United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Public Awareness
Washington, D.C. 20460
September 1977
Residuals Management
and Water Pollution
Control Planning
-------
America's economic growth
is a story of wealth and
waste. Americans are the
world's most economically
productive people—the
trillion dollar GNP is now a
yearly event. And we are
the world's most prolific
producers of solid waste,
more than seven billion tons
of it every year. In the past
we largely ignored these
by-products of our prosper-
ity, burying or abandoning
them as if the earth could
harmlessly absorb this mas-
sive load forever. Now we
know better. Solid wastes,
also known as residuals,
pollute our waters, squander
valuable resources, threaten
health, and insult our sen-
sibilities.
-------
A National Water
Pollution Control
Program
"-
r
!
=7
rf
v'l
0
In 1972 Americans
entered a new period in
protecting the Nation's
waters with enactment of
Public Law 92-500—the Fed-
eral Water Pollution Control
Act Amendments (FWPCAA).
A cooperative program be-
tween Federal and State
governments, it is an am-
bitious and exacting effort
to halt the growing de-
terioration of the country's
water quality, including pol-
lution of water associated
with solid wastes.
Public Law 92-500 created,
for the first time, a national
water pollution control pro-
gram, The law covers all
navigable waters of the
United States and has two
broad purposes:
• By July 1983, to achieve,
wherever possible, water
clean enough to permit
swimming and other recrea-
tional uses and to protect
fish, shellfish, and wildlife.
• By 1985, to eliminate
the discharge of any pol-
lutants into the Nation's
navigable waters.
The program contains
several major elements. It
expands State responsibilities
for setting water quality
standards designed to
achieve the 1983
national goal of "fishable
and swimmable waters." The
law creates a national per-
mit program to limit pol-
lutants discharged by in-
dustry and municipalities
into navigable waterways. It
creates "national perform-
ance standards," applicable
to all industrial and muni-
cipal dischargers, which
establish minimum effluent
treatment methods. State
and Federal governments
are required to control "non-
point" pollution— that is,
diffuse sources of water
pollution such as storm-
water runoff, sedimentation,
and agricultural wastes. The
law creates a comprehen-
sive planning program at
four levels to assure future
control of water pollution:
municipal, areawide, State,
and regional. Most major
programs have compliance
deadlines. Finally, the law
strongly encourages the
control and reuse of solid
wastes associated with water
pollution. The effective
management of these wastes
is essential to achieving the
broad goals of the new na-
tional program.
-------
208 Planning
Nonpoint Pollution
One of the most important
programs in Public Law 92-
500 is Areawide Waste
Treatment Management, de-
scribed in Section 208. This
program, unique in Federal
pollution legislation, is
charged with developing a
special strategy to deal with
the complex pollution prob-
lems found both in urban-
industrial areas and else-
where in a given State. The
208 program requires State
and local governments to
work witfi EPA in planning
and carrying out a variety of
measures to identify, con-
trol, and reduce water pol-
lution sources.
From the time its pre-
liminary arrangements are
approved by EPA, each 208
State and areawide agency
has two years to draw up
a water quality management
plan for each designated
area. This planning proce-
dure is fully funded by Fed-
eral grants. The plans must
accomplish specific goals.
These include:
A. Identifying all wastes
generated in the area and all
treatment works necessary
to handle municipal and in-
dustrial wastes over the
next 20 years;
B; Analyzing proposed alter-
native treatment systems,
land acquisition needs,
and the necessary collection
and storm sewer systems, as
well as developing a
strategy for financing all
elements of the treatment
system;
C. Developing a regulatory
program to control the
modification and construction
of municipal treatment
works, ensuring that any
industrial discharges enter-
ing these facilities meet
pretreatment standards, and
identifying the agencies re-
sponsible for such regulation;
and
D. Creating procedures to
control nonpoint sources of
pollution, saltwater intru-
sion, the disposal of all
wastes (including solid
wastes in landfills), and
the disposal of sewage
sludge.
These 208 plans must be
compatible with other State
and local water resource
plans required by Public Law
92-500.
