August 15, 2001 Summer Board Meeting - Central States Water ...

The Wisconsin Section
Central States
Water Environment Association
Wisconsin Section CSWEA
Committee Reports
August 15, 2001
Treasurer’s Report – Tom Sigmund
Report to be provided at the Board Meeting on August 15.
Trustee’s Report – Carol Strackbein, Trustee
This will summarize the activities of the Central States Board Meeting held on May 16,
2001.
1. Stockholm Junior Water Prize: The Board of Directors feels this is a worthwhile
activity and feels that the Public Education Committee should get more involved in
getting participation from the schools. If you will remember, a Minnesota student won
this prize a few years ago. It is very prestigious for both the member association and
the student who wins. Attached is an article from WEF HIGHLIGHTS about this year’s
winner.
The Board would like ideas, suggestions, etc., from the Public Education Committee on
how to best handle the nominations for this activity.
2. Membership Directory: The Board of Directors is considering the publication of a
CSWEA membership directory. This has been talked about for a while and it looks
like to may finally happen. More to follow
3. An Ad-Hoc Committee consisting of Ken Johnson, Dave Lane, Dan Lynch and Eric
Leucuyer, has been formed to find a replacement for Al Rae as Secretary Treasurer.
A new job description has been prepared. An ad will be placed in the next issue of
the WISILLMINN.
4. The CSWEA Statements of Policy have been revised. Attached is a copy for Tom
Sigmund. This information is also on the CSWEA Website.

5. Scott Trotter is planning the CSWEA Reception during WEFTEC. It will be held on
Sunday, October 14, 2001 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel. The reception will be from
5:00 P.M. until 7:00 P.M. Scott is seeking donations from various organizations to
help support this function.
6. Scott Trotter is also on the Local Arrangements Committee for the 2002 WEFTEC
Conference in Chicago. He is seeking volunteers to work in the Local Arrangements
booth in Atlanta. Anyone interested should contract him at 630 587-0470.
7. Student Chapters have been approved by the WEF for UW Stevens Point.
8. The CSWEA Education Seminar was very successful. The profit dollars was
$5,800.00. 202 people registered.
9. The CSWEA Conference in LaCrosse was also a success. The Local Arrangement
committee did a great job. The registration total 136 full registrations, 80 exhibitor
registrations, 17 guests, 6 retirees, 3 students, 16 for Monday only and 33 for
Tuesday only, with a total of 311 people attending. The goal was to realize a profit
of $15,000. The actual profit amount was $18,592.
10. Section Chairs and Committee Chairs are encouraged to submit material to Scott
Thompson for the CSWEA Website. The suggested use of the Web site is to report
meeting minutes, activities, etc. The Boards is also requesting written reports be
submitted to Al Rae for inclusion in the WISILLMINN.
11. The WEF is updating their Ten States Standard design. They are looking for
volunteers to serve on the committee to upgrade these documents
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Carol Strackbein
Wisconsin Section Trustee
No Report was received.
WWOA Liaison’s Report – Judy Tholen, Liaison

Collection System – Mike Spence, Chair
Recent Activities:
• The 14 th Annual Collection System Seminar was held on Thursday, June 7 in
Watertown. It was well attended with 213 registrants and 37 exhibitors. The final
numbers are being confirmed. There will be a profit of over $2000.
Planned Activities:
• Tentative committee meeting set up for the week of 10/3/01 at the WWOA to discuss
nominations for the Golden Manhole Award and Collection System Award;
• Committee meeting to discuss award nominations and next year’s seminar;
Government Affairs – Rusty Schroedel, Chair
The Government Affairs Committee participates with the organization of the annual Government
Affairs Seminar and tracks and notifies the Wisconsin Section membership of regulatory and
legislative issues that could impact the members. The following summarizes each of those
activities. Attached is a listing of committee members.
Government Affairs Seminar
Next year’s meeting is scheduled for February 28, 2002, at the same location, the Marriott
Madison West Hotel in Middleton. Secretary Bazzell agreed to speak next year on his 1st
anniversary on the job
Regulatory and Legislative Issues
A list of items being tracked and the committee member conditionally tracking that item is listed
below.
DNR Ammonia Committee – Jim Smith
PCB Soil Criteria – Dave Taylor
COM 83 – Phil Korth
Stormwater, CSOs, SSOs – Brandon Koltz
Non-Point Program Redesign – Tom Foltz
Nutrient Criteria (National) – Dave Taylor
NR 101 Fees – Chad Olson
Paul Kent has begun to participate and has provided information on a number of topics.
Brandon Koltz of Triad Engineering has replaced Ed Manning.

