### National Tribal Water Council Conference Call Agenda Wed . November 10, 2010 2:00-3:00pm EPA East Room 2369B Call in number: 1- 866-299- 3188 ; Co nf er ence Cod e: 3 189708 1 ) Introduction s 2) Potenti al Revi sion of Water Quality Standard s Regulation. Fred Leutner , Office of Science a nd T echnology (O S T/Office of W a ter) 

### Would it be useful to have a seco nd, m ore detailed consultation discuss ion wi th in terested tribes concerning the revis ions to the national water quality standards regulation that EPA is develop ing ? 3) Presentation and Discu s sion NPDES Electronic Reportin g Rule. S h a ron Gonder, Office of E nforc ement, C ompli a nc e, and Ass urance (O ECA) 4) Discu ss ion on Nation a l Tribal Operation s C ommitt ee (NTOC) R einvigoration Recommend a tion s from Am erican Indian E nvironm ental Office (AIEO) 5) Brain storm how to facilitate follow-up on action s important to th e NTW C and how to increase collaboration between NTWC and E PA. 6) Tribal Training Opportunity out of E PA's Grants Office : Please note th at Nationa l P ETE, via a joint OG O /OS BP con tract , wi ll be offering the en tire Administrative and Financial Guidance for U . S. EPA Assistance Agreements training via Webinar in November and December 20 1 0. The t rainin g is targeted tow ard s T ribes, U .S . Territo ri e s , and I nsu lar Areas. Pl ease pass the following information on to anyone you think might be interested. Please note that registration (free) is required . Webinars will be recorded and made available on www. petet ribal.org. For more information including how to register, please go to : ht

tp ://tinyurl . com/tribaltrainingweb in ar

## TRIBES AND THE PROPOSED NPDES ELECTRONIC REPORTING REGULATION Presentation to the National Tribal Water Council John Dombrowski, Director, Enforcement Targeting and Data Div1sion. EPA


# Proposed NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule Today's meeting covers : November 20 1 0

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### Background of the Rulemaking and the NP DE S Program

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### Th e Affects of this Rulemaking on Tribe s

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### Opportunities for El ectronic Reporting

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### Regulatory Approaches under Con sideratio n

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### En gagement and Discussion

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### Ne xt Steps / Schedule

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### Questions 11/10/2010

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# Background on the Rulemaking Why is this rulemaking imp ort ant and what are its goa l s? It will help EPA and states clean up the nation's waters , 

### by: o Getting more accurate , timely and complete

information about the NPDES program ; o Saving permittees , states, tribes and EPA time and money ; o Giving the public more and improved information

about sources of water pollution in their communities ; and o Making it possib le to target compliance monitoring

and enforcement to the most serious prob l ems. 

# Background on the Rulemaking What is this proposed rule about?

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### Getting the NPDES program the information it needs to manage and make dec i sions.

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### Requiring most permittees to e l ectronica ll y submit DMRs, and possib ly other NPDES reports .

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### Defining how EPA states and triba l entities share information electronical ly through the Exchange Network.

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### Getting informat i on directly from the source

where data i s generated , i.e. from permittees most cases, but a l so from t h e states o r EPA as necessary. 11/10/2010



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## Background on the NPDES Program • NPDES re_gulated universe has expanded from -1 OO,OOIT to -1 million sources . • Focus has historically been on the largest permittees , though smaller sources are now recognized as signif i cant contributors to water quality impairment . • Current guide li nes do not require states to report to EPA most information on smaller sources. • The lack of information on smaller sources limits EPA's abi lity to identify and target some serious water quality proolems and violations. • Paper reporting to states creates a large processing burden . • Developments in technology allow a new approach, that co uld make imP,ortanf NPDES information more accurate, more timely, and more useful.

