1



### 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: 30 June 2014 SUBJECT: Notes from State Technical Workgroup Meeting ( 26 June 2 014) [DCN 0142 ]

**Overview** This was the fifteenth 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 Tables 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 if there were any comments on the notes from the four previous meetings (5/22, 5/29, 6/5, 6/12) that he sent to the workgroup in a June 18th email. There were no comments. Mr. Johnston noted that workgroup member can still send comments on these meeting notes to him by e

- mail

. He also noted that EPA sent state workgroup members a June 19 th email with a sp readsheet showing the different Appendix A data elements and how they match up against the current configuration of ICIS

- NPDES. See the worksheet titled: “Data Elements (ICIS

- NPDES)”. He asked if there were any questions on how to interpret this spreadsheet. Mr. Johnston then asked teleconference participants to focus on the thermal variance data elements [CWA 316(a)] and cooling water intake data elements [CWA 316(b)]

. The source2

of these data elements are NPDES permit applications and Notices of Intent (NOI) (see 30 July 2013; 78 FR 46098

-46 1000 ). Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act requires EPA to issue regulations on the design and operation of intake structures, in order to minimize adverse environmental impacts. EPA promulgated regulations in 2001, 2003, 2006 and 2014. The requirements are included in the NPDES permit regulations, 40 CFR Parts 122 and 125 (Subparts I, J, and N). CWA Section 316(a) authorizes the permitting authority (either the authorized state or EPA) to impose alternative, less stringent effluent limits for the control of the thermal component of a discharge in lieu of the effluent limits that would otherwise be required under CWA §301 or §306. A variance allows facilities to discharge cooling water at an alter native, less stringent thermal effluent limit that is still protective of aquatic life. To obtain a CWA §316(a) t hermal variance, the operator of a facility must demonstrate to the permitting authority that an alternative thermal discharge limit will be protective of the balanced, indigenous population of shellfish, fish, and wildlife. This alternative effluent limit, or variance, is only in effect for the duration of the permit. Mr. Johnston started the technical discussion by reading the name of each coo ling water intake 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 comm ents from the technical workgroup.

 Washington state noted that many of the cooling water intake data elements appear to be based on EPA’s previous rulemaking that relied on NPDES permit writers best professional judgment (BPJ). He noted that OECA should revised these data elements to match the recently signed CWA 316(b) rulemaking.

 Mr. Johnston asked Mr. Tom Born to provide an update on the recently signed CWA 316(b) rulemaking . Mr. Born noted that the rule was signed by the EPA Administrator on 19 May 2014 and is currently being prepared for publication . Mr. Born expects that the signed rule will be published in the middle of August with an effective data 60 days after publication. 1

 New York noted that they collect additional data during the NPDES permit term and not through the NPDES permit issuance process. Mr. Johnston noted that OECA worked with OW to identify the coo ling water intake data elements that are submitted by NPDES permit applicants to their permitting authority.

 Washington state noted that EPA’s NPDES permit application forms need to be updated to reflect the CWA 316(b) regulations

.

 Indiana (Mr. Tom Easterly) asked how these cooling water intake data elements will affect the 90% threshold calculation for the proposed State Readiness Criteria. Mr. Johnston noted

1 See http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/lawsguidance/cwa/316b/3

that these data will be generated by states and as they will likely all be coming from individual NPDES permit applications. Consequently, these state generated data do not factor into the 90% threshold calculatio n, w hich instead applies to the percentage of NPDES regulated entities that are utilizing electronic reporting

.

 Mr. Johnston also noted that NPDES regulated entities can collect these data from NPDES regulated entities via spreadsheets or electronic reportin g tools that do not need to be CROMERR compliant (as the paper copy of the NPDES application form is the copy of record). Mr. E asterly asked if EPA can make an electronic reporting tools available to states. Mr. Johnston replied that EPA is planning on making the NPDES Electronic Reporting Tool (NeT) available to states and that this tool can be used to electronically report data from individual NPDES permit applications.

 Washington state noted that EPA’s previous rulemaking, 40 CFR 125.90(b), requires the NPDES regulated entity to submit very specific data to the NPDES permit writer so that they permit writer can use best professional judgment to establish the best technol ogy available for minimizing adverse environmental impact associated with the use of cooling water intake structures . Washington state noted that the 316(b) rulemaking signed on May 19 th will reduce the need for NPDES regulated entity to submit very specific data to the NPDES permit writer as most NPDES permit writers will instead be using EPA’s new regulation

.

 Mr. Easterly asked for additional clarity on the **Percentage of Mean Annual Flow Withdrawn**  **– Fresh Water Facilities**  data element. Mr. Johnston provided the following example. If the mean annual flow of the source water body was 100 million gallons per day and the design intake flow for the entire facility was 1 million gallons per day, then the NPDES regulated entity would report 1%

.

