

environmental agency or the RCRA Hotline at 800-424-9346.

What Are the Specific Requirements of RCRA Subtitle I?

RCRA Subtitle I regulates the installation, maintenance, monitoring, and closure of both

new and existing USTs. The regulations also give specific instructions for the proper way

to deal with leaks and spills, including corrective action. According to the regulations, new

USTs are those installed after December 22, 1988, and existing USTs are those installed

on or before December 22, 1988. All new USTs must comply with the regulations before

installation. Existing USTs will eventually need to comply with the same regulations as

new USTs. The deadlines for compliance, however, are spread out over time. The

requirements for petroleum and chemical USTs are very similar, although there are a few

special requirements for chemical USTs. 

120 Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community?
Installation

Subtitle I requires that you:

Use qualified installers who follow industry codes.

Certify on a notification form (available from your state agency) that you have used a

qualified installer who can assure you that your UST has been installed correctly.

Corrosion Protection, Spill/Overfill Prevention, and Leak

Detection

The box on page 122 lists the regulations regarding corrosion protection, spill/overfill

prevention, and leak detection for new and existing USTs. Existing tanks must be equipped

with leak detection by December 1993 and must have corrosion protection and spill/overfill prevention by December 1998. All existing piping must comply with corrosion

prevention requirements by December 1998 and with leak detection requirements by

December 1993; however, spill/overfill prevention requirements do not apply to piping.

Leaks and Spills

There are several requirements for both reporting and correcting leaks and spills. In

general, here is what you should do when you have a leak or spill:

Stop the leak or contain the spill immediately.

Within 24 hours, notify your state agency of the leak or spill. Report all underground

leaks. Report petroleum spills and overfills of 25 gallons or more, or any that cause an

“oil slick” on nearby surface water. If you are not sure of the amount, report it.

Identify and mitigate fire, explosion, and vapor hazards. Ask your local fire department

to test for explosive conditions and to help you decide how to deal with any poisonous

vapors or flammable liquids and how to go about cleaning up the leak or spill.

Contact professionals who might be able to help you determine the extent of contamination, prepare a cleanup plan, and clean up the site.

Keep detailed records of the actions you have taken or plan to take:

— Report your progress to your state agency or regulatory authority no later than 20

days after the leak or spill.

— Report whether the leak has damaged or might damage the environment within 45

days of the leak or spill, including how you plan to remove leaked petroleum.

You must repair your UST system in accordance with a national code of practice, which

generally requires retesting of repaired cathodic protection within 6 months, replacement

of all damaged metal piping, and lifetime recordkeeping. Chemical leaks and spills have

the added requirements of also reporting the spill or overfill to the National Response

Center at 800-424-8802 or 202-267-2675 if they exceed “reportable quantities.” You can

Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community? 121
Underground Storage Tank Requirements: 

Corrosion Protection, Spill/Overfill Prevention, and Leak Detection

Corrosion Protection

New tanks (Three choices) ■ Coated and cathodically protected steel.

■ Fiberglass.

■ Steel tank clad with fiberglass.

Existing tanks (Four choices) ■ Same options as for new tanks.

■ Add cathodic protection system.

■ Interior lining.

■ Interior lining and cathodic protection.

New piping (Two choices) ■ Coated and cathodically protected steel.

■ Fiberglass.

Existing piping (Two choices) ■ Same options as for new piping.

■ Cathodically protected steel.

Spill/Overfill Prevention

All tanks ■ Catchment basins and one of the following:

— Automatic shutoff devices.

— Overfill alarms.

— Ball float valves.

Leak Detection

New tanks (Two choices) ■ Monthly monitoring.*

■ Monthly inventory control and tank tightness testing every 5 years

(only an option for 10 years after installation).✝

Existing tanks (Three choices) ■ Monthly monitoring.*

■ Monthly inventory control and annual tank tightness testing (only an

option until December 1998).

■ Monthly inventory control and tank tightness testing every 5 years

(only an option for 10 years after adding corrosion protection and

spill/overfill prevention or until December 1998, whichever date is

later).✝

New and existing pressurized piping

(Choice of one from each set)

One of the following: And one of the following:

■ Automatic flow restrictor. ■ Annual tightness testing.

■ Automatic shutoff device. ■ Monthly monitoring (except

■ Continuous alarm system. automatic tank gauging).*

New and existing suction piping

(Three choices)

■ Monthly monitoring (except automatic tank gauging).*

■ Tightness testing every 3 years.

■ No requirements (if the system has the characteristics described in 

the regulations).

Chemical USTs ■ Interstitial monitoring (monitoring between the layers of doublewalled tanks and pipes) and secondary containment.

* Monthly monitoring includes: automatic tank gauging, vapor monitoring in soil, interstitial monitoring (i.e., monitoring between the 

 layers of double-walled tanks and pipes), ground-water monitoring, statistical inventory reconciliation, and other approved methods.

✝

Very small tanks may also be able to use manual tank gauging.

122 Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community?
get information about the “reportable quantities” by calling the RCRA Hotline at 800-

424-9346.

Closure

If you close your UST, you must follow the requirements for permanent closure. Notify

your state agency 30 days before you plan to close your UST. Your state agency will help

you decide how to meet all local requirements for closure. Although USTs can also be

closed temporarily, the requirements are difficult. Details of temporary closure requirements can be obtained from your state agency.

Reporting and Recordkeeping

As noted above, you will need to report to your state agency at the beginning and end of

your UST’s operating life, and in the case of a leak or spill. You will also have to keep

records that can be provided to an inspector during an onsite visit that prove your facility

meets certain requirements. These records must be kept long enough to show your facility’s

compliance status in four major areas:

Keep the following leak detection records:

— Last year’s monitoring results and the most recent tightness test.

— Copies of performance claims provided by leak detection manufacturers.

— Records of recent maintenance, repair, and calibration of leak detection equipment

installed on site.

Keep records showing that the inspections of the corrosion protection system were

carried out by properly trained professionals.

Keep records showing that repairs and upgrades to the USTs were properly conducted.

For at least 3 years after closing an UST, keep records of the site assessment results

required for permanent closure.

Check with your state agency about the particular recordkeeping requirements in your

area. The general rule of thumb for recordkeeping is: When in doubt, keep it.

Financial Responsibility

Owners and operators of USTs are required to show, through insurance coverage or other

acceptable financial mechanisms, that they can pay for the cost of cleanups and third-party

damages resulting from any leaks that might occur. The other acceptable mechanisms for

compliance include state assurance funds, letters of credit, surety bonds, a financial test of

self-insurance, guarantees, and trust funds. Four additional mechanisms are available for

Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community? 123
local government entities: bond tests, government guarantees, local government funds

(trust funds), and a local government financial test.

As of January 1994, 40 states had state assurance funds that can be used as partial or even

full mechanisms for compliance with the financial responsibility regulations. For additional information about these funds, call your state regulatory agency.

The compliance deadline for petroleum marketers and nonmarketers was December 31,

1993, and the deadline for local government entities was February 18, 1994.

Contact the RCRA Hotline (800-424-9346) for more information.

Where Are the Regulations Published?

The Underground Storage Tank regulations are contained in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, Part 280.

Emergency Response to Hazardous Substance Spills

In 1986, Congress passed the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know

Act (EPCRA, also known as SARA Title III) to help U.S. communities deal safely and

effectively with the many hazardous substances that are used throughout our society. The

law has two main purposes:

To encourage and support emergency planning for responding to chemical accidents.

