|
|
What's new in BACWA's Committees
AIR Committee
The AIR Committee's Annual Meeting with Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) Staff was held on June 15. The key messages from BAAQMD were:
- Draft Clean Air Plan control measures have been posted on BAAQMD’s Open Air Forum. These measures are largely exploratory at this stage, but will help guide prioritization of future actions, including those related to greenhouse gas emissions.
- Air Toxics:
- BAAQMD is working on revisions to Regulation 2, Rule 5 – New Source Review of Air Toxic Contaminants. Revised rule language should be available in August, for consideration by the Board in September. At this time, BAAQMD is not proposing any changes to the current significance thresholds.
- BAAQMD is considering a new policy or rule in 2017 to address air toxics emissions from existing facilities.
- BAAQMD is re-evaluating the enforcement of Regulation 9, Rule 2 on hydrogen sulfide discharges as new permit applications or permit modification requests are received for digesters. Their goal is to develop case-by-case permit conditions that allow digester gas venting up until a certain quantity of hydrogen sulfide has been released (# lbs/hour). This limit is intended to correlate to the downwind concentration allowed by Regulation 9, Rule 2.
- Given the forthcoming waste diversion regulations, BAAQMD’s Organic Waste Workgroup is researching both barriers and incentives for organic waste diversion projects (permitting issues, best management practices, economic incentives, etc.). Contact Carol Allen/BAAQMD if you have any feedback to help promote these projects moving forward
View previous AIR meeting materials.
BAPPG
The June BAPPG meeting featured a presentation from the public relations consultant firm O'Rorke on the status of BAPPG's outreach initiatives. Additionally, Bill Pollock from Alameda County Environmental Health gave an update on their pharmaceutical take-back program efforts. BAPPG submitted a letter to Bay Area Senators in support of SB1229, which offers liability protections for pharmacies that have pharmaceutical take-back bins. The August meeting will feature the annual pollutant prioritization exercise. View notes from previous meetings.
Biosolids Committee
The BACWA Biosolids Committee plans to conduct a survey to better understand how POTWs in our Region plan to manage their biosolids, and their plans for when landfill application is phased out, which will likely occur by 2025. The survey will be distributed via this Bulletin and committee email lists. The next Biosolids Committee meeting will be held in October, location to be announced.
Collections Systems Committee
The July Collection Systems Committee meeting featured a presentation by Jim Fisher of the State Water Board staff on SSS WDR compliance and enforcement. Committee members should expect a survey to be distributed by Committee leadership to identify meeting topics for the next year. For more information, see previous Collections Systems Committee Reports.
Permits Committee
The August meeting will focus on BACWA's response to EPA's selenium objectives. Additionally, the committee will discuss the EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance's request for input on climate risks to wastewater infrastructure. For more information about committee activities, please see previous Permits Committee Reports.
Pretreatment Committee
On June 22, the Pretreatment Committee cohosted a training with the firm EEC, covering the following items:
- 40 CFR Key Provisions
- Program Elements
- Regulatory Climate Forecast
- Updating Local Limits
- Audit Preparation
- Categorical Standards
- Program Modification.
The next regular Pretreatment Committee meeting will be held August 30 at Union Sanitary District.
Recycled Water Committee
At the July Recycled Water committee meeting, members discussed the mandatory enrollment of 96-011 permittees into the State General Order for Recycled Water, adopted June 7, 2016. The committee plans to develop a proposal to deliver to the Regional Water Board on how to seamlessly manage the transition to the State General Order. For more information about committee activities, please see Recycled Water Committee meeting notes.
|
|
Upcoming Events
RMP Annual Meeting, October 7, 2016, David Brower Center 2150 Allston Way Berkeley, CA.
9th Biennial Bay-Delta Science Conference, November 15-17, 2016, Sacramento Convention Center, Sacramento.
BACWA Annual Members' Meeting, January 27, 2017, Metropolitan Golf Course 10051 Doolittle Drive, Oakland, CA.
|
|
BACWA External Representation
Collaboration with outside groups and initiatives is an important facet of BACWA's mission. Below is a list of BACWA's representatives to these technical, regulatory, and management groups:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|