Other topics planned for tracking in the future are: TMDLs
Reports were received from Dave Taylor, Paul Kent, and Chad Olson.
Information on the Wisconsin Section Web Site
Rusty Schroedel has worked with Scott Thompson regarding getting the Committee reports on
the Web Site. A format has been tentatively selected and will be populated with data shortly.
PCB Soil Criteria Update
Draft criteria have been proposed for both human and ecological receptors. The human
health receptor results in the most limiting criteria. As currently proposed, the soil
criteria would be so low (0.1 to 0.3 parts per billion) that land application in Wisconsin
would be severely impacted and/or eliminated as a biosolids management option. The
current rulemaking schedule calls for the DNR to seek authorization from the Natural
Resources Board at its October meeting to take the proposed rule to public hearings.
Actual dates for the hearings need to be established, but DNR is currently looking at the
December/January timeframe.
Concerns regarding the derivation of the proposed criteria remain the same. From a
technical standpoint, criteria derivation is driven by the use of very conservative
exposure assumptions, coupled with a risk level of 10 -7 . While POTW representatives
on the DNR Advisory Committee have highlighted these concerns, there has been little
movement to address these issues.
Wisconsin Section members participating on the PCB Soil Criteria Advisory Committee
continue to advocate for the use of good science, reasonable exposure scenarios,
selection of an appropriate risk level, and the appropriate use of risk management
during the criteria development process. Absent significant changes, this rulemaking
effort will have significant economic impacts to the regulated community. POTWs
should continue to track the progress of this effort and be prepared to participate during
the public hearings.
National Nutrient Criteria
EPA has developed recommended criteria for TP, TN, Chlorophyll a and turbidity.
Notice of these criteria was published in the January 9, 2001 Federal Register. EPA
established a 90-day public comment period for these recommended criteria-the public
comment period was subsequently extended by 30 days and ended on May 9, 2001.
The criteria are intended as a starting point - States may either adopt these criteria or
develop more precise numeric levels (based on sound science) on a site-specific or sub
region-specific basis. States are expected to develop associated water quality
standards by 2004. The nutrient documents can be found at the following website:
http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/criteria/nutrient/ecoregions/factsheet.html
The EPA recommended criteria are very restrictive and are based on 25 th percentile
concentrations. For the ecoregion that encompasses most of Wisconsin, the TP, TN
and Chlorophyll a values for rivers and streams are 0.03 mg/l, 0.54 mg/l and 3.5 ìg/l

espectively. These are extremely restrictive numbers and would place a significant
burden on point dischargers. They would also drive the TMDL process.
State regulators, including representatives from the Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources have expressed significant concerns about the proposed criteria. Major
concerns include: 1) lack of scientific linkages between the proposed criteria and
designated uses, 2) lack of scientific linkages between the proposed criteria and
ecological endpoints, 3) inadequate timeline for states that choose to develop state
specific criteria, 4) selection of response variables, and 5) the role of Gulf of Mexico
hypoxia in driving criteria derivation. States have flexibility to develop their own criteria.
Therefore, it will be extremely important to work closely with DNR to ensure that they
pursue a state-specific approach and follow a reasonable, scientifically valid process
when developing criteria.
Ammonia Advisory Committee
No report.
CSO
No report.
SSO
As part of the budget, the SSO ban is out.
Storm Water
No report.
NR 101 Fees
In the last report, it was noted that the NR101 rule was revised in the fall of 1999. The
State Legislature directed the DNR to remove the revenue target of $7.49 M/year and
freeze the adjustment factor. The adjustment factor was used by the DNR to insure
they collected the $7.49M. As pollutant loadings dropped, the adjustment factor went
up.
Robert Weber of the Permits Process and Facility Management Section of the DNR was
contacted on August 7 for an update on the fees. Robert mentioned that when the
legislature froze the adjustment factor, they also increased the target revenue to $7.95
M/year. This was used to calculate the final adjustment factor. The billings that went
out this year fell short of the $7.95 M target. The DNR will collect around $7.6 M this
year.
If current trends towards lower pollutant loadings continue, the revenue collected
through NR101 fees will decrease.
COM 83
Comm83 appeal was filed.