To provide local governments and the public with information about possible chemical

hazards in their communities. 

EPCRA requires facilities to notify communities and states immediately if there is a

chemical spill. In addition, the act requires all facilities—large or small, manufacturing or

nonmanufacturing, industrial or government—to report information about the amounts,

location, and potential effects of certain hazardous chemicals present above the threshold

levels specified by EPA.

Does This Regulation Apply to My Community?

Yes, every community in the United States must be part of a comprehensive plan for

responding to chemical emergencies. The governor of your state has appointed a State

124 Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community?
Emergency Response Commission (SERC). Each SERC, in turn, has divided its state

into local emergency planning districts and appointed a Local Emergency Planning

Committee (LEPC) for each district. At a minimum, each committee must include

representatives of state and local government; law enforcement officials; firefighters; first

aid, health, hospital, environmental, and transportation workers; community groups;

broadcast and print media; and owners and operators of industrial plants and businesses.

The LEPC is responsible for:

Developing a plan to prepare for and respond to chemical emergencies in its district

and reviewing the plan annually.

Receiving emergency release and hazardous chemical inventory information from local

facilities and making this information available to the public upon request.

Visiting facilities in the district to find out what they are doing to reduce hazards and

prepare for accidents.

Serving as an informal source of information and discussion about hazardous substances, emergency planning, and health and environmental risks for the community.

What Chemicals Must Be Reported Under the Act?

Over 1,000 chemicals are considered to be hazardous or extremely hazardous substances that could represent an immediate danger to the community if they are spilled or

released into the environment. Releases of these substances must be reported immediately

to the SERC and LEPC. Thousands of other chemicals are considered to be hazardous

or toxic chemicals that represent a significant physical or health hazard when present in

critical amounts. Facilities need to inventory these chemicals and submit specific information about these materials to the SERCs, LEPCs, and local fire departments (the fire

department, paid or volunteer, that serves your community). For more information on

how to comply with these regulations, contact your SERC or LEPC.

What Action Should My Community Be Taking?

As a local official, you are responsible for making sure that all public facilities in your

community (such as hospitals, schools, wastewater or drinking water treatment plants)

comply with the act by immediately reporting any hazardous or extremely hazardous

substances that they release or spill to the SERC and LEPC.

In addition, you should take the following steps to ensure that your community is prepared

to respond to chemical accidents:

Learn who represents public institutions (hospitals, schools, state and local government) on the LEPC, and contact that person to find out the information that affects

your community.

Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community? 125
Make sure that the local fire department is familiar with the emergency response plan

for your community and that the LEPC is satisfied with its preparedness.

Use the information collected by the SERC and LEPC to find out about hazardous

chemicals in your community to help identify any potential risks to people’s health and

the environment.

Encourage public facilities in the community to voluntarily report inventories of the

hazardous chemicals present at these facilities. Even though public facilities are not

required by law to provide this information, this effort would ensure that the local

responders (fire departments, law enforcement officials, etc.) would be better informed

of the hazards present in the community. This information could also be incorporated

into the local community planning efforts for emergencies.

Where Are the Regulations Published?

The regulations implementing EPCRA can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations,

Title 40, Parts 300, 350, 370, 372.

Asbestos-Containing Materials in Buildings

The Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) of 1986 requires schools

to inspect buildings for materials containing asbestos and to develop a plan to properly

manage asbestos-containing materials in all school buildings. The management plans were

submitted to state agencies in May 1989, and school districts and individual private schools

began implementing their plans in July 1989. School districts and individual private schools

should update their management plans to reflect any actions that they have taken.

Under the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP),

all public buildings must be inspected for asbestos-containing materials before any renovation or demolition occurs. The owner must notify the appropriate regulatory agency for

all demolition activities, even if asbestos is not found. If asbestos is found in a building to

be demolished, NESHAP establishes certain work practices, waste disposal methods, and

recordkeeping requirements that must be followed. For renovations, the owner must only

notify the regulatory agency and meet work practice, waste disposal, and recordkeeping

requirements if the quantities of asbestos-containing materials exceed 160 square feet, 260

linear feet, or 35 cubic feet. In addition, the 1990 amendments to AHERA mandate that

if a building owner renovates or demolishes a building regulated under NESHAP, people

accredited under AHERA must be used to inspect, design, and conduct all asbestos-related

activities.

126 Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community?
Finally, under the Asbestos Abatement Projects Worker Protection Final Rule

(WPR), employers of public employees that are handling friable asbestos-containing

materials must comply with provisions to protect their employees from exposure to

asbestos fibers. Employers must monitor the air, use specific engineering controls and work

practices, provide medical surveillance and training to employees, and notify the EPA

regional asbestos coordinator of their activities.

Do the Asbestos Regulations Apply to My Community?

Every local public school system or nonprofit private school (K-12) must designate and

train one person to oversee asbestos-related activities, including:

Conducting inspections in every school building for asbestos-containing materials.

Reinspections are required every 3 years.

Preparing and submitting management plans to the state agency. A management plan

includes maintenance, repair, encapsulation, enclosure, and removal, if absolutely

necessary. The plan should include a time frame for implementation of recommended

actions.

Ensuring that only properly authorized people conduct inspections, develop the asbestos management plan, and design and conduct any asbestos-abatement actions.

Informing custodial and maintenance workers about the location of asbestos and

posting warning labels.

Providing appropriate training for custodial and maintenance staff.

Notifying parents, teachers, and other school employees about the asbestos inspection

and the fact that they have the right to review the school’s management plans.

Keeping records of all asbestos-related activities in the plan and making them available

for public review.

All small communities involved with the renovation or demolition of buildings must

comply with NESHAP and AHERA accreditation requirements. In addition, if public

employees are used to handle friable asbestos-containing materials, the community must

also follow the WPR.

What Action Should My Community Be Taking?

As a local official, you should ensure that:

Any school district within your community has complied with AHERA.

You have the names of people who are responsible for all asbestos-related activities in

the district and trained and certified asbestos inspectors and removers in the area.

Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community? 127
The proper regulatory agency is notified before the demolition of any buildings.

Public employers are aware of their responsibilities under the WPR and have notified

the regional asbestos coordinator. 

Where Are the Regulations Published?

The Asbestos-Containing Materials in Schools Rules and the Worker Protection Rule are

in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, Part 763. The NESHAP rules for asbestos are

in Title 40, Part 61.

Radon Gas in Homes and Other Buildings

Radon is a radioactive gas that comes from the natural breakdown (radioactive decay) of

uranium in soil, rocks, and water. The U.S. Surgeon General has warned that radon is the

second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States today. Radon moves up through

the ground and enters homes and other buildings through the basement or foundation. In

almost 1 out of every 15 homes in the United States, indoor radon levels are estimated to

exceed levels recommended by EPA to protect people’s health. 

In 1988, Congress enacted the Indoor Radon Abatement Act (IRAA) with the goal of

reducing indoor radon levels to those found in outside air. In response to IRAA, EPA has:

Published the Citizen’s Guide to Radon and other documents describing suggested

procedures for testing homes, schools, and buildings.

Completed national surveys on radon exposure in homes and schools.

Drafted suggested standards and techniques for controlling radon in new buildings. A

draft of these guidelines will be available for public comment soon.

Set up programs to train radon professionals.

