HomeMy WebLinkAbout05.a.2) Update re NPDES Permit renewal5.Q.2�
Central Contra Costa Sanitary District
February 9, 2012
TO: HONORABLE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
VIA: JAMES M. KELLY, P.E., GENERAL MANAGER
ANN E. FARRELL, P.E., TOR OF ENGIN RIN /DEPUTY
GENERAL MANAGER
FROM: MARGARET P. ORR, P.E., DIRECTOR OF PLANT OPERATIONS ^ P,?,-
SUBJECT: NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM ( NPDES)
PERMIT ADOPTED
The Board was previously apprised of the following sequence of events with regard to
renewal of the District's NPDES permit:
• On June 1, 2011, the Report of Waste Discharge (ROWD) was submitted to the
Regional Water Quality Control Board ( RWQCB).
• On September 29, 2011, the Tentative Order (TO) was released for public
comment.
• On October 31, 2011 and November 1, 2011, the RWQCB received two comment
letters on the TO, from (1) the San Luis and Delta- Mendota Water Authority and the
State Water Contractors and (2) the San Francisco BayKeeper. The subject
comment letters contained requests for significant changes to the TO.
• On December 8, 2011, after the comment period deadline, the Bay Area Clean
Water Agencies ( BACWA) submitted a comment letter in response to the comment
letters and in support of the TO as issued.
• On December 28, 2011, after the comment period deadline, the District submitted
an extensive comment letter to provide additional detail on some of the major
assertions made by the Water Contractors and BayKeeper and in support of the TO
as issued.
• District Counsel contacted counsel for the the RWQCB to seek incorporation of the
District's comments received after the comment period deadline.
The following discussions have occurred since the last report to the Board:
• On four occasions Jim Kelly and Ann Farrell met or teleconferenced with the authors
of the Water Contractors letter to negotiate a permit supplemental acceptable to all.
• On February 8, 2012, Jim Kelly provided a PowerPoint presentation that helped gain
consensus from the Regional Board members that the science is unsettled.
• On February 8, 2012, the RWQCB adopted the permit with the attached
supplemental based on collaborative input from the District and Water Contractors.
The BACWA and District comment letters were incorporated in the record.
• A permit appeal is not anticipated but this will be known by the March 10, 2012
appeal deadline.
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STATE OF CALIFORNIA
CALIFORNIA REGIONAL WATER QUALITY CONTROL BOARD
SAN FRANCISCO BAY REGION
STAFF SUMMARY REPORT (Bill Johnson)
MEETING DATE: February 8, 2012
ITEM: 7 — SUPPLEMENTAL
SUBJECT: Central Contra Costa Sanitary District, Central Contra Costa Sanitary
District Wastewater Treatment Plant and Associated Wastewater Collection
System, Martinez, Contra Costa County — Reissuance of NPDES Permit
DISCUSSION: This supplemental contains three recommended changes to the Revised Tentative
Order. Additions are shown in underline; deletions are shown with Wit. The
District and Water Agencies developed the original substance of change numbers 2
and 3, below, and proposed them to Board staff. We then shared our changes with
them, and they have indicated their general agreement with the proposed language.
Change No. 1
This change revises the permit effective date and expiration date and the date the
application for permit re- issuance is due.
Revise Table 3 as follows:
Table 3. Administrative Information
This Order was adopted by the Regional Water Quality
<Adoption date>
Control Board on:
This Order shall become effective on:
April 1. 2012
Fey .fury 1, 701 7
This Order shall expire on:
p
March 31, 2017
T.,. nary 31, 204-7
The Discharger shall file a Report of Waste Discharge in
accordance with Title 23, California Code of Regulations,
September 30, 2016
as application for re- issuance of waste discharge
my 31, 2016
requirements no later than:
Change No. 2
This change revises the reopener provisions of the Revised Tentative Order and the
explanation for them in the Fact Sheet to be more specific regarding the
circumstances under which the Board could reopen the permit with respect to
ammonia related issues.
Revise Provision VI.C.1 of the Revised Tentative Order as follows:
1. Reopener Provisions
The Regional Water Board may modify or reopen this Order prior to its
expiration date in any of the following circumstances as allowed by law:
a. If present or future investigations demonstrate that the discharges
governed by this Order have or will have a reasonable potential to cause
or contribute to, or will cease to have, adverse impacts on water quality
or beneficial uses of the receiving waters.
c. 'If data, results, or other information developed in connection with
translator, dilution, or other water quality studies (such as, but not
limited to, studies related to Suisun Bay ammonium effects, including,
but not limited to, studies conducted pursuant to Provision VI.C.5.c)
provide a basis for determining that a permit condition, such as but not
limited to ammonia effluent limitations, should be modified.
The Discharger may request permit modification based on any of the
circumstances described above. With any such request, the Discharger shall
include an antidegradation and antibacksliding analysis.
Revise Fact Sheet (Attachment F) section VII.C.1 as follows:
1. Reopener Provisions
These provisions are based on 40 CFR 122.63 and allow modification of
this Order and its effluent limitations as necessary in response to updated
WQOs, regulations, or other new relevant information that may be
established in the future and other circumstances allowed by law. Regional
Water Board staff intends to reassess the appropriateness of the total
ammonia effluent limitations in Table 7 of the Order by April 1. 2015. The
permit may be reopened at any time under the circumstances set forth in
Provision VI.C.I of the Order.