F

aci lities Required to Report, by NPDE S Programs

Note Thts graph covers all d•scharge soorces except p<olroatment•oduslr•aJ users ond d tscha rgors oporat1ng under ger>erot pormrts for vessels or pos!lc•de applicators 11/10/2010



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## Types of NPDES Data that are the focus of the proposed rule



# Background on the NPDES Information Systems What is the current status of EPA's

NPDES Information Systems?

**EPA's** 

### 30 year old Permit Compliance System (PCS) has become antiquated, slow, and error- prone.

**EPA** 

### developed the ICIS-NPDES information system to replace PCS.

**ICIS NPDES**  

### has the capability to manage the full range of data and better support electronic reporting. 11/10/2010

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## How will Tribes be affected by this regulation? • Although no tribes are currently authorized to administer the NPDES program, all tribes fall under the regulatory umbrella of either the state authorized programs or EPA. • This rule may impose requirements on tribal entities and / or other permittees on tribal land s that have a permit to discharge into the waters of the United States. • This may require that permitted facilities have access to the internet a nd a means for submission of the required data. 

## Opportunities for Electronic Reporting • Paper reporting to states creates a large processing burden. • Developments in technology allow a new approach, that could make important NPDES information more accurate, more timely, and more useful. • To date, EPA ha s implemented electronic repor ting tools for Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs) and Notices of Intent to Discharge (NOis). • States are already adopting e - reporting: o 24 states have some version of an electronic DMR (eDMR) ; o 4 states have some type of e-permitting; and o 8 states have some form of electronic NOI (eNOl). 11/10/201 0

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## Regulatory Approaches under Consideration • Expanding electronic reporting of DMRs • Expanding electronic reporting of Notices of I ntent for general permittees (e.g., construction sites with potential storm water issues ) • Electronic reporting of program reports required for some industry sectors (e.g., pretreatment, biosolids, CAFOs, CSO / SSO overflow reports) • Electronic reporting to EPA of permit information, by the permittees where possible, and otherwise by the states. 

# Engagement and Discussion • Tribes are partners in this effort, and EPA is specifically engaging tribes on the development of the proposed rule through today 's outreach effort. • States are also partners in this effort, and EPA continues

to engage them on the development of the proposed rule. • EPA conducted a pub l ic meeting in July, 

### 2010, to introduce the rule to states and stakeholders. • There is a NPDES El ectronic Reporting Rule Website hltp \'IWW.regulations.goV ' t'XCh1ngt' tO_piC npdes , Which includeS a Discussion Forum to allow stakeholders to comment on the rulemaking. • Webinars were conducted for each of the EPA regions - transcripts of those meetings will be available tlirough the EPA docket website. 

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# State Specific Outreach

**~** A State Group was established to identify opportunities and resolve state concerns (e.g., implementation issues).

**~** This State Group is acting in a technical advisory role.

**~** For more information on this group , contact Chad Littleton at littleton.chad @epa.gov



# Considerations • Costs of different options for NPDES permittees and authorized state programs • Access to the internet for rural entities and tribes • Timing for implementation of requirements • CROMERR requirements 11/10/2010

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# Next Steps/Schedule

**~** Consistent with EPA's Indian Policy and Executive

Order 131 75, EPA is engaging tribes in discussions as part of the rulemaking process and asking for comments and feedback. Pl ease provide comments by mid - Decembe r , 201 0; these comments w i ll be part of the rulemaking record.

**~** EPA expects to submit a rulemaking package to

the Offi ce of Management and Budget in j anuary for their review.

**~** EPA plans to publish a proposed rulemaking in the Fede ra l Reg i ster by May, 2011, at wh i ch point it will be available for formal public comment.

**~** EPA plans to publish the final rule in 2012.


# For More Information on the NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule Contact:

Jo h n Dombrowsk i , ombrowski.john@epa.gov , 

## 202-566-0742 Andrew H udock, hudock.andrew@epa . gov , 

## 202 - 564-6032 ViS i t : h!._ "> : 1/'W'.. 1 . regulations.govI exchange/ topic / npdes 

### Ema i I : nr:!des_electronicreportingrule@epa . gov

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