Contech Engineered Solutions LLC is appreciative of this opportunity to comment on the Department's proposed Guidance Memo No. 21-2006. Virginia's stormwater quality compliance program has reached a crucial junction respective to the evaluation of manufactured treatment devices (MTDs) with the proposed guidance. It establishes a stronger, more robust standard that will ultimately prove more protective of water quality. We support the proposal and wish to make several comments and/or recommendations to be applied during the guidance's ultimate implementation. 

1) The Department is to be commended for proposing a policy that incentivizes performance testing consistent with the nationally relevant protocols of the Technology Acceptance Protocol- Ecology (TAPE) and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), encourages innovation within the stormwater BMP space, and rewards solutions with robust total phosphorus (TP) removal data by increasing the TP cap from 50 to 65%.

2) The proposed guidance still lacks critical MTD sizing information. We recommend the Department explicitly reference the published hydraulic loading rate (HLR) from TAPE or NJDEP when approving technologies for use. This will help ensure solutions are sized in accordance with their referenced testing. 

3) Contech recommends  the Department reduce the TP credit for solutions maintaining laboratory only Total Suspended Solids (TSS) data from 40 to 30%. There is no technical justification that 80% TSS reductions determined a via laboratory test will result in 40% TP reductions. Implementing this recommendation would also incentivize field monitoring where TP reductions can be best quantified.

4) Contech understands why DEQ has included a case-by-case clause for solutions not maintaining TAPE or NJDEP Certification. However, we would caution the Department from deviating the established protocols. Making exceptions potentially undermines the process since solutions not tested to TAPE or NJDEP may have a sizing advantage that seemingly makes them cheaper and more appealing to end users versus those that have been robustly tested. That advantage often comes at the expense of being less protective of water quality. The TAPE and NJDEP Protocols are widely recognized as the most robust field and laboratory-based protocols across the country. Both stand as the foundation for the national BMP testing verification protocol, known as the Stormwater Testing and Evaluation for Products and Practices (STEPP), currently being developed. STEPP is supported by the National Municipal Stormwater Alliance (NMSA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), TAPE, NJDEP, American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), Water Research Foundation (WRF), Stormwater Equipment Manufacturers Association (SWEMA), and others. It is essential to maintain a consistent evaluation process for all technologies to ensure a level playing field for all manufacturers.  

Moving forward, we urge the Department to fully adhere to the proposed guidance to avoid undermining the validity of the process. This new, stronger guidance document should create transparency, consistency, and clarity within the program as it pertains to the evaluation and approval of proprietary treatment solutions, and we applaud the Department for moving this forward. Please do not hesitate to contact me with additional questions concerning this issue. Thank you once again for the opportunity to comment. 

Sincerely, 

Jacob Dorman

Contech Engineered Solutions