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BACWA Bulletin - February 2015

Table of Contents

Meetings

  • Permit Comm., 5/5
  • Joint Meeting with RWB, 5/8
  • Lab Comm., 5/13
  • Recycled Water Comm., 5/13
  • AIR Comm., 5/13
  • Executive Board Mtg., 5/15
  • Special BACWA Board Mtg., 5/18
  • Pretreatment Comm., 5/19
  • Visit the Calendar for details.

Nutrient Technical Workgroup meeting was held April 22

The Nutrient Technical Workgroup (NTW) provides technical input on the work elements identified in the Nutrient Management Strategy. These workgroup meetings are anticipated to bring together stakeholders and experts on a variety of topics, including the assessment framework, monitoring plan development, modeling, science plan development and special studies design.  Materials from the April 22 meeting are now posted.  The next NTW meeting will be scheduled after the release of the assessment framework later this year.
 

Regional Water Board held North Bay Selenium TMDL CEQA scoping meeting on April 3

The Regional Water Board held a CEQA scoping meeting on April 3 for the North Bay Selenium TMDL, where staff presented the proposed water column selenium objective and implementation plan.  The Regional Water Board staff used the EPA’s draft freshwater selenium fish tissue objective, and translated it to a water column objective of 0.52 ug/L. Under the proposal, there would be no requirements for POTWs to reduce selenium loads, and refineries’ loads would be capped at present levels.  There is some concern about what will happen if the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) implementation leads to an increase in selenium loads from the San Joaquin River to the Delta.  The Regional Water Board reports that they are working with the BDCP to make sure that responsibility for any increased loads are not externalized to the San Francisco Bay Region.
 

Annual BACWA AIR Committee Meeting with AIR Board scheduled for May 13

The BACWA AIR Committee will hold its annual joint meeting with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (AIR Board) on May 13 at their offices at 939 Ellis Street in San Francisco. All BACWA members are welcome to attend. Key topics will include equipment permitting, the Air Board's climate protection strategy, and the development of NOx emissions regulations. A draft agenda for the meeting is available.
 

CASA solicits input on ideas to reduce regulatory cost of compliance

CASA is working with the State Water Board to provide information about potential monitoring surrogates and reporting that could be eliminated. They provided a template for agencies to use to provide information. BACWA members should send their ideas for potential monitoring/reporting reductions to Amanda Roa.
 

Regional Water Board  to develop management plan for Tier 3 CECs

In the 2013 Pulse of the Bay, the Regional Water Board described its strategy for ensuring that contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) do not become an environmental problem in San Francisco Bay. This strategy focuses first on prevention, rather than end-of-pipe treatment. CECs are divided into four tiers based on their occurrence and potential toxicity.  Four CECs are in Tier 3 - Moderate Concern, and no CECs are in Tier 4 - High Concern.  The Regional Water Board is developing a management plan for the Tier 3 constituents, which are polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), fipronil and nonylphenol-ethoxylate.

What's new in BACWA's Committees


Recycled Water Committee

The Recycled Water Committee met on April 1 to select projects that were included in the BACWA submittal to the Bay Area IRWMP Project Screening Committee (PSC). The PSC will meet several times in May to make a recommendation on which projects will be included in the Bay Area Regional proposal to the Department of Water Resources for Proposition 84 funds.
 

Permits Committee

Lila Tang of the Regional Water Board attended the March 10 Permits Committee meeting. She proposed introducing uniformity in how agencies with dry weather discharge prohibitions are regulated, specifically in the length of the discharge prohibition, and the procedure to get an exception for a discharge during the dry season. Staff from agencies with dry weather discharge prohibitions met with Lila again on March 24.  Based on the feedback from this meeting, Regional Water Board staff have proposed leaving agencies with prohibition dates that are tailored to their individual circumstances, but requiring information as part of the Report of Waste Discharge to justify those dates.
 

Collection Systems Committee

Paul Seitz of Central Contra Costa Sanitary District (CCCSD) and Lenny Rather of Oro Loma Sanitary District (OLSD) gave presentations on how each of their agencies approach maintenance of sewers in easements. CCCSD has developed a pulley system (called “snatch block”) to assist in running
hoses from hydro trucks to easement sewer manholes. This has substantially reduced their need for hand rodding, which is not very effective. OLSD takes videos of hillside sewer easement cleaning for presentation to the OLSD Board to demonstrate the challenges of maintaining these easement sewers. Some of the challenges include working in very tight spaces and around homeowner improvements.

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:
Copyright © 2015 BACWA Bay Area Clean Water Agencies, All rights reserved.


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