### MEMORA**NDUM**

TO: Public Record for the NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule

EPA Docket Number EPA

- HQ

-OECA

- 2009

-0274 (www.regulations.gov) FROM: Carey A. Johnston, P.E.

USEPA/OECA/OC ph: (202) 566 1014 johnston.carey@epa.gov DATE: 6 June 2014 SUBJECT: Notes from State Technical Workgroup Meeting ( 5 June 2 014) [DCN 0139 ]

**Overview** This was the twelfth meeting for the EPA

-state technical workgroup, which is discuss ing key issues related to the proposed NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule (eRule) . These discussions are informing the forthcoming supplemental Federa l Register notice and they will continue beyond the publication of the supplemental notice to help EPA address state comments. EPA participants will include the OECA eRule Team as well as representatives from EPA’s Office of Water and Office of Environmental Information. Technical workgroup members are listed below in Table s 1 and 2. The agenda for this meeting is also provided below. EPA is summariz ing the notes from these discussions for the docket in order to provide transparency on EPA’s outreach during the rulemaking process . The OECA eRule team will also be available for any other stakehold er group that would like to discuss the eRule. **Meeting Notes** EPA ( Mr. Carey Johnston) started the meeting by reminding state participants that in addition to raising questions during the technical workgroup meetings, states can email their questions on the proposed rule (including the data elements) to EPA. Questions on all aspects of the proposed rule can be sent to Mr. Johnston

. Mr. Johnston then asked teleconference participants to focus on the Construction and Industrial Stormwater Information in App endix A

. The source of these data elements includes NPDES permit applications, Notices of Intent (NOI), and waiver requests (see 30 July 2013; 78 FR 4609 2 ). Mr. Johnston started the technical discussion by reading the name of each data element along with the corresponding data description and regulatory or policy citation. After reading about five to ten elements at a time, Mr. Johnston asked for input from the technical workgroup. Below are some questions and comments from the technical workgroup.

 Severa l states noted that they there are varying amount of data collection on NPDES permit applications, NOIs, and waivers as it relates to industrial and construction stormwater sites.For example, several states noted that they don’t collection information on the total

impervious area or total activity area. ACWA (Mr. Sean Rolland) noted that the stormwater information collection requirements may be in EPA’s regulations but some states may not be currently collecting all of the required data.

 Indiana (Mr. Tom Easterly) noted that they may need to fix their NPDES implementing state regulations to more closely match EPA’s regulations. He noted that Indiana was authorized to implement the core NPDES program soon after the 1972 Clean Water Act. 1 Mr. Easterly noted that there will be a costs associated with updating state regulations.

 Oklahoma ( Mr. David Pruitt ) noted that some of these data elements are not now in EPA’s data system of record for the NPDES program (ICIS

- NPDES). He noted that it will costs states m oney to not only start collecting these data but also to upgrade their databases and systems for sharing data with ICIS

- NPDES.

 Indiana (Mr. Easterly) suggested that **Proposed Best Management Practices for Industrial Activities and Stormwater**  and **Post -** **Cons truction Best Management Practices for**  **Industrial Activities and Stormwater Discharges** be converted from a text field to a drop

down list. He noted that this would make data entry easier for states. Washington State (Ms. Nancy Kmet ) suggested that these da ta be collected via Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs).

 Texas, Florida, and South Dakota noted that the **Proposed Best Management Practices for Industrial Activities and Stormwater**  are not collected on the NOI but are rather contained in the regulated entity’s Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP), which is held on

site and is available for inspection. States noted that operators may change their best management practices (BMPs) and then update their SWPPP. Consequently, the SWPPP is a often considered by states to be a ‘living document’ that is periodically updated by the operator. State inspectors will use the SWPPP to determine compliance. Texas noted concern that require the submission of BMPs on a NPDES permit application or NOI wil l ‘lock’ an operator into using a particular BMP or will cause the operator to submit a revised NOI if there are changes to their list of BMPs.

 Washington state (Ms. Kmet ) stated that they do collect BMPs in their NOI.

 ACWA (Mr. Rolland) asked EPA how the economic analysis for the proposed rule handles the situation where information collection requirements may be in EPA’s regulations but some states may not be currently collecting all of the required data. EPA (Mr. John ston) noted that EPA did not include costs associated with previous EPA regulations as EPA has already accounted for the compliance costs in those previous rules. He noted that it is

1 Indiana was authorized to run the core NPDES program on 1 January 1975. See: http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/statestats.cfm?view=specificimportant to separate the changes associated with the proposed eRule from actions taken

to meet existing requirements
. 2

 Washington state noted that some of these data elements are more narrative in nature and don’t lend themselves for electronic reporting. EPA (Mr. John Dombrowski) ask that Ms. Kmet and other state participa nts provide suggestions on how to make the data elements more amendable to electronic reporting.
**Next Steps** The next technical workgroup meeting is June 12th

.

2 See Section 5.4 for a discussion on how EPA addresses compliance when setting the regulatory baseline. http://yosemite.epa.gov/ee/epa/eed.nsf/webpages/Guidelines.html**State Technical Workgroup Meeting**  **– NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule**  **5 June 2014** 

1pm Introduction/Roll Call 1: 10 Discussion of Industrial and Construction Stormwater Data Elements from

Individual Permit Applications, NOIs, and Waivers 2: 00 End of Call

**Quick Reminder**

 The technical workgroup is not a formal decision

- making body. The workgroup is expected to develop, research, and evaluate options for consideration by EPA and state senior management.