 ACWA (Mr. Sean Rolland) asked how EPA will communicate changes to states on Appendix A after publication of the supplemental notice. Mr. Johnston stated that t hese discussions will continue beyond the publication of the supplemental notice to help EPA address state comme nts . He noted that EPA plans on using these technical exchanges to discuss potential changes to data elements.

 Oklahoma (Mr. David Pruitt ) stated that they hope that a number of data elements are removed from Appendix A. He noted that they see a fair amount of burden associated with collecting these data. He noted that they would also like to see a longer time period for implementation of th e rule. Mr. Johnston then read off the names of the thermal variance data elements (Part 46100). Mr. Johnston asked for input from the technical workgroup. Below are some questions and comments from the technical workgroup.4

 Mr. Easterly noted that some of the thermal variances granted by Indiana are really old. He asked for EPA to clarify whether the **Thermal Varian ce Date**  data element tracks the date the first variance was granted or the most recent. He noted that Indiana grants these variances upon per mit re

- issuance. Mr. Johnston noted that this data element tracks each thermal variance issuance and that OECA will update Appendix A to make this clear

.

 Tennessee noted that there are a number of required studies and reports that the NPDES permittee must submit to them in order to continue a thermal variance. He asked if the permit issuance data could be used to indicate when these reports were submitted by the permittee to Tennessee. Mr. Johnston stated that this would be appropriate as this data element is meant to track whether states are receiving the necessary reports to support each thermal variance for each NPDES permit issuance or renewal. Mr. Johnston took a poll of the participants on when they can hold their next meeting. The group agreed to ho ld their next meeting on Thursday, July 10th at 1PM (Eastern) to finish the discussion on pretreatment data elements

. **Next Steps** The next technical workgroup meeting is July 10th

.5

**State Technical Workgroup Meeting**  **– NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule**  **26 June**  **2014 Agenda** 

1pm Introduction/Roll Call 1: 10 Discussion of thermal variance data elements [CWA 316(a)] and cooling

water intake data elements [CWA 316(b )] 1 : 45 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.6

**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 No 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 Belley 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 No 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 Mark Stanifer mstanife@idem.in.gov Courtney Cswercko IA courtney.cswercko@dnr.iowa.gov No Ed Dillingham KS edillingham@kdheks.gov No Steve Caspers scaspers@kdheks.gov Shelly Shores

- Miller sshoresm@kdheks.gov Shawn H okanson KY shawn.hokanson@ky.gov No Grace Scott MI scottg@michigan.gov No Carla Davidson davidsonc@michigan.gov7

**Main Contact State or** 

**Organization Main Contact**  **Email State/Org.**  **Present? (Yes/No)**  Ruth Wallace MO ruth.wallace@dnr.mo.gov No Walter Fett walter.fett@dnr.mo.gov Christopher Miller epermitting@dnr.mo.gov Tamara D ahl MN tamara.dahl@state.mn.us Yes Paul Scheirer paul.scheirer@state.mn.us John Murphy NEIWPCC jmurphy@neiwpcc.org 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 No Kent Woodmansey SD kent.woodmansey@state.sd.us Yes Tim F lor tim.flor@state.sd.us Albert S pangler albert.spangler@state.sd.us Lawrence Bunting TN l awrence. b unting@TN.gov Yes Yatasha Moore yatasha.moore@tn.gov Kim Wilson TX kim.wilson@tceq.texas.gov Yes Rebecca Villalba rebecca.villalba@tceq.texas.gov Lynley D oyen lynley.doyen@tceq.texas.gov K imberly S hepard kimberly.shepard@tceq.texas.gov Jeff Studenka UT jstudenka@utah.gov No Jerome Brooks VA jerome.brooks@deq.virginia.gov No Deborah Debiasi Deborah.DeBiasi@deq.virginia.gov P hani Eturu phani.eturu@deq.virginia.gov Stephen Bernath WA sber461@ecy.wa.gov Yes Dave Knight dakn461@ecy.wa.gov Nancy Kmet nkme461@ecy.wa.gov8

**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 No 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 Jennifer Chan OW/OWM/WPD c han.jennifer@epa.gov Yes Tom Born OW/OST/EAD born.tom@epa.gov Yes Roy Chaudet OEI/OIC/IESD chaudet.roy@epa.gov No Chuck Freeman OEI/OIC/IESD freeman.charles@epa.gov Yes Aditi Prabhu OGC/WLO prabhu.aditi@epa.gov No David Apanian Region 4 a panian.david@ e pa.gov Yes Glynis Hill OP/ORPM/PRAD hill.glynis@epa.gov No