IRAA also provided funds for state governments and Native American tribes to help local

governments and communities encourage residents to test for and reduce radon levels.

Does the Indoor Radon Abatement Act Apply to My Community?

Your community might have homes, day care centers, schools, or commercial buildings

with indoor radon levels higher than the federal guidelines. Most radon-related policies,

128 Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community?
however, are not federal laws. EPA, state, and local governments have focused their

energies on educating the public about the health risk of radon and encouraging voluntary

testing of homes and buildings. Some states have developed radon regulations, however,

including training and certification of radon experts and required testing of all public

schools.

What Action Should My Community Be Taking?

To protect your community from the harmful effects of indoor radon, you should contact

your state radon office. Ask them to give you public information about radon, including:

The Citizen’s Guide to Radon.

Predicted Average Indoor Screening Levels For Radon in the United States (by County)

Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community? 129
Lists of EPA- or state-certified radon experts who can test homes and other buildings

for radon levels.

Information on state radon regulations.

Use this information to educate your community about the risks of radon and encourage

voluntary testing. Make the list of EPA- or state-certified radon inspectors available for

anyone in your community who would like to test for radon.

Air Pollution

The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 give EPA the authority to set national outside

(ambient) air quality standards to protect people’s health and the environment from air

pollutants. Most air pollution comes from stationary sources (e.g., factories, power

plants, and smelters) or from mobile sources (e.g., cars, buses, planes, trucks, and trains).

Do the Clean Air Act Amendments Apply to My Community?

Most provisions of the Clean Air Act Amendments will not affect very small communities.

Some communities, however, might have wood burning or particulate problems that will

need to be solved. In addition, the act contains several new requirements that are of

particular concern to small businesses, including:

Lower emissions from small industrial and service companies that contribute to

ground-level ozone pollution (smog).

Reduce automotive emissions by establishing tailpipe inspections and maintenance

programs for motor vehicles, and by expanding the development of cleaner automotive

fuels.

Sharply curb emissions of 189 toxic air pollutants from hundreds of industries.

Prevent or minimize the risks from the accidental release of very hazardous chemicals

into the air.

Recycle and eliminate the production and use of products and substances that destroy

the earth’s upper ozone layer.

Require many sources affected by the Act to have a permit listing their air pollution

control methods.

This is a general list of the typical kinds of small businesses that will be affected by one or

more of the air pollution control programs under the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments:

130 Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community?
Agricultural chemical applicators Asphalt manufacturers/applicators

Auto body shops Bakeries

Distilleries Dry cleaners

Foundries Furniture manufacturers and repairers

Gasoline service stations Hospitals

Laboratories Lawnmower repair shops

Lumber mills Metal finishers

Newspapers Pest control operators

Photofinishing laboratories Printing shops

Refrigerator/air conditioning services Tar paving applicators

Textile mills Wood finishers

All small businesses should consult their state pollution control agency for more details

about the specific controls required in their area.

What Action Should My Community Be Taking?

Before taking any action on air pollution issues, contact your state air pollution agency or

county health department and your regional EPA small community coordinator for

guidance. If problems with air pollution exist, meet with your state air pollution agency or

regional EPA office to discuss problems and possible solutions.

Where Are the Regulations Published?

The regulations implementing the Clean Air Act Amendments can be found in the Code

of Federal Regulations, Title 40, Parts 1 to 99.

Floodplain Zoning

Floodplain zoning is part of the federal government’s national flood insurance program.

Flood insurance is not available through private insurance companies. If a community

wishes to be part of the national flood insurance program, it is required to follow certain

Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community? 131
building and zoning requirements set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency

(FEMA). FEMA is responsible for:

Publishing floodplain maps.

Preparing minimum standards for development within floodplain zones, including

building codes and zoning ordinances.

Requiring communities that apply for national flood insurance to adopt these standards.

FEMA has prepared flood insurance maps for every community in the country. These

maps outline the flood hazard areas in each community. To order a map of the floodplains

in your area, call the Flood Map Distribution Center at 800-333-1363.

Does Floodplain Zoning Affect My Community?

Floodplain zoning is not a federal regulation. If your community wants to be covered by

the national flood insurance program, however, it must meet the minimum standards set

by FEMA’s building codes and zoning ordinances to qualify.

What Action Should My Community Be Taking?

As a local official, you need to decide whether your community is at risk for flood damage

and if your community could benefit from being a part of the national flood insurance

program. You should:

Call FEMA’s Flood Map Distribution Center to get a map of flood hazard areas in your

community.

Contact your state environmental agency or state department of natural resources to

discuss floodplain zoning requirements for your community.

If your community is already part of the national flood insurance program, make sure

that it meets FEMA zoning requirements.

132 Appendix B: What Environmental Regulations Affect Your Community?
Appendix C:

Assessing Risks from Environmental

Problems in Your Community

T

his appendix presents information about how to assess potential risks to public health,

the environment, and the quality of life in your community. In addition, it lists states

and cities that have undertaken or are planning projects using “comparative risk” to

help set priorities in environmental decision-making. Information from one of these

projects in your state or a nearby city might be valuable in your efforts to identify

“high-risk” problems in your community.

Much of the information in this appendix is adapted from Richard Minard and Ken Jones,

Comparative Risk Lab Manual, Northeast Center for Comparative Risk.

Questions to Help You Assess Risks to Health, 

Ecosystems, and Quality of Life

Answers to the following questions will help you assess risks to health, ecosystems, and

quality of life in your community:

What harmful effects can the substance or activity cause to public health, the environment, or the quality of life? Examples include cancer, gastrointestinal illnesses, or a

decline in the number of fish or birds in the area.

Are the effects permanent or reversible?

What are the effects at different levels of exposure?

133
How much of the substance do people (or ecosystems) in your planning area come in

contact with? How many people are affected (or how widespread an area)? Information

for answering these question can come from many different sources, such as results of

environmental monitoring (e.g., for drinking water or surface water quality); discharge

limits set by permits; reports made by businesses under the Title III “Right to Know”

law about how much of certain substances they discharge to air, water, and land; and

mathematical models that estimate the distribution of hazardous substances in air and

water.

Is there evidence of harm to people, ecosystems, or quality of life in your planning area?

For example, do data about human health and natural resources in your community

point to any areas of concern (such as a higher rate of certain diseases than the national

average)? What pollutants are known to contribute to these conditions? Federal, state,

and county agencies have useful data on these issues.

Assessing Human Health Risks in Your Community

Chemicals and biological contaminants in the environment can cause a variety of health

problems. Some of these health effects are temporary or easily treated, such as headaches,

nausea, diarrhea, or rashes. Other health effects can be permanent and difficult or

impossible to treat, such as learning disabilities, chronic pain, or disabling heart or

respiratory problems. Some stressors* can cause cancer.

Individual health risk depends on two variables, hazard and exposure, as shown by the

following equation:

Risk = Hazard x Exposure

Hazard—Toxicity, a measure of the stressor’s potency or ability to cause health

problems.

Exposure—How much of the stressor individuals come in contact with, and over

what period of time.

Many chemicals and organisms in the home or outside environment pose little or no risk

because they are nontoxic: they have no effect on biological processes. Other stressors are

very hazardous but may pose little health risk if individuals are not exposed to them.

In assessing the risk of a chemical, scientists examine all the available scientific data for

that chemical, including data from animal studies, human data (when available), and results

of tests with isolated human cells or microorganisms. They use this information to estimate

whether and to what degree the chemical poses a human health risk.