Change No. 3
This change adds new provisions to the Revised Tentative Order and explanations
for them to the Fact Sheet. The new provisions require the District to conduct
studies related to its ammonia- related effects on Suisun Bay and its ability to
reduce ammonia discharges.
Add Provisions VI.C.5.c and VI.C.5.d to the Revised Tentative Order as follows
(for legibility, this completely new text is not underlined):
c. Nutrient Discharge Work Plan, Studies, and Reports
i. Draft Work Plan. By June 1, 2012, the Discharger shall submit to the
Regional Water Board a draft work plan to conduct the studies listed in
item c.iii, below, to evaluate further the effects on Suisun Bay of
ammonia, ammonium, and other nutrients in its discharge. The
Discharger may complete these studies itself or in conjunction with
others, including but not limited to the State and Federal Contractors
Water Agency, the State Water Contractors, and the San Luis & Delta -
Mendota Water Authority (collectively, "Water Contractors "); the Bay
Area Clean Water Agencies; and the Regional Water Board. The draft
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work plan shall call for the studies to be completed no later than
September 1, 2014.
The draft work plan shall delineate a process to disseminate study
results for stakeholder review. The Discharger shall distribute the draft
work plan to stakeholders, including but not limited to the Water
Contractors.
ii. Final Work Plan. By August 1, 2012, the Discharger shall submit a
final work plan that incorporates Executive Officer feedback on the
draft work plan.
iii. Work Plan Elements. The work plan shall include schedules and
commitments to fund the following:
(a) Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program sampling and
associated studies set forth in San Francisco Bay Region Work Plan,
Monitoring Spring Phytoplankton Bloom Progression in Suisun Bay
(Taberski, Dugdale, et al., SWAMP Monitoring Plan 2011 -2012,
December 2010). The Discharger shall commit technical expertise,
laboratory support, and funding for the studies. Specifically, the
Discharger shall fund an additional sample site to characterize the
San Joaquin River delta input, analyze samples for nutrients and
metals, and fund analysis for pesticides.
(b) Collection of representative effluent samples sufficient to
characterize nutrient forms, concentrations, and loads. The data to be
obtained shall include the form and ratios of nitrogen and
phosphorus, including organic and inorganic nitrogen and
phosphorus. (Regional Water Board staff intends to obtain such
information soon from most wastewater dischargers in the Region.)
(c) Collaborative study of the Discharger's contribution to ammonium
concentrations in Suisun Bay and related toxicity to copepods in the
context of Suisun Bay. These studies shall include, to the extent
possible, an evaluation of acute toxicity to copepod larvae (nauplii)
and full life cycle toxicity. The study shall use a methodology
acceptable to the Executive Officer.
(d) Collaborative studies evaluating the role of ammonia and
ammonium in primary productivity and zooplankton abundance, the
significance of nutrient ratios, nutrient fate and transport, and the
role of sediment biogeochemistry in nutrient fluxes. Such studies
would include, for example, a determination whether sampling
locations adequately characterize the potential impact of the
Discharger's discharge and those studies committed to by the Bay
Area Clean Water Agencies to be conducted by the Aquatic Science
Center and the San Francisco Estuary Institute (Chastain, Bay Area
Clean Water Agencies, "Nutrient Strategy Development and
Implementation: A proposal to BACWA and the San Francisco Bay
Regional Water Quality Control Board," January 18, 2012).
iv. Final Report. The Discharger shall implement the final work plan
described in item c.ii, above, and, by November 1, 2014, submit a final
report acceptable to the Executive Officer regarding the results of the
studies completed pursuant to the final work plan.
d. Facility Plan and Site Characterization
i. Work Plan. By July 1, 2012, the Discharger shall submit a work plan to
evaluate alternative treatment technologies to remove ammonia from its
discharge, including nitrification technologies. The evaluation shall
include facility planning for a range of potential ammonia effluent limits
and pilot scale systems analyses. The Discharger shall evaluate the
suitability of the Facility and property owned or controlled by the
Discharger to provide land necessary for ammonia treatment and
removal. As part of this evaluation, the Discharger shall conduct
sampling to characterize sufficiently the portion of its property where
materials previously placed for disposal would have to be managed to
develop a nitrification treatment train.
ii. Report. By February 28, 2014, the Discharger shall provide a report
acceptable to the Executive Officer containing the conclusions of the
studies completed pursuant to item d.i, above.
Add Fact Sheet (Attachment F) sections VII.C.5.c and VII.C.5.d as follows (again,
for legibility, this completely new text is not underlined):
c. Nutrient Discharge Work Plan, Studies, and Reports
This provision is intended to ensure that sufficient information is available
in a timely manner to conduct reasonable potential analyses for ammonia
and ammonium, and if necessary to revise the water quality -based effluent
limits in this Order. This provision is authorized by CWC section 13267.
d. Facility Plan and Site Characterization
This provision is intended to obtain information regarding the Discharger's
ability to remove ammonia from the discharge and is authorized by CWC
section 13267.
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