HomeMy WebLinkAbout07.a.3) Handout-Add'l Written Announcements . B�l��
Agenda Item' �� Q �
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Board Meetinq of November 18, 2010
Additional Written Announcements
General Information
e) State Water Board Public Hearinq reqardinq Draft Policv for
Toxicitv Assessment and Control
The State Water Board released a Draft Policy for Toxicity Assessment and
Control in late October that made significant changes to the way toxicity
assessments are conducted. Upon review, District staff and the entire
wastewater community were very concerned with the contents of the new policy
due to the changes in statistical approach that made false positives much more .
likely (that is effluent that is not toxic would show up as toxic in the test). The
State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) accepted comments November
16, 2010 at a workshop following their regular meeting in Sacramento. District
staff and twenty other speakers from the regulated community pointed out the
problems with the change in the statistical approach that would lead to many
more false positives and would characterize any false positives resulting from
increased monitoring as violations of National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System permits and subject to mandatory minimum penalties.
Based on the testimony received, the SWRCB implemented a 60-day extension
to the adoption of the regulation. The extension will provide time to further
assess the impact of false positive toxicity results, provide an economic analysis,
and further define the environmental benefit of the proposed new policy. District
testimony was provided by Director of Operations Margaret Orr with assistance
from Laboratory Superintendent Bhupinder Dhaliwal, Associate Engineer Gail
Chesler, and Environmental Compliance Superintendent Tim Potter.