*The term “stressor” refers to many different types of pollution, including any material, organism, radiation, temperature change, or activity that puts a

stress on human health, the environment, or quality of life.

134 Appendix C: Assessing Risks from Environmental Problems in Your Community
For noncancer effects, scientists usually assume there is a threshold of exposure. Below

this threshold level, the harmful effect will not occur, and above it, the exposed individual

is at risk. Risk information for noncancer effects is usually expressed as an estimate of daily

exposure of a chemical that is likely to have no significant harmful effects during an

individual’s lifetime (estimated at 70 years).

For cancer, scientists assume that any dose of the substance poses some degree of risk, and

that risk increases as exposure increases. Risk information for cancer is usually expressed

as a mathematical factor that relates the level of exposure to the number of additional cases

of cancer that are expected to be caused by that exposure. 

To get an idea of the potential health risk of a chemical in your community, you’ll need to

know (1) the level of actual exposure to that chemical in your community, and (2) risk

information on the degree of hazard that particular chemical poses. Local emergency

response coordinators should have complete listings of hazardous chemicals in the area,

along with material safety data sheets with information on toxic and hazardous characteristics of those chemicals. A public health expert or toxicologist can help you obtain

available risk information, assess local risks by comparing your community’s exposure with

the chemical’s estimated hazard level, and provide perspective that will be useful in

constructively interpreting the risk information for your community. To locate this

assistance, start by contacting your state agency or local college or university.

Assessing Ecological Risks in Your Community

Ecological risks are threats to ecosystems themselves: the health and diversity of plants,

animals, and natural communities.

When considering ecological damage, four measures can be used. The measures help

distinguish between localized problems and those that threaten much larger areas, and

between problems that cause short-term damage and those that cause permanent damage.

The measures also focus on whole natural communities rather than individual species. The

four measures are:

Structure—The diversity and interrelationships of species inhabiting or using an

ecosystem.

Function—Ecological processes, such as the conversion of energy and nutrients into

plants and animals, decomposition, and movement of water.

Recovery time—How long it takes an ecosystem to recover from stress or damage

after the stressor is removed.

Space or scale—The size of the area affected by an environmental stressor.

Appendix C: Assessing Risks from Environmental Problems in Your Community 135
Below are three examples of how a community might consider the ecological risks of

human activities:

EXAMPLE: A Chemical Spill 

A chemical spill in a small river might kill many of the fish and insects living downstream.

For a time, the complex balance among fish, insects, aquatic plants, birds, and mammals

may be disrupted, leaving only a few pollution-tolerant species alive. This sharp reduction

in the river’s diversity would be a fairly severe structural change, but it might have little

impact on some of the river’s basic ecological functions, which include transporting water

and breaking down biological debris.

The polluted stream may recover quickly. Flowing water will immediately dilute the chemical

spill and push it downstream. When the water chemistry returns to normal, plants and animals

from upstream will probably move back into their own niches, replicating the system’s original

structure. If the same chemical had spilled into a pond, the recovery time might be much

longer because the chemical might persist in the standing water or bottom sediment, and

because some lake species are less mobile than river species. If the spill affects a drinking water

supply, it will pose health as well as ecological risks.

EXAMPLE: Filling a Wetland

Filling a substantial wetland to create developable land would cause both structural and

functional changes. The diverse community that thrives in wetland soils would be replaced

by a much simpler system. The area also would lose its ability to absorb pollutants from

flood water in a storm.

A drained and filled wetland will likely never recover, even if the fill were removed. Most

ecologists agree that wetlands soils and their connections with ground-water systems are

so complex that they are extremely difficult to repair or recreate.

EXAMPLE: Building a New House

The ecological impact of building a new house depends on where it is built. If it is built in

the woods at the edge of a forest, the house may have a tiny local impact: a few trees may

be lost, but the health of the forest community is undiminished. If the same house consumes

a deer-wintering yard, however, it may affect the deer population in the whole region. If

the construction were to destroy a unique habitat, it would have a wider impact.

Natural environmental stressors, such as droughts, floods, forest fires, or even beavers,

also can have dramatic effects on ecosystems. Today’s ecosystems have evolved in response

to natural and human-made stressors.

136 Appendix C: Assessing Risks from Environmental Problems in Your Community
Assessing Risks to Quality of Life in Your Community

Environmental problems can degrade a wide range of resources, activities, or intangible

values that are important to people. The costs may be direct or indirect, monetary or

emotional. These risks come under the broad heading of “Quality of Life.”

One way to look at quality-of-life risks is to consider how environmental problems threaten

the following seven broadly held values:

Aesthetics Negative impacts include:

Reduced visibility.

Noise, odors, dust, and other unpleasant sensations (e.g., water weeds or turbidity in a

lake, grime on buildings).

Economic

Well-Being

Negative impacts include:

Higher out-of-pocket expenses or taxes to fix, replace, or buy support services (such as

higher waste disposal fees, cost of replacing a well, higher housing costs) without any

improvements in those services.

Net loss of jobs, higher health care costs, or lost productivity.

Fairness Negative impacts include:

Unequal distribution of costs and benefits (costs and benefits may be related to

economics, health, aesthetics, etc.).

Future

Generations

Negative impacts include:

Shifting the costs (economic costs, health risks, ecological damage, etc.) of today’s

activities to people not yet able to vote or not yet born.

Peace of Mind Negative impacts include:

Feeling threatened by potentially risky structures or facilities (such as hazardous waste

sites).

Recreation Negative impacts include:

Loss of access to recreation lands (public and private).

Degraded quality of recreation experience (spoiled wilderness, fished-out streams,

dammed whitewater, etc.).

Appendix C: Assessing Risks from Environmental Problems in Your Community 137
Sense of

Community

Negative impacts include:

Development that changes the appearance and characteristics of a town.

Loss of mutual respect, cooperative spirit, or willingness to solve problems together.

Individual liberty exercised at the expense of the common good.

Community authority exercised at the expense of individuals.

These seven values are intangible and therefore are extremely difficult to measure. However, they focus attention

on issues of importance to whole communities (or large parts of communities), and so are useful tools for

understanding and comparing risks.

Status of Comparative Risk Projects: 

States, Cities, and Tribes

Projects with

Completed

Rankings

California: Dan Liebermann, Project Administrator, at 510-849-5211; and Michael

DiBartolomeis, Office of Health Hazard Risk Assessment, 2151 Berkeley Way, Annex 11,

Berkeley, CA 94704; 510-540-2665.

Colorado: Gerard Bulanowski, Colorado Department of Health, Office of Environment

B-2, 4300 Cherry Creek Drive South, Denver, CO 80222-1530; 303-692-3004.

Guam: Mike Hammet, Center for Development Studies, Social Science Research Institute, Porteus Hall 719, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822; 808-956-7469.

Louisiana: Chuck Killebrew, Office of the Secretary, Department of Environmental

Quality, P.O. Box 82263, Baton Rouge, LA 70884; 504-765-2726.

Michigan: Keith Harrison, Environmental Administration Division, Department of

Management and Budget, P.O. Box 30026, Lansing, MI 48909; 517-335-3666.

Seattle, WA: Steven Nicholas, Room 200, Seattle Municipal Building, 600 Fourth

Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104; 206-684-8377.

