Document ID: EPA-HQ-OECA-2009-0274-0559
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2015-10-22T04:00Z

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:		14 September 2015

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SUBJECT:	Notes from Technical Meeting with States (26 March 2015) [DCN 0225]
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Overview 

      This was the twenty-third meeting between EPA and individual representatives from authorized NPDES programs. These meetings provided greater clarity regarding public comments on the NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule (eRule). Participants are listed below in Tables 1 and 2. EPA is summarizing the notes from these discussions for the docket in order to provide transparency on EPA's outreach during the rulemaking process (see Table 3). EPA also met with other stakeholders to discuss public comments. 
      
Meeting Notes
      
     EPA (Mr. Carey Johnston) started the meeting by reminding state participants that in addition to raising questions during these 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 also reminded everyone that this outreach does not constitute a decision-making body (see "Quick Reminder" section below).
     
     Mr. Johnston started the technical discussion by reading the name of each cooling water and thermal variance 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 meeting participants. Below are some questions and comments from the meeting participants.
     
* A representative from Virginia asked if the annual report comes from the NPDES regulated entity. EPA added the following note to the final rule to provide clarification: "Where the Director requires additional measures to protect Federally-listed threatened or endangered species or critical habitat pursuant to 40 CFR 125.94(g), the Director shall require reporting associated with those measures [see 40 CFR 125.97(g)]. The following data elements correspond to this reporting requirement. These data elements are only required for facilities that are required to report on their additional measures to protect Federally-listed threatened or endangered species or critical habitat." The final NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule converts this report from a paper to an electronic processing system.
   
* A representative from New Jersey stated that the CWA Section 316(b) biological reports are very hard to breakdown into data elements. EPA clarified that the final rule only requires the CWA Section 316(b) Annual Report to be electronically reported. EPA's CWA Section 316(b) regulations require other reporting, which is not covered by this final rule. 
   
* Several state government representatives asked EPA to use the exact language from CWA Section 316(b) regulations for the following data elements: Design Intake Flow for Cooling Water Intake Structure(s), Actual Intake Flow for Cooling Water Intake Structure(s), and Actual Through-Screen Velocity. In the final rule EPA matched the data element descriptions with the language in its CWA Section 316(b) regulations.
   
* Several state representatives asked EPA to streamline the CWA Section 316(b) data and thermal variance elements. In the final rule EPA was able to eliminate several of these data elements. For example, EPA eliminated the "Thermal Variance Granted" data element from the final rule as EPA can use values in the "Thermal Variance Granted Date" data element to identify permittees with active thermal variances. 
      
      Following the meeting, EPA received an e-mail from an individual state government representative on the data elements reviewed in this meeting. This e-mail is provided in Attachment 1.

Quick Reminder
   *    The technical workgroup is not a decision-making body. Members of the workgroup provide clarity on their comments and suggest 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 voting or consensus of the workgroup. Instead, members of the workgroup are providing individual input reflecting their various perspectives.

   *    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.

Table 1: State Technical Workgroup Members - 26 March 2015

                                 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
                                      No
                                 Eric Cleckler
                                       
                          ecleckler@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 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
                                      No
                                 Robin Belley
                                       
                            belley.robin@azdeq.gov
                                       
                                  David Lelsz
                                       
                            lelsz.david@azdeq.gov;
                                       
                         Darren Polhemus             
                                      CA
                         dpolhemus@waterboards.ca.gov
                                      No
                       Renee Purdy                      
                                       
                        renee.purdy@waterboards.ca.gov
                                       
                        Deborah Smith                  
                                       
                           dsmith@waterboards.ca.gov
                                       
                       Vicky Whitney                   
                                       
                          vwhitney@waterboards.ca.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
                                   Tom Tyler
                                     ECOS
                                ttyler@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
                                      GA
                       frances.carpenter@dnr.state.ga.us
                                      No
                                Scott Miyashiro
                                      HI
                        scott.miyashiro@doh.hawaii.gov
                                      No
                                 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 Hokanson
                                      KY
                             shawn.hokanson@ky.gov
                                      No
                                  Grace Scott
                                      MI
                              scottg@michigan.gov
                                      No
                                Carla Davidson
                                       
                            davidsonc@michigan.gov
                                       
                                 Ruth Wallace
                                      MO
                            ruth.wallace@dnr.mo.gov
                                      No
                                  Walter Fett
                                       
                            walter.fett@dnr.mo.gov
                                       
                              Christopher Miller
                                       
                            epermitting@dnr.mo.gov
                                       
                                  Tamara Dahl
                                      MN
                            tamara.dahl@state.mn.us
                                      No
                                 Paul Scheirer
                                       
                           paul.scheirer@state.mn.us
                                       
                                  John Murphy
                                    NEIWPCC
                              jmurphy@neiwpcc.org
                                      No
                        Deborah Gore                   
                                      NC
                            deborah.gore@ncdenr.gov
                                      No
                        Bradley Bennett               
                                       
