MEMORANDUM

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 2014) [DCN 0139]

Overview 

This was the twelfth meeting for the EPA-state technical workgroup, which is discussing

key issues related to the proposed NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule (eRule). These discussions 

are informing the forthcoming supplemental Federal 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 Tables 1 and 2. The agenda for this meeting is also provided below. EPA is 

summarizing 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 stakeholder 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 Appendix A. 

The source of these data elements includes NPDES permit applications, Notices of Intent (NOI), 

and waiver requests (see 30 July 2013; 78 FR 46092). 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.

 Several 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 

money 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-Construction Best Management Practices for 

Industrial Activities and Stormwater Discharges be converted from a text field to a dropdown list. He noted that this would make data entry easier for states. Washington State 

(Ms. Nancy Kmet) suggested that these data 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 onsite 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 will 

‘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. Johnston) 

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=specific
important 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 participants 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 participate.

 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

Eric Cleckler ecleckler@adem.state.al.us Yes

Glenda Dean gld@adem.state.al.us

Teresa Marks

AR

marks@adeq.state.ar.us

Yes

Pat Goff goff@adeq.state.ar.us

Mo Shafii 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

Robin Belley belley.robin@azdeq.gov Yes

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

Jessica Kleinfelter jessica.kleinfelter@dep.state.fl.us

Edward Smith edward.c.smith@dep.state.fl.us

Frances 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 Hokanson KY shawn.hokanson@ky.gov No

Ruth Wallace

MO

ruth.wallace@dnr.mo.gov

Yes Christopher Miller epermitting@dnr.mo.gov

Tamara Dahl MN tamara.dahl@state.mn.us Yes

Greg Jackson 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

Roy Walker roy.walker@deq.ok.gov Yes

David Pruitt david.pruitt@deq.ok.gov

Jim Billings OR billings.jim@deq.state.or.us Yes

Sean Furjanic PA sefurjanic@pa.gov Yes

Kent Woodmansey

SD

kent.woodmansey@state.sd.us

Tim Flor tim.flor@state.sd.us Yes

Albert Spangler albert.spangler@state.sd.us

Lawrence Bunting TN lawrence.bunting@TN.gov No

Kim Wilson

TX

kim.wilson@tceq.texas.gov

Lynley Doyen lynley.doyen@tceq.texas.gov Yes

Kimberly Shepard kimberly.shepard@tceq.texas.gov

Jeff Studenka UT jstudenka@utah.gov Yes

Jerome Brooks

VA

jerome.brooks@deq.virginia.gov

Yes

Phani 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 apanian.david@epa.gov Yes

Erika Farris OW/OWM/WPD farris.erika@epa.gov Yes

Glynis Hill OP/ORPM/PRAD hill.glynis@epa.gov Yes