Notice of action: TheState Water Control Board (the Board) is considering action on petitions to extend the deadline for securing a certificate to operate for footnoted nutrient waste load allocations in the Water Quality Management Planning Regulation.
Purpose of notice: The Board seeks comments through the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on the petitions and the need for and impact of resulting regulatory action to extend any deadline.
Public comment period:July 24, 2009 to August 28, 2009
Subject matter and intent of proposal:The 2009 General Assembly passed legislation (HB 1074 / SB 1022) authorizing the Board to adopt certain regulations relating to wastewater treatment plants. The Board was directed to accept petitions through July 10, 2009, for the purpose of conducting an expedited rulemaking process involving plants with “footnoted” nutrient waste load allocations in the WQMP Regulation. The footnotes provide conditional allocations that depend on the plant owner securing a Certificate to Operate (CTO) by December 31, 2010 for an expanded design flow. The petitions must be for the sole purpose of extending the deadline to no later than December 31, 2015. Owners submitting a petition are still required to comply with their nutrient allocations as of January 1, 2011, through the Nutrient Credit Exchange Program (VA Code § 62.1-44.19:4) or by other means. The Board must approve or deny these petitions and adopt any resulting regulation amendments within 180 days of the petition deadline. Before making a final decision on the petitions, the Board shall provide an opportunity for public comment.
DEQ received petitions for seven plants by the deadline: 1) Cape Charles; 2) Culpeper Co.-Mountain Run; 3) Fauquier Co. W&SA-Remington; 4) Fauquier Co. W&SA-Vint Hill; 5) Harrisonburg-Rockingham SA-North River; 6) Onancock; 7) Shenandoah Co.-North Fork Regional. If you wish to view the petitions on-line, they are accessible at the web link provided below.
The legislation also exempted the Board's adoption of any resulting regulation amendments under this rulemaking from Article 2 (VA Code § 2.2-4006 et seq.) of the Administrative Process Act.
The regulation to be amended is the Water Quality Management Planning Regulation (9 VAC 25-720).
How to comment:DEQ accepts written comments by e-mail and postal mail. Comments must include the full name, address and telephone number of the person commenting and be received by DEQ by 5 p.m. on the last day of the comment period. Please include a copy of any supporting documents or exhibits, which become part of the public record.
To review documents: This public notice is available on the Town Hall web site at www.townhall.virginia.gov, where interested persons may also submit electronic comments. The legislation and notification letter sent May 8, 2009 to affected plant owners and the petitions received by the July 10, 2009 deadline are available through the DEQ-Chesapeake Bay Program web page at http://www.deq.virginia.gov/bay/multi.html, or by contacting the DEQ representative named below.