                          bradley.bennett@ncdenr.gov
                                       
                                 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
                                       
                      Alan Tinney                        
                                  Dave Gaskin
                                      NV
                              atinney@ndep.nv.gov
                                      Yes
                                       
                                       
                              dgaskin@ndep.nv.gov
                                       
                    Brian Hall                             
                                      OH
                            brian.hall@epa.ohio.gov
                                      No
                     Erin Sherer                          
                                       
                           erin.sherer@epa.ohio.gov
                                       
                             Shellie Chard-McClary
                                      OK
                       shellie.chard-mcclary@deq.ok.gov
                                      Yes
                                  Roy Walker
                                       
                             roy.walker@deq.ok.gov
                                       
                                 David Pruitt
                                       
                            david.pruitt@deq.ok.gov
                                       
                                 Jim Billings
                                      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 Flor
                                       
                             tim.flor@state.sd.us
                                       
                                Albert Spangler
                                       
                          albert.spangler@state.sd.us
                                       
                               Lawrence Bunting
                                      TN
                           lawrence.bunting@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 Doyen
                                       
                          lynley.doyen@tceq.texas.gov
                                       
                               Kimberly Shepard
                                       
                        kimberly.shepard@tceq.texas.gov
                                       
                                 Jeff Studenka
                                      UT
                              jstudenka@utah.gov
                                      No
                                 Jerome Brooks
                                      VA
                        jerome.brooks@deq.virginia.gov
                                      Yes
                                Deborah Debiasi
                                       
                       deborah.debiasi@deq.virginia.gov
                                       
                                  Phani 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.gov
                                       
Table 2: EPA Technical Workgroup Members

                                     Name
                                  EPA Office 
                                     Email
                               Present? (Yes/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
                                      No
                                Carey Johnston
                                 OECA/OC/ETDD
                            johnston.carey@epa.gov
                                      Yes
                                 Jackie Clark
                                  OW/OWM/WPD
                             clark.jackie@epa.gov
                                      Yes
                                  Jan Pickrel
                                  OW/OWM/WPD
                              pickrel.jan@epa.gov
                                      Yes
                                Ginny Phillips
                                 OECA/OCE/WED
                            phillips.ginny@epa.gov
                                      Yes
                                 Aditi Prabhu
                                    OGC/WLO
                             prabhu.aditi@epa.gov
                                      No
                                 David Apanian
                                   Region 4
                             apanian.david@epa.gov
                                      Yes
                                  Sandra Chew
                                   Region 9
                              chew.sandra@epa.gov
                                      No
                                  Glynis Hill
                                 OP/ORPM/PRAD
                              hill.glynis@epa.gov
                                      No

Table 3: State Technical Workgroup Discussions to Discuss Public Comments
      
                                      DCN
                                     Date
Topic
Data Source
                                   DCN 0219
                                  02/05/2015
Basic Facility and Permit Data
Ind. Permit Applications/NOIs
                                   DCN 0220
                                  02/12/2015
Basic Violation and Enforcement Action Data 
States & Ind. Permit Applications/NOIs
                                   DCN 0221
                                  02/26/2015
Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Information
Ind. Permit Applications/NOIs & MS4 Program Report
                                   DCN 0222
                                  03/05/2015
Construction and Industrial Stormwater Information
Ind. Permit Applications/NOIs
                                   DCN 0223
                                  03/12/2015
CSO & Collection System Information & Sewer Overflow Data
Ind. Permit Applications/NOIs & Sewer Overflow Event Reports
                                   DCN 0224
                                  03/19/2015
Pretreatment Data
Ind. Permit Applications/NOIs & Annual POTW Pretreatment Program Reports, CIU/SIU Reports When EPA or State is Control Authority
                                   DCN 0225
                                  03/26/2015
Cooling Water and Thermal Variance Data
Ind. Permit Applications/NOIs
                                   DCN 0226
                                  04/02/2015
Biosolids Data
States & Ind. Permit Applications/NOIs & Annual Biosolids Reports
                                   DCN 0227
                                  04/09/2015
CAFO Data
Ind. Permit Applications/NOIs & Annual Biosolids Reports
                                   DCN 0228
                                  05/13/2015
Review of Appendix A
All NPDES program data
                                   DCN 0229
                                  05/27/2015
Review of State Representative Questions to EPA
All NPDES program data

