Virginia Administrative Code › Title 9 - ENVIRONMENT › Agency 25 - STATE WATER CONTROL BOARD › Chapter 410 - OCCOQUAN POLICY › Section 9VAC25-410-10 - Introduction

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. Purpose and
				authority. To provide a policy that protects the Occoquan watershed from point
				source pollution. The Occoquan Policy specifically regulates jurisdictional
				domestic sewage and sets forth requirements for high performance regional
				treatment plants. The policy was adopted pursuant to authority vested in the
				State Water Control Board (board) by §
									62.1-44.15
				of the State Water Control Law.
B.
				Water quality standard. This "Occoquan Policy" also constitutes special
				standard "g" in the board's water quality standards for sections 7a through 7h
				of the Potomac River Basin's Potomac River Subbasin (9VAC25-260-390
				), which sections are delineated geographically in the "Basin and Section
				Description" portion of the water quality standards publication (9VAC25-260-10
				et seq.). In addition, the text of this policy is referred to under special
				standards and requirements (9VAC25-260-310
				), entitled "Occoquan Watershed Policy," of the water quality standards
				(9VAC25-260-10
				et seq.).
C. Background. During the
				1960s there was a great deal of concern generated about the large amount of
				treated sewage effluent being discharged in the Occoquan watershed, since the
				receiving streams feed the Occoquan reservoir, a drinking water supply for over
				600,000 people in Northern Virginia.
In response to this, the board commissioned the firm of
				  Metcalf & Eddy to study the problems of the Occoquan reservoir and to
				  recommend a course of action to preserve the Occoquan as a valuable water
				  resource for future generations.
The results of the Metcalf & Eddy study stated that point
				  source pollution was the primary cause of water quality degradation in the
				  Occoquan watershed and that a high degree of waste treatment would be necessary
				  to prolong the life of the drinking water supply.
In 1971 the board adopted a policy for waste treatment and
				  water quality management in the Occoquan watershed (the Occoquan Policy) that
				  outlined a course of action to control point source pollution in the
				  watershed.
The Occoquan Policy provided for the construction of regional
				  high-performance treatment facilities in the watershed and a monitoring program
				  to obtain water quality data both before and after construction of any of the
				  high-performance plants.
The Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Program (OWMP or monitoring
				  program) was established in 1972 which gathered an extensive amount of
				  information and found that water quality problems in the Occoquan watershed
				  were related directly to point source pollution and to non-point source
				  pollution.
In 1978, a regional high-performance treatment facility (the
				  Upper Occoquan Service Authority, UOSA, formerly known as the Upper Occoquan
				  Sewage Authority) was placed in operation. This facility eliminated 11 major
				  point sources of pollution in the watershed.
Shortly after UOSA began operations, costs and charges for
				  sewage treatment in systems tributary to UOSA increased rather sharply. To date
				  a significant part of those high costs have been associated with large amounts
				  of infiltration and inflow being sent by the user jurisdictions to the regional
				  facility for treatment.
In an attempt to control non-point source pollution the
				  Commonwealth of Virginia adopted an erosion and sediment control law in 1973.
				  In accordance with this law, all of the watershed jurisdictions have adopted
				  erosion and sediment control ordinances. In addition, a number of best
				  management practices (BMP) handbooks were written and published in 1979 by the
				  board. In mid-1980 Fairfax County adopted a BMP ordinance.
In 1978, the board contracted the firm of Camp Dresser &
				  McKee (CDM) to reevaluate certain aspects of the Occoquan Policy. Their report
				  was presented to the board and to the local communities in 1980 and recommended
				  that few changes be made to the policy.
As a result of the CDM report, input from the local
				  communities and the board's staff, an updated version of the Occoquan Policy
				  was drafted.
D. References.
1. A Comprehensive Pollution Abatement
				Program for the Occoquan Watershed, Metcalf & Eddy Engineers, March 18,
				1970.
2. Record of public hearing
				on March 31, 1971, concerning State Water Control Board's Occoquan
				Policy.
3. Occoquan Policy
				Reevaluation, Phase III Report, Camp Dresser& McKee, June 1980.
4. Record of public hearing on November 20,
				1980, concerning amendments to the Occoquan Policy.