 There are no formal quorum rules for the workgroup. Scheduled teleconferences will proceed with whichever workgroup members call in to p articipate.

 There will be no formal voting or consensus of the workgroup. Instead, the workgroup is expected to try to develop recommendations reflecting their various perspectives, not achieve consensus.

 Summaries of the workgroup’s discussions will be prepared for and reviewed by the workgroup, for presentation to EPA senior management and other states and the rulemaking record. The discussions summaries will outline the major elements of the discussions, areas of agreement and any dissenting views.**Table 1:** State Technical Workgroup Members

**Main Contact State or** 

**Organization Main Contact**  **Email State/Org.**  **Present? (Yes/No)**  Sean Rolland ACWA srolland@acwa

- us.org Yes Karen Lechner AK karen.lechner@alaska.gov Yes Christy Monk AL cvm@adem.state.al.us Yes Eric Cleckler ec leckler@adem.state.al.us Glenda Dean gld@adem.state.al.us Teresa Marks

AR marks@adeq.state.ar.us
Yes Pat Goff goff@adeq.state.ar.us Mo S hafii shafii@adeq.state.ar.us Karen Bassett bassett@adeq.state.ar.us David Ramsey ramsey@adeq.state.ar.us Ellen Carpenter carpenter@adeq.state.ar.us Wendy LeStarge AZ lestarge.wendy@azdeq.gov Yes Robin B elley belley.robin@azdeq.gov David Lelsz lelsz.david@azdeq.gov; Andy Putnam CO andrew.putnam@state.co.us goff@adeq.state.ar.us Yes Elisa Willard elisa.willard@state.co.us Bob Zimmerman DE robert.zimmerman@state.de.us stephanie.bower@state.de.us Yes Beth Graves ECOS bgraves@ecos.org No Chris Klena FL chris.m.klena@dep.state.fl.us Yes J essica K leinfelter jessica.kleinfelter@dep.state.fl.us E dward S mith edward.c.smith@dep.state.fl.us F rances Carpenter frances.carpenter@dnr.state.ga.us Frances Carpenter GA frances.carpenter@dnr.state.ga.us Yes Tom Easterly IN teasterl@idem.in.gov ckoontz@idem.in.gov Yes Jeremy Chenevert jcheneve@idem.in.gov Ed Dillingham KS edillingham@kdheks.gov No Shelly Shores

- Miller sshoresm@kdheks.gov Shawn H okanson KY shawn.hokanson@ky.gov No Ruth Wallace MO ruth.wallace@dnr.mo.gov Yes Christopher Miller epermitting@dnr.mo.gov Tamara D ahl MN tamara.dahl@state.mn.us Yes G reg J ackson MS greg_jackson@deq.state.ms.us No John Murphy NEIWPCC jmurphy@neiwpcc.org No**Main Contact State or**  **Organization Main Contact**  **Email State/Org.**  **Present? (Yes/No)**  Jason Lonardo NJ jason.lonardo@dep.state.nj.us Yes Julio Collazo julio.collazo@dep.state.nj.us Robert Wither NY rewither@gw.dec.state.ny.us Yes Joseph DiMura jxdimura@gw.dec.state.ny.us Shellie Chard

- McClary OK shellie.chard

- mcclary@deq.ok.gov Yes Roy Walker roy.walker@deq.ok.gov D avid P ruitt david.pruitt@deq.ok.gov Jim B illings OR billings.jim@deq.state.or.us Yes Sean Furjanic PA sefurjanic@pa.gov Yes Kent Woodmansey SD kent.woodmansey@state.sd.us Yes Tim F lor tim.flor@state.sd.us A lbert S pangler albert.spangler@state.sd.us Lawrence Bunting TN l awrence. b unting@TN.gov No Kim Wilson TX kim.wilson@tceq.texas.gov Yes Lynley D oyen lynley.doyen@tceq.texas.gov K imberly S hepard kimberly.shepard@tceq.texas.gov Jeff Studenka UT jstudenka@utah.gov Yes Jerome Brooks VA jerome.brooks@deq.virginia.gov Yes P hani Eturu phani.eturu@deq.virginia.gov Stephen Bernath WA sber461@ecy.wa.gov Yes Nancy Kmet nkme461@ecy.wa.gov **Table 2**  **:** EPA Technical Workgroup Members

**Name EPA Office**  **Email Present?**  **(Yes/No)** Lisa Lund OECA/OC/IO lund.lisa@epa.gov No John Dombrowski OECA/OC/ETDD dombrowski.john@epa.gov Yes Andy Hudock OECA/OC/ETDD hudock.andrew@epa.gov Yes Rochele Kadish OECA/OC/ETDD kadish.rochele@epa.gov Yes Carey Johnston OECA/OC/ETDD johnston.carey@epa.gov Yes Jackie Clark OW/OWM/WPD clark.jackie@epa.gov Yes Roy Chaudet OEI/OIC/IESD chaudet.roy@epa.gov No Chuck Freeman OEI/OIC/IESD freeman.charles@epa.gov No Aditi Prabhu OGC/WLO prabhu.aditi@epa.gov No David Apanian Region 4 a panian.david@ e pa.gov Yes Erika Farris OW/OWM/WPD farris.erika@ e pa.gov Yes Glynis Hill OP/ORPM/PRAD hill.glynis@epa.gov Yes