    Attachment 1 - Email from Representative from Authorized NPDES Program
E-mail from Lawrence Bunting <Lawrence.Bunting@tn.gov>
Thu 3/26/2015 3:37 PM
TN has not historically designated cooling water intakes subject to 316(b) as permitted features in ICIS, so this is additional reporting for TN.  The ICIS designation "intake structure" is indeed generic.  If we identify these intake structures, it would be good to distinguish between other intakes and those intake structures under 316(b) when querying for the permitted feature.  It may be good to include both in the dropdown on the type of permitted feature.
EPA RESPONSE: EPA will work with authorized NPDES programs to ensure that states and EPA can distinguish between cooling water intake structures and other intake structures (e.g., drinking water intake structures).
Design Intake Flow for Cooling Water Intake Structure(s)  -  There may be situations where cumulative intake flow may be coming from different water sources.  Does this matter to EPA?
EPA RESPONSE: Appendix A includes location information (e.g., latitude, longitude) for each  permitted feature, which includes cooling water intake structures. EPA can use this location data to identify the source waterbodies for the cooling water.
Actual Intake Flow for Cooling Water Intake Structure(s)  -  I would agree that "intake flow capacities" should be "intake flows."  It would be good to specify that the averages for the year should include those days where there is no intake flow to get consistency from all states.  (In some cases, average may be understood to mean the average of flow for days water is withdrawn from the source.  If the withdrawals are seasonal or depend upon some operational constraints, an intake may be used with a high flow rate, but at other times not be used at all.  There may be some facilities that have multiple sources of water, including 3rd party suppliers and may switch between their options.) 
Also the draft document mentions "flow" in MGD (rate of withdrawal) but later uses "average volume of water withdrawn".  Flow rates and volumes are not the same thing.  If it is a volume, I assume that is the volume of water used for the year.  Subject matter experts need to decide what is really wanted/required for this actual flow to be reported in applications.
EPA RESPONSE: EPA has matched the description for this data element with its CWA Section 316(b) regulations.
Location Type for Cooling Water Intake Structure  -  The proposed dropdown choices do need some definition or else everything will end up in the "Other" category.  I have an intake channel off a man-made embayment in a reservoir.  Hmm; is this an intake "canal" or maybe an embayment?  I'll just put it in as "Other".  
EPA RESPONSE: EPA included "Other" as an option for this data element.
Actual Through-Screen Velocity  -  Again this begs the question.  Is this the average velocity when intake operating at "normal" conditions?  The average that includes days when there is no velocity?  The measured velocity for a particular time period across a screen when a study is done?  The calculated value based on operational flow measurement and screen area over time?  I'm not sure what is wanted nor how it will be determined.
EPA RESPONSE: EPA has matched the description for this data element with its CWA Section 316(b) regulations.
Cooling Water Intake Chosen Compliance Method  -  This needs definition on what the dropdown list will be for the compliance methods chosen for the compliance options to be reported on the applications.  I understand from the call that the compliance method chosen is the overall compliance method.  But to clarify what parent record this is going to be a child to, is "overall" applicable to permit level, permitted feature(s), or at a lower level in the hierarchy?  
EPA RESPONSE: EPA modified the description of the "Cooling Water Intake Structure Chosen Compliance Method" data element to read as: "The unique code/description to indicate the one or more compliance method selected for each cooling water intake structure based on EPA's CWA Section 316(b) regulations or based on BPJ. For new facilities for example, Track I, Track II, alternative requirements, etc. For existing facilities, which of the 125.94(c) compliance options were chosen and reported as part of 122.21(r)(6), whether the facility has chosen to comply on an intake basis or facility wide, or whether alternative requirements were requested. Facilities have the option to comply on a facility wide or on an intake basis. Each cooling water intake structure will have its own "Permitted Feature ID." Therefore there is no parent-child relationship as the "Cooling Water Intake Structure Chosen Compliance Method" data is at the permitted feature level and not at the facility level. 
For the 316(a) variance data elements:
   * Thermal Variance Granted will be changed to Thermal Variance Granted Flag and will be a Yes/No.
   * Thermal Variance Date will be changed to "Thermal Variance Granted Date" and will be defined as the latest approval date for the variance.
EPA RESPONSE: EPA streamlined the thermal variance data elements in the final rule and also clarified in the description of the "Thermal Variance Granted Date" data element that, "[t]his is the most recent date when the NPDES permitting authority granted or renewed a CWA Section 316(a) variance for the controlling NPDES permit."
TDEC should be OK with removal of the following data elements.
316(b) application/ NOI data elements:
   * Cooling Water Information Submitted
   * Alternative Requirements Provision Request Date
   * Existing Facilities  -  Request for Reduced Information in Application Submittal
   * Source Water Baseline Biological Characterization Data: Species Name
   * Source Water Baseline Biological Characterization Data: Species Number
   * 316(b) report data elements (should not be required for all facilities, only applicable to T&E situations):
   * Biological Monitoring  -  Request for Reduce Monitoring Approval Date
   * Velocity Monitoring - Compliance with the Velocity Requirements
   316(a) application data elements:
   * Thermal Variance Study Date (multiple dates would often apply)
   * Thermal Variance Value
   * Non-Variance Thermal Standards and Limitations
   * Thermal Variance Unit
EPA RESPONSE: EPA streamlined the CWA Section 316(b) data elements in the final rule.