Governors must identify the
agencies responsible for
implementing the 208 plans
after .their completion. The
agencies are responsible for
continually updating and
modifying these plans to
achieve the objectives of
Section 208. The test of the
program's success will be the
feasibility of its plans. The
program aims to translate
Federal and State water
quality standards into work-
able management strategies.
Public Law 92-500 requires
that all water quality man-
agement plans created under
Section 208 contain provi-
sions for controlling nonpoint
pollution sources or activi-
ties. State and areawide 208
agencies must identify all
the sources of such pollution
within their jurisdiction and
set feasible procedures and
methods to control them.
The plans must specifically
deal with:
1. Agriculture and silvicul-
ture (forest management);
2. Mine-related wastes;
3. Construction; and
4. All other wastes that
could affect water quality.
Beyond this, in order to
protect ground and surface
water quality, the law also
requires that the plans
provide for regulating the
disposal of pollutants on
land—a provision that may
include nonpoint pollution
sources not specifically
identified elsewhere in the
law.
The Resources Conservation
Recovery Act.
Late in 1976, Congress
enacted a new solid waste
management law which is
likely to influence the 208
program. The legislation,
called the Resource Con-
servation and Recovery Act,
requires that EPA work with
-------
Residuals and Water
Quality
State and local governments
to achieve more effective
national waste control. By
June, 1978, the generation,
transportation, and disposal
of all wastes identified by
the EPA as hazardous must
be regulated by permits
issued through the States or
the EPA.
The law also requires the
States to prohibit the land
disposal of solid wastes
except in sanitary landfills
after October, 1983. Other
provisions require States to
create plans for areawide
management of solid wastes
and for resource recovery
where such planning is
appropriate. Federal grants
are authorized for planning
and implementing this
program. The goals of this
new law are complementary
to the approaches to waste
management under Section
208. Elements of the new
program may become part of
the 208 planning process; in
this case, some 208 State
and areawide agencies may
assume the responsibility
for planning and implement-
ing parts of this new
program.
EPA defines residuals as
"those solid, liquid, or
sludge substances from
man's activities in the urban,
industrial, agricultural, and
mining environment not
discharged to water after
collection and necessary
treatment." Residuals is a
particularly apt term for
such pollutants because they
are leftovers. They may also
be called solid waste
although some residuals
(sedimentation, for instance)
do not accumulate in large
waste piles where they may
be easily discovered and
examined. One common
form of residual is familiar
to almost all Americans:
the materials ending up in
the trash barrel and garbage
dump. Most, however, are
unseen or ignored by the
average citizen—the sludges
resulting from wastewater
treatment, for example.
Residuals directly affect
present or future water
quality in many of the
Nation's most populous
areas. Their control will be
an important—and some-
times crucial—component
in many 208 plans. Public
Law 92-500 requires the
regulation of residuals in
water quality management
plans whenever this waste is
likely to degrade water
quality.
The law spells out specific
requirements for 208
planning agencies in this
respect. For example, no
sludge from a municipal
treatment plant that would
affect water quality may be
disposed of without an EPA
permit. Agencies must
identify and control farm,
silviculture, mine, and
construction wastes con-
tributing to water quality
deterioration. They must
also create processes to
control disposal of residual
waste and pollutants on land
or in excavations to protect
water quality.
This concern with residuals
stems from an awareness
of their great pollution
potential. Sewage sludge,
for instance, can be a
potent water contaminant.
When untreated sewage
sludge is deposited in land-
fills (even in high quality
sanitary landfills), a multi-
tude of contaminants,
including nitrogen com-
pounds, coliform bacteria,
and other organic materials,
may leach into the soil and
subsurface waters or affect
surface water through runoff.
Methane gas from the
decomposition of organics
in sludge may accumulate.
Various toxics and pathogenic
agents may breed in a
decaying landfill and threaten
public health. Sewage solids
dumped at sea may contain
pathogenic agents which
contaminate shellfish.
Waste in landfills is more
-------
Types of Residuals
than aesthetically repellent;
rain, snow, and surface
waters may wash from such
debris a multitude of con-
taminants—including
bacteria and viruses, sus-
pended solids, nutrients,
metals, pesticides, and
persistent organic toxic
compounds—all of which
can find their way into
rivers, streams, and lakes.
The need to control mine
wastes, another major
source of water degradation,
will become increasingly
imperative because surface
mining for coal will vastly
expand in the next decade.