Industrial Waste – Randy Wirtz, Chair
Since the last Board meeting in May, the Industrial Waste Committee has accomplished the
following committee initiatives:
• Promotion of the annual Industrial Environmental Achievement Award
• Tracking of proposed rule developments
Each of these topics are discussed below.
Industrial Environmental Achievement Award
To promote this award, we have identified various publications that industrial members of
CSWEA would have regular exposure to, including the CSWEA website and WISILLMINN, the
WWOA website and The Clarifier, and the Federation of Environmental Technologists’
newsletter (ENVIRONOTES). Each of these professional organizations were contacted to
inquire about having the award summary and notice published. All three organizations
indicated that the notice and summary would be published on their websites and/or their
respective publications in summer or fall.
Rule Developments
The Industrial Waste Committee tracks proposed rules and regulations that could affect our
industrial members.
Proposed Metal Products and Machinery (MP&M) Rule
The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register in early January, 2001, and comments
were originally due at EPA by May 3, 2001. The comment deadline was extended to July 2,
2001, because of the number and extent of comments made prior to the original deadline. An
August 2-3, 2001 meeting in Washington, D.C. was scheduled with EPA, AMSA representatives,
and industry representatives to discuss suggested changes to the rule. AMSA and the industrial
representatives are pushing to have the rule dropped completely. It appears likely that the final
rule, if promulgated, will be significantly different than the proposed rule. EPA has indicated
that they will release a notice of data availability in January 2002, which will include data and
comments from industry, as well as new data collected by EPA.
Please refer to the May 2001 Industrial Committee Report for details on the proposed MP&M
Rules. The rules can also be viewed on EPA’s website at
http://www.epa.gov/ost/guide/mpm/index.html.
Proposed Mercury Rule
This excerpt was downloaded from DNR’s website:
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/news/on/index.htm#art1

A proposed rule limiting mercury emissions into the air from coal-fired power plants and other
sources will be the subject of three public informational meetings coming up in early
September. The proposed rule would cut mercury emissions by 30 percent within five years, 50
percent in 10 years and 90 percent in 15 years from four electric utilities in the state with
significant mercury emissions.
In June, the Natural Resources Board authorized public hearings on the rule and directed DNR
staff to gather citizen feedback on several alternatives to portions of the rule pertaining to the
amount and timetable for mercury reduction and emission offsets or other requirements for
new mercury sources. The board also amended the proposal to include evaluation reports every
18 months from DNR staff on scientific and technological developments that could affect a
facility's ability to control or reduce mercury emissions in the future.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will be drafting mercury emissions rules that would
go into effect in 2004.
The informational meetings on the proposed state mercury reduction rule will be held 4:30 to
7:30 p.m. on:
• Wednesday, Sept. 5, Eau Claire - Chippewa Valley Technical College, Auditorium
#M103, 620 W. Clairemont Avenue;
• Thursday, Sept. 6, Rhinelander - James Williams Jr. High School Auditorium, 915 Acacia
Lane;
• Tuesday, Sept. 11, Milwaukee - DNR Havenwoods State Forest Auditorium, 6141 N.
Hopkins.
Public hearings on the proposed mercury rule will be held: Sept. 26 in Eau Claire; Sept. 27 in
Rhinelander; Oct. 1 in Milwaukee; Oct. 2 in Appleton; and Oct. 3 in Madison.
Other DNR Initiatives
1. Green Tier Legislation in the Wisconsin budget, program for companies going beyond
compliance, Mike Hammers at DNR
Hammers, Michael D. (WT-Madison); 608-267-7640; hammem@dnr.state.wi.us
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/cea/green_tier/
2. Ammonia advisory committee for WPDES, Rick Reichert at DNR
Reichardt, Richard N. (WT-Madison); 608-267-7894; reichr@dnr.state.wi.us
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/water/wm/ww/Policies/ammonia.htm 7-1-97
3. Thermal Rule, new advisory committee for temperature limits, Bob Masnado at DNR
Masnado, Robert G. (WT-Madison); 608-267-7662; masnar@dnr.state.wi.us
4. Permit Streamlining – electronic reporting, EDI Pilot Study, Bob Weber at DNR
Weber, Robert H. (WT-Madison); 608-266-7721; weberr@dnr.state.wi.us

Membership – Mike Gerbitz, Chair
No report was received.
Operations – Joe Mandala/Bill Marten, Chairs
• Mailed confirmation letters and Wisconsin Section Travel/Expense Policy to the
three WI-Section CSWEA members who will be participating in the Operations
Challenge 2001 in Atlanta, Georgia.
• WI-Section CSWEA Operations Challenge 2001 participants:
Frank Bonney Bruce Bartel Brian Helminger
Green Bay MSD Green Bay MSD Wolf Treatment Plant
Shawano, WI.
Public Education – Max Anderson, Chair
The Public Education Committee has had no activity in the last three months.
No report was received.
No report was received.
No report was received.
Safety – Ari Mathos, Chair
Watershed Management - Mike Doran, Chair
Ad-hoc Strategic Planning – Dan Busch, Chair
Student Activities – Dr. Aga Razvi, Chair
No report was received.
Public Awareness – Vacant, Chair
No report was received.
Spring Biosolids Symposium – Jay Kemp, Chair

No report was received.
Water/Wastewater Education Association – Rusty Schroedel, Chair
No report was received.