US EPA Adopts General Storm Water NPDES Permit

US EPA has adopted a final storm water general NPDES permit for industrial facilities. This is a permit for industrial facilities like chemical or manufacturing plants that are not issued individual NPDES permits. This is not a permit for the discharge of process water that is generated during a plants' operations; this permit only addresses discharges of storm water (precipitation run off) from the parts of the plant property where the storm water could become polluted by chemicals, wastes, raw materials or other substances that are found at the plant.

The permit action was summarized by EPA as follows:

EPA Regions 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, and 10 today are finalizing EPA's NPDES general permit for stormwater discharges from industrial activity, also referred to as the Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP).The MSGP consists of thirty four (34) separate Regional EPA permits that may vary from each other based on State or Tribal water quality- based requirements. This permit replaces the existing permits that expired on October 30, 2005. As with the earlier permits, this permit authorizes the discharge of stormwater associated with industrial activities in accordance with the terms and conditions described therein. Industrial dischargers have the choice to seek coverage under an individual permit. An individual permit may be necessary if the discharger cannot meet the terms and conditions or eligibility requirements in the permit.

West Virginia is not covered by this permit. It has been delegated the authority from EPA to issue its own permits, including storm water permits for industrial facilities and construction run off. The industrial storm water permit, referred to as the multi-sector permit because it applies to multiple industrial activities, is current until March 31, 2009. At that time it is likely to be reissued and will probably contain permit terms similar to those in the new federal permit that is being approved today.

Nordhaus and Shellenberger Garner Environmental Honors From Time Magazine

Mike Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus have been selected as heroes of the environment by Time for their essay "The Death of Environmentalism" published last year and profiled in this blog earlier this year. Mike and Ted have put forward a convincing case for the proposition that focusing on the limitations imposed by environmentalism is a dead end, and that the movement must emphasize responsible ways (i.e., renewable resources) to generate the power that society needs to function at its current level and provide for future growth.

See the article in Time magazine.

Disclaimer - Mike is my cousin. He's the guy in the black shirt.

Is Butanol the Fuel of the Future?

I was interviewing a DEP inspector about underground storage tanks the other day and he got up on what must be his favorite soapbox - butanol as a substitute for gasoline and a replacement for ethanol. He said butanol is more energy dense than ethanol, isn't as corrosive to pipelines and certain plastics, and does everything except drive the car for you. I was a little skeptical, not having heard of the stuff before, and wondered if it wasn't one of those chimeras, like the cars that run on water. (You know, the ones the car companies are holding all the patents for.) But when I looked on the web, it appears that such mainstays of industry as BP and Du Pont are working with it. Take a look at the fact sheet they've put out, and butanol.com and an interview with Phillip New, president of BP Biofuels. Follow the string of comments following the interview, and you'll see that it can be made from coal at competitive prices, which warms the heart cockles of this Mountain Stater.

WV Nature Conservancy Hosts Corporate Council Dinner

The Nature Conservancy is an environmental organization that everyone can support. Instead of asking government to use its coercive powers to acquire and set aside land for public use, it solicits contributions in order to pay fair market value for property, and then manages it, or gives or sells the land to public institutions for the benefit of all. It also is involved in innovative programs to purchase conservation easements on property, which allows the land to be constructively used as a ranch, farm or timberland, but in a way that protects the natural ecosystem.

The WV chapter of the Nature Conservancy had its annual Corporate Council diner on September 18, and it was a very nice affair. Read about it in this Gazette article.

Consider contributing.

Former Charleston Resident Becomes National Environmental Law Expert

In the "local boy makes good" we see that Michael Gerrard has become a nationally known environmental lawyer.

DEP Drops Water Quality Standard Changes

Officials at the WV DEP have confirmed that they have withdrawn changes to the water quality standards, 47 CSR 2, that were proposed in June. Those changes would have clarified that all water bodies in the state are to be treated as public water supplies, and then would have set up a system for removing that use on very small streams during the permit issuance process. Industry groups had welcomed the DEP's proposal to address use designations through the permitting process, but were opposed to designating all streams as public water supplies. Such a designation greatly increases the permitting burden on state industries, and calls into question the ability of the state to remove the uses during the permit issuance process. Industry groups had proposed that the DEP not designate all streams as public water supplies, and instead require all permit applicants to prove that there was no public water supply that would be affected by the permitted discharge. That would provide protection to public water supplies, and at the same time relieve permittees of having to remove the public water supply use, which is a long and involved process.

The DEP decided to withdraw the rule changes on the grounds that industry was so opposed to the amendments. Presumably the DEP will continue to impose Category A (public water supply) criteria in all permits, even though the water quality standards rule does not provide a basis for doing so. This sets up another battle over Category A use application in a permit appeal, where apparently the DEP believes it will have a greater chance of success.

Coal Bed Methane Industry to See Effluent Limitations Guidelines Development

Coal bed methane (CBM) development is a large - and growing - growing segment of natural gas operations in West Virginia. It captures methane that can be used as natural gas, while providing a protection for underground coal miners. Methane presents the risk of explosion underground, and removing the gas in advance of mining is a safety benefit. However, the production of CBM produces large quantities of water, which has to be discharged somewhere. One option is to truck the water to an underground injection control (UIC) well, but that can be expensive. The preferred route is to discharge it to the nearest stream, but that requires a permit, and water treatment can be costly.

For certain industries, EPA investigates wastewater treatment options and develops effluent limitations guidelines or ELGs that detail how much pollution that industry can be expected to remove from the wastewater. All dischargers are then expected to treat their wastewater to those levels, or even lower if necessary to meet water quality standards. EPA has recently announced that it will be calculating ELGs for the coal bed methane industry during the coming year, as described below. Once developed, the ELGs will be used to write permits for CBM well discharges.


3) EPA Publishes its 2008 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan EPA published its final 2008 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan in the Federal Register today. Effluent guidelines are industry specific national regulations that control the discharge of pollutants to surface waters and to publicly owned treatment works. The Plan announces that EPA will conduct focused detailed reviews in 2009 and 2010 for the steam electric power generating industry; the coalbed methane extraction portion of the oil and gas extraction industry; and unused pharmaceutical disposal in the health services industry. EPA has already initiated a study on pharmaceutical disposal practices at health care facilities, such as hospitals, hospices, long-term care facilities, and veterinary hospitals. A draft information collection request on unused pharmaceuticals management in the health service industry was published in the Federal Register in August for comment. The preliminary effluent guideline plan was published for public comment in October 2007.

To see a copy of the Federal Register notice and other related documents, visit EPA's web site at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/guide/304m/ . Contact Carey Johnston at 202-566-1014 or email him at johnston.carey@epa.gov for more information about the 2008 Plan.