The spoil produced from
coal surface mining contains
many pollutants: iron
pyrite ("fool's gold") that
dissolves in surface and
subsurface waters to pro-
duce sulfuric acid; heavy
sedimentation, which creates
turbidity and increases the
danger of flooding by
lowering the carrying
capacity of stream beds-, and
various ferrous compounds,
which poison plant and
animal life.
Waste Treatment Sludges
Sludges are solids removed
from waste water in com-
munity treatment plants that
must be further treated to
remove many harmful
organisms.
Sometimes they are treated
anaerobically by bacteria
which "digest" the sludge
and remove most of the
dangerous organisms. The
harmful elements, together
with most of the water, also
may be removed by air
drying or vacuum filtration
in large drying drums.
After it has been detoxified,
the sludge either may be
removed to a sanitary
landfill, recycled in the
water treatment system
itself, used for land recla-
mation, deposited in waste
disposal ponds, dumped in
the ocean far offshore, or
incinerated.
Residential and Commercial
Wastes
These include glass, plastic
and metal containers, food
remnants, paper products,
toothpaste tubes, discarded
appliances, auto bodies,
food industry processed
wastes, and many other
products. Most of these
solid wastes are deposited in
landfills, incinerated, or
hauled to sea and dumped.
-------
Industrial Sludges and
Processed Wastes
Many industries treat their
own waste waters and
generate sludges. Industrial
processed wastes also may
include paper pulp, cinders,
fly ash, combustible and
noncombustible solids, toxic
chemicals, metal scraps,
lumber, used containers,
and other materials.
Agriculture solid wastes
The largest volume of non-
point pollution in the
United States is the refuse
from agriculture. Feedlots,
pastures, grazing land, and
other areas of animal hus-
bandry produce enormous
amounts of metabolic waste.
Much of the fertilizer used
in agriculture dissolves in
runoff waters; plant debris,
silviculture materials, herbi-
cides, and other sources
produce significant solid
wastes. Even though these
activities may not occur in
urban areas, the materials
carried from them by
surface and underground
waters may affect urban
water quality.
Mine wastes
Mining, particularly surface
mining, affects water
quality adversely through
sedimentation, the disrup-
tion of underground water
systems, and the contamina-
tion of streams, lakes, and
rivers by acid drainage
from exposed mining
wastes.
Sedimentation
Heavy sedimentation is
caused by soil cultivation,
timber cutting, strip mining,
overgrazed pastures, road
building and other con-
struction activity. A con-
struction site, for instance,
may contribute 2,000 times
more sediment than forested
terrain and 200 times more
than grassland.
-------
A Growing Problem
Recovered Resources
In 1972, waste treatment
facilities in the United
States were producing
sludge at a rate of about
4,700,000 dry tons a year;
by 1985, this figure will rise
to 6,655,000 tons. Process-
ing and disposing of these
sludges accounts for more
than half the annual
operating and maintenance
costs of most wastewater
treatment facilities. About
a third of the capital cost
of the average waste treat-
ment facility can be attri-
buted to sludge manage-
ment equipment. Most of
this cost is ultimately borne
by taxpayers. Since most
communities have given
little attention in the past
to recycling sludges or
otherwise realizing some
income from their reuse,
this public investment in
sludge management has
seldom produced its full
potential return. As the
number and efficiency of
community treatment
facilities increase, sludge
will constitute a steadily
rising cost factor in com-
munity waste management
programs.
Residential and commercial
wastes also grow. The
Nation's municipalities cur-
rently spend more than $5
billion yearly to haul away
and process these wastes.
These wastes, amounting to
almost 17 times the volume
of sludges produced in
waste treatment facilities
have seldom been managed
imaginatively or efficiently.
Customarily, they are hauled
to landfills or buried at
sea. Land for waste disposal,
however, is becoming in-
creasingly scarce and costly
and sea disposal poses
environmental problems.
Past management of
sludges and solid wastes
has imposed a double cost.
There is the tangible treat-
ment cost and also a lost
income—in money, reusable
materials, and energy—
when these residuals are not
recycled. One attractive
alternative to ocean dumping
or landfilling for waste
treatment sludges might be
their reuse as fertilizer.