Vermont: Doug Kievit-Kylar, Pollution Prevention Division, West Office Building,

Agency of Natural Resources, 103 South Main Street, Waterbury, VT 05676; 802-241-

3888.

Washington: Dee Peace Ragsdale, Dept. of Ecology, P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA

98504-7600; 206-407-6986.

Wisconsin Tribes: John Haugland, U.S. EPA Region 5, Planning and Management

Division, 77 West Jackson Boulevard (ME-19J), Chicago, IL 60604-3507; 312-886-9853.

138 Appendix C: Assessing Risks from Environmental Problems in Your Community
Projects Under

Way

Alabama: Marilyn Elliott, Alabama Department of Environmental Management, 1751

Congressman W.L. Dickenson Drive, Montgomery, AL 36130; 205-271-7715.

Arizona: Pat Mariella, Department of Environmental Quality, 3033 North Central

Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85012; 602-207-4603.

Florida: Nancy Muller and Gil Bergquist, Florida Center for Public Management, Florida

State University, B-149, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4025; 904-922-8042.

Atlanta, GA: Eric Wilson, Atlanta Department of Planning and Development, 55 Trinity

Avenue SW, Suite 1450, Atlanta, GA 30335-0308; 404-330-6348.

Hawaii: Patrick Felling, Department of Health, Environmental Planning, 500 Ala Moana

Boulevard, Suite 250, Honolulu, HI 96813; 808-586-4337.

Illinois: Bob Liebermann, Office of Research & Planning, Illinois Department of Energy

and Natural Resources, 325 West Adams, Springfield, IL 62704; 217-785-0124.

Jackson, MS: Scott McDonald, Public Policy and Administration Program, Jackson State

University, 3825 Ridgewood Road, Jackson, MS 39211; 601-982-6405.

Kentucky: Karen Armstrong Cummings, Kentucky Natural Resources Environmental

Protection Cabinet, 4th Floor, Capital Plaza Tower, Frankfort, KY 40601; 502-564-3350.

Maine: Cindy Bertocci, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, State House

Station 17, Augusta, ME 04333; 207-287-7842.

Maryland: Matt Thayer, Maryland Department of the Environment, 2500 Broening

Highway, Baltimore, MD 21224; 410-631-3114.

Ohio: Michelle Morrone, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, 1800 Watermark

Drive, Columbus, OH 43266-0149; 614-644-3638.

Greater Cleveland (OH) Area: Norman Robbins, Department of Neurosciences,

School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland,

OH 44106-4975; 216-368-2194.

Columbus, OH: Richard Hicks, Columbus Health Department, 181 Washington Boulevard, Columbus, OH 43215-4096; 614-645-6189.

Oregon: Dick Nichols, Environmental Partnership for Oregon Communities, 2020 SW

4th, Suite 400, Portland, OR 97201-4987; 503-229-5323.

Texas: Wendy Gordon, Texas Water Commission, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, TX 78711-

3087; 512-463-8448.

Houston, TX: John D. Wilson, Houston Advanced Research Center, Center for Global

Studies, 4800 Research Forest Drive, The Woodlands, TX 77381; 713-363-7913.

Utah: Bruce Slater, Utah Department of Environmental Quality, P.O. Box 144810, Salt

Lake City, UT 84114-4810; 801-536-4480.

Charlottesville Area, VA: Mike Collins, Thomas Jefferson Planning District, 413 East

Market Street, Suite 102, Charlottesville, VA 22901; 804-972-1720.

Appendix C: Assessing Risks from Environmental Problems in Your Community 139
Elizabeth River, VA: Marjorie Mayfield, Elizabeth River Project, 100 West Plume Street,

Suite 220, Norfolk, VA 23510; 804-625-3648.

Western Tribes: Mike Frost, Southern Ute Tribe, Box 737, Ignacio, CO 81137; 303-563-

0135.

Projects in the

Planning Stages

Alaska: James Powell, Division of Environmental Quality, 410 Willoughby Avenue, Suite

105, Juneau, AK 99801-1795; 907-465-5260.

Arkansas: Dick Cassat, Department of Pollution Control & Ecology, P.O. Box 8913, Little

Rock, AR 72219-8913; 501-570-2131.

Minnesota: Paul Schmiechen, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, 520 Lafayette Road

North, St. Paul, MN 55155; 612-296-7795.

Mississippi: Sam Mabry, Chief, Hazardous Waste Division, Mississippi Department of

Environmental Quality, P.O. Box 10385, Jackson, MS 39289-0385; 601-961-5545.

Missouri: David Bedan, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, P.O. Box 176,

Jefferson City, MO 65102; 314-751-4533.

New Hampshire: Kate Hartnett, Water Supply and Pollution Control Division, New

Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, P.O. Box 95, 6 Hazen Drive, Concord,

NH 03301; 603-271-2989.

New Jersey: Martin Rosen, Division of Science and Research, Department of Environmental Protection and Energy, CN 409, Trenton, NJ 08625-0409; 609-984-5312.

New York: Mary Werner, Pollution Prevention Unit, New York State Department of

Environmental Conservation, 50 Wolf Road, Albany, NY 12233; 518-457-2480.

North Dakota: Teri Lunde, North Dakota Department of Health and Consolidated

Laboratories, P.O. Box 5520, Bismark, ND 58502-5520; 701-221-5150.

Hamilton County (Cincinnati), OH: Walter S. Handy, Jr., Cincinnati Department of

Health, Community Services Division, 3101 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45229;

513-357-7271.

Allegheny County, PA: David Piposzar, Allegheny County Health Department, 3333

Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213; 412-578-8030.

Tennessee: Angie Pitcock, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation,

Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Awareness, 401 Church Street, 14th

Floor, Nashville, TN 37243-1551; 615-532-0736.

Wisconsin: Tim Mulholland, Bureau of Environmental Analysis and Review, Department

of Natural Resources, 101 South Webster Street, Madison, WI 53707-7921; 608-266-

0061.

140 Appendix C: Assessing Risks from Environmental Problems in Your Community
Comparative Risk Projects: July/August 1994

* Western Tribes * Wisconsin Tribes

Columbus &

Cleveland

* Charlottesville

* Elizabeth River

* Atlanta

Jackson*

* Houston

* Guam

Seattle

Implementing Under Way Planning Uncommitted

Appendix C: Assessing Risks from Environmental Problems in Your Community 141
Appendix D:

Where To Turn 

for Help

T

his guide provides general information about environmental issues facing your

community and offers suggestions for dealing with many of these issues. After reading

the guide, you will still have questions about what your community can and should

do. In addition, you will need technical help to accomplish many of the things that

this guide suggests. This chapter tells you about some places and resources where you can

find more help. These listings are up-to-date as of mid-1994.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Regional Small Community Contacts

EPA’s small community contacts are designated by the Agency to provide assistance to

small communities. They will provide assistance directly or refer you to others within their

offices who are best suited to provide the help you need.

