Update: Key Developments in Biosolids Management Policy

摘要

The municipal wastewater industry continues to face a number of challenges with regard tobiosolids management, as state and federal regulatory agencies further restrict land applicationand incineration. A review of the status of biosolids management in the Mid-Atlantic (EPARegion III) supports this conclusion.In Virginia, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), the agency responsible forregulating biosolids and overseeing land application, is in the final stages of revising numeroussections of Virginia’s biosolids regulations. Although updating the regulations will bring moreclarity and consistency, the final regulations will also likely include significant new requirementsfor land application, such as expanded public notification procedures, enhanced setbackrequirements, and mandatory financial assurance terms.Likewise, in Maryland, the Department of the Environment (MDE) is working to update itsSewage Sludge Management Regulations. Biosolids were also a hotly debated issue during the2011 General Assembly session, with a bill introduced that would have effectively barred landapplication for the entire winter (roughly one-fourth of the calendar year). Although the bill didnot survive the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, the MarylandDepartment of Agriculture (MDA) has picked up the baton. MDA recently proposed regulatorychanges to the state’s nutrient application guidelines that would impede fall and winter landapplication immediately and ban winter land application as of 2016.At the federal level, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is embroiled inlitigation challenging its decision to change the rules for emissions from sewage sludgeincinerators (SSIs). The wastewater industry has appealed EPA’s decision to classify sewagesludge, or biosolids, as a “solid waste,” thereby triggering a requirement for more stringentmaximum achievable control technology (MACT) treatment standards. Several publicly-ownedtreatment works (POTWs) in Maryland and Virginia are impacted by EPA’s new rules.Lastly, POTWs in the Mid-Atlantic, and across the United States, continue to monitor significantbiosolids lawsuits in an attempt to understand the concerns of private citizens, as played out instate and federal courts. One case that has received national attention because of the scope of thelegal issues involved is the lawsuit brought by the City of Los Angeles, County SanitationDistrict No. 2 of Los Angeles County, and the Orange County Sanitation District against KernCounty, California. This ongoing lawsuit regarding Kern County’s ban on land application hasgreat significance for the future of land application programs in southern California.This presentation will update attendees on key regulatory processes in Maryland and Virginiaand will provide other updates on nationwide issues of interest.