Sludges sometimes can be
used for agriculture pur-
poses because they contain
useful plant nutrients such
as nitrogen, phosphorous,
and potassium. Some types
of sludge may not be
suitable for this purpose
because they contain
contaminants. The cost of
preparing sludge as
fertilizer may be prohibitive
in some instances, but the
possibilities have seldom
been explored.
The recovery value in
community garbage is
potentially great. EPA
estimates that from the 134
million tons of refuse
thrown away by Americans
each year, the following
materials could be reclaimed:
• 11.3 million tons of iron
and steel
• 860,000 tons of aluminum
• 430,000 tons of other
metals (mostly copper)
• 13 million tons of glass
-------
Managing
Residuals: A "Best
Management" Plan
• burnable organic mate-
rials equal to one-half
million barrels of crude oil,
or roughly 70% of the
annual estimated yield of
the Alaskan North Slope oil
reserves.
The potential energy re-
coverable in common
garbage is particularly
notable when the Nation is
becoming concerned about
the future availability of
fossil fuels and other
energy sources. Not only can
energy be generated by
burning organic materials in
garbage, but some metals
can be obtained from
residuals with less energy
expenditure than is required
for the initial mining and re-
fining. For example, it takes
20 times as much energy
to get a pound of aluminum
from bauxite ore as from
urban solid waste; a ton of
steel obtained from recycled
municipal waste requires
almost three-quarters less
electric power to produce
than the same amount pro-
duced from iron ore.
Often, there are practical
difficulties in recycling resi-
dential and commercial
wastes. Recycling is by no
means a panacea to be
prescribed for every com-
munity seeking better ways
of waste management. How-
ever, many urban areas are
successfully recycling
refuse. The City of San
Diego recycles 200 tons of
refuse daily,- through a
combustion process called
"pyrolysis" it obtains one
barrel of fuel oil from an
average ton of refuse and,
additionally, recovers 140
pounds of ferrous metals
and 120 pounds of glass. St.
Louis, Missouri, is convert-
ing much of its municipal
waste into electricity. Some-
times a joint effort between
government and industry
can produce effective re-
cycyling. The Boston North
Shore System at Saugus,
Massachusetts, burns 1,200
tons of refuse a day to gen-
erate steam. A private
company built and operates
the plant, which receives
refuse from 10 municipalities
under contract to produce
a regular supply of com-
bustible solid waste. Urban
areas, especially, often
generate the large volume of
solid wastes and achieve
the economies of scale nec-
essary to make solid waste
recycling attractive. This
is particularly significant
when considering recycling
for residuals management
in 208 planning.
Confronted with many kinds
of residual wastes and a
multitude of possible man-
agement strategies, 208
planners face an imposing
problem: What procedures
should be chosen? If
control strategies for specific
residuals are combined in
different ways, the range of
options will seem formid-
able. However, regulations
developed to implement
Public Law 92-500 some-
what simplify this task by
providing some guidelines.
EPA regulations require
that EPA and the States work
together with 208 agencies
to develop the "best man-
agement practice" (BMP)
for residuals. A BMP is de-
fined as "a practice, or
combination of practices,
that is determined by a State
(or a State or areawide 208
agency) after problem
assessment, examination of
alternative practices, and
appropriate public participa-
tion to be the most effec-
tive, practicable means of
preventing or reducing the
amount of pollution gen-
erated by nonpoint sources
to a level compatible with
water quality standards."
This means that any
residuals management
strategy developed under
208 planning must meet at
least four general tests:
-------
The Citizen's Part
1. It should manage pollu-
tion generated by nonpoint
sources;
2. It should be compatible
with water quality goals;
3. It should effectively
prevent or reduce pollution;
and
4. It should be practicable—
that is, it should be designed
with careful attention to
technological, economic, and
institutional factors.
As a practical matter, it
should be able to meet the
following objectives:
A. Reduction of water flows
by eliminating promiscuous,
illegal, or accidental dumping
of wastes and preventing
surface and ground water
contamination from existing
or planned land disposal
operations.
B. Development of the most
economical disposal plan.
C. Stabilization of wastes.
D. Reduction, recovery, and
recycling.