EPA Region 1 EPA Region 2

JFK Federal Building, Room 2203

Boston, MA 02203

617-565-3412

Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New

Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont

26 Federal Plaza

New York, NY 10278

212-264-7834

New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Virgin 

Islands

EPA Region 3 EPA Region 4

841 Chestnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19107

215-597-9072

Delaware, Maryland, 

Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, 

District of Columbia

345 Courtland Street, NE

Atlanta, GA 30365

404-347-7109

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi,

North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee

143
EPA Region 5 EPA Region 6

77 West Jackson Boulevard

Chicago, IL 60604

312-353-6218

Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, 

Minnesota, Wisconsin

1445 Ross Avenue, 12th Floor, Suite 200

Dallas, TX 75202

214-655-2203

Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma,

Texas

EPA Region 7 EPA Region 8

726 Minnesota Avenue

Kansas City, KS 66101

913-551-7768

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska

One Denver Place

999 18th Street, Suite 500

Denver, CO 80202

303-294-7009

Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, 

South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming

EPA Region 9 EPA Region 10

215 Fremont Street

San Francisco, CA 94105

415-744-1568

Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada,

American Samoa, Guam, Trust Territories of

the Pacific

1200 Sixth Avenue

Seattle, WA 98101

206-553-1138

Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington

American Petroleum Institute

1220 L Street, NW

Washington, DC 20005

202-682-8000

Provides information and technical assistance to communities on how to set up used

oil collection programs and encourage used

oil recycling.

USDA Extension Service

United States Department of Agriculture

14th & Independence Avenue SW

Room 3547 S

Washington, DC 20250-0992

202-720-0987 (or see your local directory

for your local or county extension agent)

Provides education in wastewater and other

environmental subjects for local officials

and residents.

International City/County 

Management Association

777 North Capitol Street, NE, Suite 500

Washington, DC 20002

202-289-4262

Provides information and training for local

governments on a variety of issues. Sets up

peer matches for people to learn from one

another. 

Other Organizations

144 Appendix D: Where To Turn for Help
Northeast Center for Comparative Risk

Vermont Law School

P.O. Box 96

Chelsea Street

South Royalton, VT 05068

802-763-8303

or

Western Center for Comparative Risk

5398 Manhattan Circle

Boulder, CO 80303

202-494-6393

Work with EPA to help states and cities use

comparative risk. Can provide small communities with publications on comparing

environmental risks.

National Association of Towns and

Townships

1522 K Street, NW

Washington, DC 20005

202-737-5200

Offers educational services, technical assistance programs, and public policy support

to local governments.

National Environmental Training Center

West Virginia University

P.O. Box 6064

Morgantown, WV 26506

800-624-8301

Develops training materials on water, wastewater, and solid waste issues.

National Recycling Coalition

1101 30th Street, NW

Suite 305

Washington, DC 20007

202-625-6406

Answers requests for information on recycling; maintains lists of state recycling associations and market development contacts.

National Rural Water Association

2715 M Street, NW

Suite 300

Washington, DC 20007

202-333-8830

Provides training and technical assistance to

small water and wastewater systems. Contact the national NRWA office to find out

about the Rural Water Association in your

state.

Rural Community Assistance 

Program

602 South King Street

Suite 402

Leesburg, VA 22075

703-771-8636

A national network of nonprofit organizations assisting rural and small communities

with drinking water, wastewater, and solid

waste management.

Rural Development Administration

United States Department of 

Agriculture

14th and Independence Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20250

202-720-9589

Provides loans for rural water and wastewater systems and communities with populations less than 10,000.

Small Towns Environment Program

The Rensselaerville Institute

Rensselaerville, NY 12147

518-797-3783

Helps small towns solve water and wastewater problems. Provides tools for local action, self-help approaches to design and

construction, nonbureaucratic low-interest

loans, and technical support.

Appendix D: Where To Turn for Help 145
Solid Waste Association of North 

America

P.O. Box 7219

Silver Spring, MD 20907

800-677-9424

Works to improve solid waste management

services to the public and industry via training, education, technical assistance, and

technology transfer. Also maintains information on local government issues as they

relate to solid and hazardous waste management.

United States Department 

of Housing and Urban 

Development

451 7th Street SW

Washington, DC 20410

202-708-2690

Provides grants to drinking water treatment

utilities through the Community Development Block Grant Program. 

Control Technology Center (CTC) 

Hotline

919-541-0800

Provides technical support and information

on air pollution emissions and control technology.

Emissions Measurement Technical 

Information Center

919-541-1060

Provides information on air emissions testing methods and federal testing and monitoring requirements.

National Radon Hotline

800-767-7236

Hotline callers receive a brochure on radon

health effects and home testing.

Solid Waste Assistance 

Program

800-677-9424

Provides information on all aspects of solid

waste management.

Hazardous Waste

Ombudsman Program

800-262-7937 (202-260-9361 for District

of Columbia callers)

Assists the public and regulated communities in resolving problems concerning any

program or requirements under EPA’s hazardous waste program.

National Response Center

800-424-8802

Receives notification of oil, hazardous

chemical, biological, and radiological 

releases, and passes them on to a federal

On-Scene Coordinator, who coordinates

cleanup efforts.

Resource Conservation and Recovery

Act (RCRA)/Superfund/Emergency

Planning and Community Right-toKnow Act (EPCRA) Hotline

800-424-9346

800-535-0202

Provides general assistance and information

on solid and hazardous waste management

and on EPCRA.

Air and

Radiation

Hazardous and

Solid Waste

Technical Support Centers and Hotlines

146 Appendix D: Where To Turn for Help
Asbestos Ombudsman 

Clearinghouse/Hotline

800-368-5888 (703-305-5938 for Virginia

callers)

Provides the public sector with information

on handling and abatement of asbestos in

schools, workplaces, and homes.

Asbestos School Hazard Abatement 

Act Hotline

800-462-6706

Provides information about the Asbestos

School Hazard Abatement Act loan and

grant program, which provides funds to

public and private schools to aid in asbestos

abatement.

Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)

Information Service

202-554-1404

Provides technical and general information

on TSCA regulations.

Pollution Prevention Information 

Clearinghouse

703-821-4800

Provides technical, policy, programmatic,

legislative, and financial information about

reducing industrial pollutants.

RCRA/Superfund/EPCRA Hotline

800-424-9346

800-535-0202

Provides general assistance and information

regarding underground storage tanks.

AWWA Small Systems Technical 

Assistance Line

800-366-0107

Provides technical support for operators of

drinking water systems serving fewer than

3,300 persons. Sponsored by the American

Water Works Association.

Clean Lakes Clearinghouse

800-726-LAKE

Provides information on lake and watershed

restoration, protection, and management.

National Drinking Water Clearinghouse

West Virginia University

P.O. Box 6064

Morgantown, WV 26506

800-624-8301 

Assists small communities by collecting, 

developing, and providing timely information about drinking water issues.

National Small Flows 

Clearinghouse

800-624-8301

Provides information for small communities about wastewater management.

Pollution

Prevention

Underground

Storage Tanks

Pesticides and

Toxics

Water and

Wastewater

Appendix D: Where To Turn for Help 147
National Water Efficiency Clearinghouse

6666 West Quincy Avenue

Denver, CO 80235

303-347-6134

Provides information on water conservation

and water efficiency issues.

Safe Drinking Water Hotline

800-426-4791

Assists public water systems and the public

with their understanding of the regulations

and programs developed in response to the

Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of

1986.

EPA Water Resource Center

401 M Street, SW

Washington, DC 20460

202-260-7786

Distributes EPA Office of Water 

publications.

Wetlands Information Hotline

800-832-7828

Responds to requests for information about

the value and functions of wetlands and options for their protection.

U.S. EPA Center for Environmental Research Information (CERI) Publications

26 West Martin Luther King Drive

Cincinnati, OH 45268

513-569-7562

Distributes brochures, reports, handbooks,

newsletters, and manuals based on the scientific and technical environmental information produced by EPA.

