From: Walsh, William To: Maryt Smith/DC/USEPA/US@EPA Cc: Damon Highsmith/DC/USEPA/US@EPA ; bowmanj@ada.org Subject: The American Dental Association resolution that endorses a mandatory national pretreatment standard for dental office wastewater. Date: 10/29/2010 03:12 PM Attachments: ADA Final Principles to be used to develop mandatory separator pretreatment rule.pdf ADA Final Principles to be used to develop mandatory separator pretreatment rule.pdf
Attached is the American Dental Association (“ADA) resolution that endorses a mandatory national pretreatment standard for dental office wastewater. This resolution (which was initiated prior to EPA's recent announcement that it would issue a pretreatment rule) was adopted by unanimous consent at the recent meeting of ADA House of Delegates (an approximately 500 member governing body of the ADA that is composed of dentists elected from across the country). The resolution also includes the principles that ADA believes should be used to develop such a pretreatment rule. As Jerome Bowman of the ADA and I stated at our meeting this week, the ADA now endorses a mandatory national pretreatment standard provided it is consistent with these principles. We will be working cooperatively to provide EPA the information that they need to adopt a scientifically sound pretreatment rule consistent with the enabling statute. One point of clarification. As we stated at our meeting, there was some prefatory language associated with the resolution that does use the word "negotiate." The ADA is not requesting a formal negotiated rulemaking. The ADA understands that EPA, consistent with its practice in all rulemakings, will be meeting and soliciting information and support from all stakeholders including the ADA. The ADA looks forward to working with you and your staff. If you or your staff have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me or Jerome Bowman of the ADA.

William J. Walsh Pepper Hamilton LLP 600 Fourteenth Street, NW Suite 500 Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 220-1424 -direct (202) 220-1665 - fax walshw@pepperlaw.com

________________________________ This email is for the use of the intended recipient(s) only. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and then delete it. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not keep, use, disclose, copy or distribute this email with out the author's prior permission. We have taken precautions to minimize the risk of transmitting software viruses, but we advise you t o carry out your own virus checks on any attachment to this message. We cannot accept liability for any loss or damage caused by softwa re viruses. The information contained in this communication may be confidential and may be subject to the attorney-client privileg e. If you are the intended recipient and you do not wish to receive similar electronic messages from us in the future then please res pond to the sender to this effect.By unanimous consent, the American Dental Association ( “ADA”) House of

Delegates adopted the following principles that should be used to develop a mandatory national pretreatment standard for dental office wastewater:

1. Any regulation should require covered dental offices to comply with best
managem ent practic es patterned on the ADA’s best management practices (BMPs), including the installation of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) compliant amalgam separators or separators equally effective; 2. Any regulation should defer to existing state or lo cal law or regulation requiring separators so that the regulation would not require replacement of existing separators compliant with existing applicable law; 3. Any regulation should exempt dental practices that place or remove no or only de minimis am ounts of am algam s; 4. Any regulation should include an effective date or phase

- in period of sufficient length to permit affected dentists a reasonable opportunity to

com ply; 5. Any regulation should provide for a reasonable opportunity for covered dentists to repair o r replace defective separators without being deemed in violation of the regulation; 6. Any regulation should minimize the administrative burden on covered dental offices by (e.g.) primarily relying upon self certification (subject to verification or random in spection) and not requiring dental

- office

specific permits; 7. Any regulation should not include a local numerical limit set by the local publicly owned treatment works (POTW); 8. Any regulation should not require wastewater monitoring at the dental office, alth ough monitoring of the separators to assure proper operation

may be required; 9. Any regulation should provide that compliance with it shall satisfy the requirements of the Clean Water Act unless a more stringent local requirement is needed.