Connecticut Water Quality Standards Whats been Happening What to - - PDF document

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Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Connecticut Water Quality Standards

Enter Date Enter Presented by Enter Event / Location

What’s been Happening What to Expect

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Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Triennial Review

• Triennial Review of the Connecticut Water Quality Standards

Final Report -Completed June 2014

• Culmination of the public process that CT DEEP initiated to

review the Connecticut Water Quality Standards (WQS) in accordance with Section 303(c)(1) of the Federal Clean Water Act.

• Purpose of report is to provide responses to those who

provided comment on the WQS and to identify recommendations for future actions regarding the revision to the Connecticut WQS.

• Triennial Report approved by EPA

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Triennial Review Requirements

• Must review & revise WQS at least once every 3 years
• Must either

– submit a statement that revisions to the WQS are not necessary based on a review or – submit a plan for revision of WQS

• identify proposed changes,
• provide the methods used and analyses conducted to support the proposed revisions,
• identify the scientific basis for the proposed revisions.
• WQS must provide

– 1) for water quality criteria that protect designated uses of the waters, – 2) an Antidegradation Policy consistent with federal requirements.

• A public process must be held

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Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

State WQS Amendments Anticipated (1)

• Organizational and editorial clean –up
• Consistency with federal WQ criteria for toxics, bacteria &

ammonia

• Provide for extension of wastewater disinfection period

due to increased and extended recreational uses of rivers.

– Currently: May 1 to Sept 30 – Considering: April 1 to Oct 31

• Extend compliance timeframes to allow for periods beyond

a permit cycle

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

State WQS Amendments Anticipated (2)

• Change low flow statistic from 7Q10 to Q99 for

consistency with other regulations (SY, SF, etc.)

– Statistics are functionally equivalent but measured differently.

• Clarify Statutory reference to endangered species

– Proposed WQS revisions to make sure that the references to endangered species are consistent with state and federal laws related to endangered species.

• Include Inland Wetlands and Watercourse definition

– While these waters are inherently part of the current definition of “surface water” in the WQS, CTDEEP will propose language to explicitly include the terms “inland wetland” and “inland watercourses” within the definition of surface waters to provide additional clarity.

• Clarify defn of “natural” & “clean water” discharges

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Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Other Activities or Considerations

• Evaluate surface water classifications of certain shellfish areas

to assure consistency w/ Dept of Agric, Bur. Of Aquaculture

• Consider provision for GW discharges in GAA & GA areas from

private drinking water treatment backwash

• Continue to work with DPH on protections of drinking water

source areas.

• Consider consolidating GW & SW antidegradation sections

into one

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Not yet ready for prime time

• Commenters recommended that WQS should be amended

to explicitly address climate change and sea level rise

Response:

• Addressing climate change is critical to safeguarding our environment.
• Information on Connecticut’s actions and approaches to address climate

change can be found on our web page.

• However, climate change is a complex issue and establishing specific

recommendations to include in water quality standard regulations requires additional evaluation.

Continues to evolve. Resiliency for current infrastructure a focus area.

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Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Not yet ready for prime time

• Many commenters posited that the current temperature criteria in the

WQS are insufficient to be protective of cold-water aquatic life species.

– Establish interim temperature criteria for Cold, Cool, and Water Aquatic Habitats. – Upper temperature limits and the 4 degrees temperature insufficient to protect critical life stages for aquatic organisms. – Temperature limits for cooling water discharges set too high to protect trout & other cold water fisheries –lower temp limits to 70o F or at least no greater than 75o F. Response:

• CTDEEP is evaluating temperature data and conducting studies to evaluate the

thermal regime in surface waters.

• Additionally, CTDEEP will establish a web page for temperature to disseminate

information on water quality and temperature to the public and other stakeholders.

• More dialog and discussion needed.

Cold Water -Head water stream protection likely a healthy waters initiative.

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Future WQ Focus

• Lot’s to do, many pressure points, limited resources
• So where do we focus?

– Science based prioritization – Incentivizing and encouraging regional or inter-local cooperative approaches – Protecting headwaters and healthy watersheds – Addressing watersheds at risk before they become impaired – Core programs and data that will be foundational for future

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Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

State-Wide Evaluation

• f Potential for GB Ground Water

Reclassification

February 17, 2015 Brownfields Work Group

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Reclassification Processes

• WQS provide for reclassification process
• Through statutory (22a-426) public process

– individual requests from affected parties – periodic amendment by the Commissioner

• Specific class criteria must be met to protect

existing and proposed uses of ground water

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Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Individual GB Reclassification Process

• Provisions in WQS since 1996
• Streamlined process to provide site-specific

information

• Over 120 areas have been reclassified through

this process

– Note: GB reclass area includes multiple properties in many instances

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Help LEAN and Target Remediation

• Match level of risk (use) with level of cleanup
• Increase remediation efficiency

– More sites remediated, quicker – Lower costs – More responsiveness to higher risk sites

• Not compromise ground water resource use

and protection

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Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

State-wide GB Evaluation Process

• ID areas where we have new information that

may meet GB criteria:

– Existing urban/industrial development – Concentration of remediation sites – Public water service – No supply sources exists – No potential PWS aquifers exists – Direction of ground water flow is not impacting existing uses

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

State-wide evaluation: Initial Conclusions

• Many remediation sites are already in GB areas
• Majority of state are drinking water source areas
• Unable to fully automate process

– a lot of variables – incomplete data layers – water data security issues – need local data and verification

• Most efficient approach is to target areas:

– Adjacent urban areas – Clusters of remediation sites – Supportive towns and water utility to assist with local data

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Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Overall GB Plan Forward

3 Pronged Effort to align resource use with clean-up

• Continue individual reclass process
• Complete a statewide revision of GB

areas

• Consider Alternate GWPC concept

through RSR transformation process

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Questions?

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