U.S. EPA Public Information 

Center (PIC)

401 M Street, SW

Washington, DC 20460

202-260-2080 or 202-260-7751

Distributes a wide variety of general, nontechnical information about EPA and its

programs.

U.S. EPA National Small Community

Contact

U.S. EPA-OROSLR (1502)

401 M Street SW

Washington, DC 20460

202-260-0244

Coordinates efforts within EPA related to

small communities.

Water and

Wastewater

(continued)

General

148 Appendix D: Where To Turn for Help
Publications

Air and

Radiation

EPA’s The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990: A Guide for Small Businesses is available from

the EPA Control Technology Center at 919-541-0800.

Citizen’s Guide to Radon (OPA-86-004) and other information on how to find and reduce

radon in homes is available from EPA’s Radon Hotline (800-767-7236).

Solid Waste Decision-Makers Guide to Solid Waste Management (EPA-530/SW-89-072), The Solid Waste

Dilemma: An Agenda for Action (EPA/530/SW-89-019), The Consumer’s Handbook for

Reducing Solid Waste (EPA/530/K-92-003), Environmental Fact Sheet: Yard Waste Composting

(EPA/530-SW-91-009), and Recycling Works! State and Local Solutions to Solid Waste Management Problems (EPA/530-SW-89-014) are available from the RCRA/Superfund Hotline

(800-424-9346).

Why Waste a Second Chance? A Small Town Guide to Recycling (1989) is available from the

National Association of Towns and Townships (202-737-5200).

Criteria for Solid Waste Disposal Facilities: A Guide for Owners/Operators (EPA/530-SW-91-

089) and Safer Disposal for Solid Waste: The Federal Regulations for Landfills (EPA/530-SW91-092) are available from CERI Publications (513-569-7562).

Solid Waste Disposal Facility Criteria: Technical Manual (EPA/530-R-93-017, PB94-100-450)

is available from the National Technical Information Service (703-487-4650).

Hazardous

Waste

Solving the Hazardous Waste Problem: EPA’s RCRA Program (EPA/530-SW-86-037), 

Understanding the Small Quantity Generator Hazardous Waste Rules: A Handbook for Small

Businesses, (EPA/530-SW-86-019), Household Hazardous Waste Management: A Manual for

1-Day Community Collection Programs, (EPA/530-R-92-026), and Household Hazardous

Waste: Steps to Safe Management (EPA/530-F-92-031) are available from the RCRA/

Superfund Hotline (800-424-9346).

Toxic Substances Chemicals in Your Community: A Guide to the Emergency Planning and Community Right-toKnow Act (U.S. EPA, 1988) can be ordered from the Emergency Planning and Community

Right-to-Know Information Hotline (800-535-0202).

Accidents Will Happen—A Small Town Guide to Planning for Hazardous Materials Response is

available from the National Association of Towns and Townships (202-737-5200).

Managing Asbestos in Place: A Building Owner’s Guide to Operations and Maintenance Programs

for Asbestos-Containing Materials, The ABC’s of Asbestos in Schools, and 100 Commonly Asked

Questions About the New AHERA Asbestos-in-Schools Rule can be ordered from the Toxic

Substances Control Act Hotline (202-554-1404).

Appendix D: Where To Turn for Help 149
Underground

Storage Tanks

Musts for USTs, a summary of regulations for USTs, is available from the U.S. Government

Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, (202-783-3238). Stock no. 055-000-00294-1.

Also available in Spanish.

Dollars and Sense (a summary of financial responsibility regulations for USTs), Leak Lookout

and Straight Talk on Tanks (summaries of leak detection methods for petroleum USTs), and

Oh No! (a brochure on what to do in the case of petroleum leaks and spills) are available

from the National Center for Environmental Publications and Information (513-891-

6561).

Getting Out From Under: Underground Storage Tank Alternatives for Small Towns, National

Center for Small Communities (1991), is available from the National Association of Towns

and Townships (202-737-5200).

Recommended Practices Package on Tank Management (Video) is available from the American

Petroleum Institute (202-682-8000).

Ground Water

and Drinking

Water

Environmental Pollution Control Alternatives: Drinking Water Treatment for Small Communities (EPA/625/5-90/025) is available from CERI Publications (513-569-7562). 

The Local Decision-Makers’ Guide to Groundwater and Wellhead Protection, Small System Guide

to the Safe Drinking Water Act, Small System Guide to Risk Management and Safety, Small

System Guide to Financial Management, Small System Guide to Board Responsibilities for

Operation and Maintenance, Small System Guide to Developing and Setting Water Rates, and

The Board Guide to Small System Policies (1993) are available from Community Resource

Group, Inc./Southern RCAP, 2705 Chapman, Springdale, AR 72762 (501-756-2900).

Why Do Wellhead Protection? and Protecting Local Ground-Water Supplies Through Wellhead

Protection are available from the National Drinking Water Clearinghouse (800-624-8301).

Seminar Publication: Wellhead Protection—A Guide for Small Communities (EPA/625/R93/002) can be ordered from CERI Publications (513-569-7562).

The Watershed Protection Approach—Annual Report 1992 (EPA 840-S-93-001) is available

from the National Center for Environmental Publications and Information (513-891-

6561).

Pocket Sampling Guide for Operators of Small Water Systems (EPA/814-B-92-001 for Phase

I volatile organic chemicals, total coliform rule, surface water treatment rule, and lead and

copper rule; EPA/814-B-94-001 for Phase II and Phase V chemicals) is available from

CERI Publications (513-569-7562).

Tapping Your Own Resources—A Decision-Maker’s Guide for Small Town Drinking Water is

available from the National Association of Towns and Townships (202-737-5200).

150 Appendix D: Where To Turn for Help
Water

Conservation

and Leak

Detection

Decision-Makers’ Guide to Water Supply Management (EPA 570/9-80-003, PB158-973) is

available from the National Technical Information Service (703-487-4650). 

Leaks in Water Distribution Systems (1987), Water Conservation (1987), Water Conservation

Strategies (1980), Before the Well Runs Dry (Volumes I and II) (1984), Water Resources Audit

(1988), and Water Audits and Leak Detection (1990) are available from the American Water

Works Association, 6666 West Quincy Avenue, Denver, CO (303-795-2449).

An Introduction to Water Loss and Leak Detection (1988) is available from the National Rural

Water Association (405-252-0629).

Wastewater It’s Your Choice: A Guidebook for Local Officials on Small Community Wastewater Management

Options (EPA 430/9-87-006) is available from the National Small Flows Clearinghouse

(800-624-8301).

Treat It Right: A Local Official’s Guide to Small Town Wastewater Treatment (1989) can be

ordered from the National Association of Towns and Townships (202-737-5200).

Manual: Wastewater Treatment/Disposal for Small Communities (EPA/625/R-92/005) is

available from CERI Publications (513-569-7562). 

Wetlands America’s Wetlands: Our Vital Link Between Land and Water (U.S. EPA, 1988) can be

ordered from the Wetlands Protection Hotline (800-832-7828).

Protecting Coastal and Wetlands Resources: A Guide for Local Governments (EPA 842-R-92-

002) is available from EPA’s Water Resource Center (202-260-7786).

Nonpoint

Source Pollution

Managing Nonpoint Source Pollution (EPA-506/9-90) is available from EPA’s Water 

Resource Center (202-260-7786).

