Regulation of Municipal Sewage Sludge under the Clean Water Act Section 503: AModel for Exposure and Risk Assessment for MSW-Compost

摘要

Efforts have not begun to regulate MSW-compost at the Federal level, nor in moststates. However, municipal sewage sludge regulations under the Clean Water Act Section 503 have been proposed and are being finalized. The CWA-503 regulations will be applicable to municipal sewage sludge products including MSW-sludge composts. MSW-compost, being similar to municipal sewage sludge-compost and having similar uses, will ultimately be required to meet similar standards or at least similar methodology will be used to develop standards for MSW-compost. Therefore, an understanding of the methodology and its data requirements will be beneficial in the development of appropriate data for MSW-composting. Further, voluntary compliance with the CWA-503 regulations should enable the MSW-composting industry to avoid waiting for state regulations. In particular, compliance with the no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) sludge quality limitations, including Class A pathogen reduction, should be acceptable for MSW-compost products.