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; Conference Code: 3189708 

1) Introductions 

2) Potential Revision of Water Quality Standards Regulation. Fred Leutner, Office 

of Science and Technology (OST/Office of Water) Would it be useful to have a 

second, more detailed consultation discussion with interested tribes concerning the 

revisions to the national water quality standards regulation that EPA is developing? 

3) Presentation and Discussion NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule. 

Sharon Gonder, Office of Enforcement, Compliance, and Assurance (OECA) 

4) Discussion on National Tribal Operations Committee (NTOC) Reinvigoration 

Recommendations from American Indian Environmental Office (AIEO) 

5) Brainstorm how to facilitate follow-up on actions important to the NTWC and 

how to increase collaboration between NTWC and EPA. 

6) Tribal Training Opportunity out of EPA's Grants Office: 

Please note that National PETE, via a joint OGO/OSBP contract, will be offering the entire 

Administrative and Financial Guidance for U.S. EPA Assistance Agreements training via Webinar 

in November and December 2010. The training is targeted towards Tribes, U.S. Territories, and 

Insular Areas. Please 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.petetribal.org. 

For more information including how to register, please go to: 

http://tinyurl.com/tribaltrainingwebinar 

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 201 0 

~ Background of the Rulemaking and the NPDES 

Program 

~ The Affects of this Rulemaking on Tribes 

~ Opportunities for Electronic Reporting 

~ Regulatory Approaches under Consideration 

~ Engagement and Discussion 

~ Next Steps / Schedule 

~ Questions 

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Background on the Rulemaking 

Why is this rulemaking important and what are its 

goals? 

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 possible to target compliance monitoring 

and enforcement to the most serious problems. 

Background on the Rulemaking 

What is this proposed rule about? 

~ Getting the NPDES program the information it 

needs to manage and make decisions. 

~ Requiring most permittees to electronically 

submit DMRs, and possibly other NPDES 

reports . 

~ Defining how EPA states and tribal entities 

share information electronical ly through the 

Exchange Network. 

~ Getting information directly from the source 

where data is generated , i.e. from permittees 

most cases, but also from the states or EPA as 

necessary. 

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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 significant contributors to water quality impairment. 

• Current guidelines 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 could make imP,ortanf NPDES information more accurate, more timely, and more useful. 

Faci lities Required to Report, by NPDES Programs 

Note Thts graph covers all d•scharge soorces except p<olroatment•oduslr•aJ users ond 

dtschargors oporat1ng under ger>erot pormrts for vessels or pos!lc•de applicators 

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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. 

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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 lands that have a 

permit to discharge into the waters of the United 

States. 

• This may require that permitted facilities have access 

to the internet and 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 has implemented electronic reporting 

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). 

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5 
Regulatory Approaches under 

Consideration 

• Expanding electronic reporting of DMRs 

• Expanding electronic reporting of Notices of Intent 

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 public meeting in July, 2010, to 

introduce the rule to states and stakeholders. 

• There is a NPDES Electronic 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 

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Next Steps/Schedule 

~ Consistent with EPA's Indian Policy and Executive 

Order 1 31 75, EPA is engaging tribes in 

discussions as part of the rulemaking process and 

asking for comments and feedback. Please 

provide comments by mid- December, 201 0; these 

comments will be part of the rulemaking record. 

~ EPA expects to submit a rulemaking package to 

the Office of Management and Budget in j anuary 

for their review. 

~ EPA plans to publish a proposed rulemaking in the 

Federal Reg ister by May, 2011, at wh ich 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: 

John Dombrowski, ombrowski.john@epa.gov, 

202-566-0742 

Andrew Hudock, hudock.andrew@epa.gov, 

202- 564-6032 

ViS it: h!._ ">: 1/'W'.. 1.regulations.gov I exchange/topic / npdes 

Emai I: nr:!des_electronicreportingrule@epa.gov 

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