Development and Water Quality: A Decisionmaker’s Guide to Protecting the Urban Environment

(1994), Decisionmakers Stormwater Handbook (1992), Urban Runoff and Stormwater Management Handbook (1990), and Lake Smarts: The First Lake Maintenance Handbook (1994) are

available from the Terrene Institute, 1717 K Street, NW, Suite 801, Washington, DC

20006 (202-833-8317).

Financial

Management

and

Intergovernmental

Cooperation

A State and Local Government Guide to Environmental Program Funding Alternatives

(EPA841-K-94-001) is available from CERI Publications (513-569-7562).

Building Together: Investing in Community Infrastructure (1990) is available from the 

National Association of Counties (202-393-6226).

Decision-Makers Guide to Solid Waste Management (EPA/530-SW-89-072) is available from

the RCRA/Superfund Hotline (800-424-9346).

Small System Guide to Financial Management is available from the Rural Community

Assistance Program (703-771-8636).

Appendix D: Where To Turn for Help 151
Public-Private Partnerships for Environmental Facilities: A Self-Help Guide for Local Governments (EPA/20M-2003) is available from the National Center for Environmental Publications and Information (513-891-6561).

Helping Small Systems Comply With the Safe Drinking Water Act: The Role of Restructuring

(EPA/812-K-92-001) is available from the National Center for Environmental Publications and Information (513-891-6561).

Restructuring Manual (EPA/570-9-91-035) is available from the National Center for

Environmental Publications and Information (513-891-6561).

The Self-Help Handbook by Jane W. Schautz is available from Rensselaerville Institute,

Rensselaerville, NY (518-797-3783).

Innovative Grassroots Financing—A Small Town Guide to Raising Funds and Cutting Costs is

available from the National Association of Towns and Townships (202-737-5200).

Touching All the Bases: A Financial Management Handbook for Your Wastewater Treatment Project

(EPA/430-9-86-001) is available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).

Affordability of Major Wastewater Systems Improvements for Small Montana Communities is

available from the Montana Department of Commerce (406-444-3757).

Drinking Water Information Exchange

Bulletin Board System (DWIE-BBS),

Phone 800-624-8301, Modem 800-932-

7459 or 304-293-7108.

The National Drinking Water Clearinghouse’s electronic bulletin board service,

which provides information regarding

drinking water systems in towns of up to

10,000 people.

WATERNET, Phone 303-794-7711

The American Water Works Association’s

database of information on water conservation; utility management; drinking water

quality, analysis, and treatment; water pollution; wastewater treatment; and legal issues.

Wastewater Treatment Information Exchange Bulletin Board Service (WTIEBBS), Phone 800-624-8301, Modem

800-544-1936.

The National Small Flows Clearinghouse’s

forum for discussion and exchange of information about small-scale wastewater systems.

Solid Waste Information Clearinghouse

(SWICH), Phone 800-677-9424, Modem

301-585-0204. 

Provides information on all aspects of solid

waste management.

Nonpoint Source Information 

Exchange, Phone 703-385-6000 or 

301-589-5318, Modem 301-589-0205

A bulletin board that provides information

about nonpoint source water pollution and

other water environment-related issues.

Alternative Treatment Technology Information Center (ATTIC), Phone 800-

424-9346, Modem 703-908-2138.

Provides information on innovative treatment technologies for hazardous waste

cleanup.

Electronic Bulletin Boards and Databases

152 Appendix D: Where To Turn for Help
Environmental Financing Information

Network (EFIN), available through the

Local Exchange (202-626-2400), LEGISNET (303-830-2200), and the Government

Finance Information Network (312-977-

9700).

A service of EPA’s Office of Water that provides access to an on-line search of financial

materials and publications and information

about environmental programs and events.

EPA Office of Research and Development Bulletin Board System (ORDBBS), Phone 513-569-7272, Modem

513-569-7610.

A forum for exchange of scientific and technical research information. Includes a database of all ORD publications produced

since 1976.

Farm*A*Syst 

B142 Steenbock Library

550 Babcock Drive

Madison, WI 53706

608-262-0024

A voluntary program in which states, in conjunction with the Cooperative Extension

Service, the Soil Conservation Service, and

EPA, conduct farmstead assessments to

identify potential sources of and solutions

to ground-water pollution.

Waterplan 1.0. Available from California

Department of Water Resources, P.O. Box

942836, Sacramento, CA 94236.

A software package that allows planners to

evaluate the costs and benefits of more than

75 water conservation measures.

Optimizing Water Treatment Plant Performance Using the Composite Correction Program (EPA/625/6-91/027).

Available from CERI Publications (513-569-

7562).

Provides procedures for evaluating and improving the performance of drinking water

treatment facilities. Includes methods to 

optimize existing unit process without major capital improvements. 

Drinking Water Treatment Plant 

Advisor. Available from CERI Publications

(513-569-7562) or from EPA’s Office of 

Research and Development Bulletin Board

System.

A software product for evaluating the performance of small-to-medium drinking

water treatment plants. Can help optimize

plant performance to achieve compliance

with the surface water treatment rule. 

POTW Self-Assessment: Mechanical

Wastewater Treatment Facility (April

1993) and Non-Mechanical Wastewater

Treatment Facility (November 1993).

Available from Water Management Division, U.S. EPA Region 8, Denver, CO.

Guidance and workbook materials to help

POTWs achieve compliance with NPDES

permit limitations.

Retrofitting POTWs (EPA/625/6-

89/020). Available from CERI Publications

(513-569-7562).

Describes methods for evaluating and 

improving the performance of wastewater

treatment facilities. Focuses on optimizing

existing facilities without major capital expenditures. 

Tools

Appendix D: Where To Turn for Help 153
POTW Expert, Version 1.1: An Advisory

System for Improving the Performance of

Wastewater Treatment Facilities

(EPA/625/11-90/001). Available from CERI

Publications (513-569-7562).

A software program designed to help operators identify causes of inadequate wastewater

treatment plant performance using the Composite Correction Program (CCP) approach.

TANKMAN, Version 1.0 (U.S. Army Environmental Center. ATTN: SFIM-AEC-ECS,

Mr. Durant S. Graves, Aberdeen Proving

Ground, MD 21010-5401).

A management and reporting software tool

developed for the U.S. Army’s underground

storage tanks (USTs). Allows the user to track

a wide range of information about their

USTs, including physical characteristics, compliance status, historical data, and budget 

information.

Solid Waste Management Options 

(SW-Options) for Municipal Planners,

Version 1.0, 1992. Available from CERI Publications (513-569-7562) or from EPA’s Office

of Research and Development Bulletin Board

System.

A user-friendly computer software package

for people responsible for evaluating and 

selecting municipal waste options. 

Environmental Compliance Assessment

System (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Construction Engineering Research Laboratories,

1992). 

Contains procedures developed for U.S.

Army installations and facilities to determine

compliance with federal environmental 

regulations. Brings together environmental

regulations, good management practices, 

and risk management issues in easy-to-use

checklists.

RISK *ASSISTANT (Available from Thistle

Publishing, P.O. Box 1327, Alexandria, VA

22313). 

A software system designed to evaluate human health risks associated with chronic exposures to chemicals. Provides analytical tools

and databases covering approximately 500

chemicals, and information-handling capabilities for risk assessment tailored to individual

sites or situations. 

154 Appendix D: Where To Turn for Help