RALEIGH -- The Division of Water Quality has launched several new enforcement initiatives that establish compliance criteria for wastewater collection systems, delegate some penalty assessment authority to regional offices and urge creation of more environmental projects to settle portions of certain civil penalty cases.
Preston Howard, director of DWQ, said the measures are part of the division's new enforcement policy which is still under development. Increased fines went into effect in February.
"These policy changes are intended to strengthen water quality protection by encouraging compliance and rewarding those who go above and beyond," said Howard, adding that more technical assistance and outreach will be offered. "Those who violate laws, however, will be seeing higher and more frequent penalties. Repeat and willful offenders will get the closest scrutiny."
DWQ's new policy is in response to calls from both Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. and Secretary Wayne McDevitt of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for better compliance, tighter enforcement and higher fines.
Collection Systems
The collection systems program, which becomes effective July 1, has two components -- spill response and operation/maintenance. Initially, the program targets spill response to broken and clogged sewer lines, and overflowing manholes and pump stations.
Municipalities and other wastewater treatment operators must report within 24 hours all spills that reach surface waters and those to the ground surface exceeding 1,000 gallons, regardless of whether they are contained or reach waters. A point system will be used to determine whether to assess penalties, with the minimum penalty for failure to report such spills at $4,000.
Beginning July 1, 1999, the evaluation of the operation and maintenance component will be added to the program. Enforcement decisions, which will still include reporting and response actions, will be based upon a point system that also takes into consideration routine inspections, right-of-way maintenance, record keeping of problems and repairs, maintaining back-up equipment for pump stations, and whether sewer use ordinances have been adopted and implemented.
Other factors include compliance history since Jan. 1, extenuating circumstances, vandalism, environmental damage, and major system upgrades and renovations. Violators face fines and requirements to publish public notices in local media, undergo training, injunctive action and/or a moratorium on new connections to the system. Civil and criminal action can also be pursued.
Owners of collection systems, such as municipalities and public utilities, are encouraged to develop and implement a full operation and maintenance program. These programs should include regular inspections of the system, scheduled line cleaning commitments and identification of known problems, with a schedule to address them.
Those owners, who have a schedule and ongoing corrective actions, will not be assessed in instances when a discharge occurs in that known problem area, timely reporting requirements are followed and no significant environmental damage results, such as a fish kill.
"The delegation authority to the regions will provide more timely and effective response to these violations," Howard said. Effluent and monitoring reports for May will be the first month that the supervisors review, he added.
In general, DWQ has assessed when three to five monthly average effluent violations are found within a year. The new policy allows regional supervisors to evaluate any facility violating monthly average effluent limits. For these facilities, each violation of a daily, weekly or monthly parameter will be assessed as well as each monitoring violation.
Regional supervisors will assess for toxic pollutant limit violations which exceed standards by 20 percent, a benchmark percentage deemed a level of significant violation. Toxic pollutants include cyanide, residual chlorine, organic compounds such as benzene, and certain metals like cadmium and lead.
For conventional pollutant parameters, during the policy's first year, regional supervisors will develop assessments in instances where permit limits have been exceeded by at least 40 percent. Conventional pollutants include oxygen demanding substances, solids, nutrients, detergents and fecal coliform bacteria. The division director will retain the assessment authority for the less severe violations.
But beginning July 1, 1999, the regional supervisors will be assessing at the 20 percent threshold for conventional pollutants.
Howard said he delayed the 20 percent assessment threshold for conventional pollutants in order to single out the most severe violations and to allow the regional supervisors and regulated community to become more familiar with the process. "We're looking at a lot of potential violations here."
Environmental Projects
A recent example of such a project involves the City of Kinston. In March, the city agreed to pay $39,650 in penalties for various wastewater violations since 1994 and to also provide more than $50,000 to help establish a water management training program at Lenoir County Community College.
Under state law, collected fines are reverted back to the county where the violation occurred. The county is then to use the money for school system needs, however, that use does not specify environmental or public health needs.
These supplemental projects address a specific environmental need or concern and offer substantive benefits, Howard said. "They offer a good alternative in certain cases and should be considered."
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