E. Assure that the institu-
tions will have proper
authority, jurisdiction, per-
sonnel, and financing and
that charges for residual
waste disposal are related
to the benefits of the
services.
Best management plans will
vary because communities
have different problems and
varying means for solving
them. One community may
reduce sewage sludge by
selling a portion of it for
commercial or farm use;
another may find it more
practical to dry, detoxify,
and haul the sludge to a
sanitary landfill. Both
solutions may meet the
BMP criteria.
EPA encourages innovation,
flexibility, and imagination
in the development of BMP's
for residuals management.
Past experience should
not become the sole test
of proposed strategies. Exist-
ing arrangements, laws, or
governmental processes may
need to be changed to
permit improved practices.
Management strategies also
should encourage the flow
of accurate information to
the public and ample op-
portunity for public involve-
ment. Planners should have
an attitude of openness,
responsiveness, and concern
for creative approaches.
There are sound reasons
why Public Law 92-500 and
EPA regulations insist that
citizens be informed and
helped when participating
in the 208 planning process.
Citizens can make a valuable
contribution to residuals
management in several
ways-.
A. They can help define the
social impact of proposed
programs.
Citizens know their com-
munity culture, interests,
and sentiments. This insight
can be invaluable to planners
and public officials. Spe-
cifically, citizens can often
suggest:
• how much a community
is willing to pay, and how,
for residuals management;
-------
Who Should
Participate?
Getting Involved
• what alternatives are
preferred; and
• what "trade-offs" are
acceptable.
In short, citizen involvement
can keep the planning
process practical and
responsive to the com-
munity.
B. They can become an
articulate, active constituency
for a residuals management
program.
Once citizens understand
its importance, they can
often keep public officials
and planners alert to good
residuals management.
Elected officials are espe-
cially responsive to or-
ganized, vocal interests.
Without citizen activity, it is
easy for public officials and
planners to defer to other
problems.
C. They can help carry out
programs.
When citizens can contribute
to a residuals program, they
are more likely to support
it. Knowledgeable, con-
cerned citizens help assure
success.
Making such a contribution
requires more than activity
and interest. Citizens
need, first, to become in-
formed about the- residuals
problem in their community
and about the work of 208
planning agencies.
In nearly every community
there are business, profes-
sional, minority, environ-
mental, agricultural, service,
labor, public interest groups.
Contact with these groups
can often lead to communi-
cation with more special-
ized interests.
In any metropolitan area,
the number of groups af-
fected by the 208 program
will be large; in the Wash-
ington, D.C. metropolitan
area, for instance, the
areawide 208 agency has
identified 115 existing or-
ganizations with a potential
concern for local water
quality management. Al-
though it is unrealistic to
suppose that all organiza-
tions affected in some man-
ner by local water quality
programs will wish to par-
ticipate in the 208 program,
many will wish to be in-
formed about the program
and some, once contacted,
may develop an interest.
Whom Do I Contact?
One route to gain informa-
tion about public invove-
ment in residuals planning
is through the designated
State or areawide 208
agency. These agencies
must provide citizens with
this information. Citizens
will usually find the most
useful agency contacts to be
the Public Participation Co-
ordinator and the Citizens
Advisory Group.
Public Participation
Coordinator
Most agencies have a staff
member responsible for co-
ordinating public involve-
ment activity. This person
may be called the "Public
Participation Coordinator,"
"Public Involvement Officer,"
or something similar. This
individual can ordinarily pro-
vide considerable material
and other information.
Often he/she can direct
the citizen to others directly
related to the citizen's
interests.
Citizen Advisory Committee
This is composed of spokes-
persons for local interests.
Members whose job is to
evaluate the broad purposes,
alternatives, and procedures
for the 208 plan. This
committee commonly as-
sumes some responsibility
for encouraging and assist-
ing citizen involvement.
-------
10
A Final Word
Few things affect us more
directly than air and water
quality. Residuals planning,
like other elements in the
208 program, will help
to shape our future en-
vironment. For the first
time, this country has
embarked upon a deliberate,
ambitious effort to plan our
environmental future in a
manner that protects price-
less natural resources for
ourselves and coming gen-
erations. This will be a
difficult, lengthy, often con-
troversial, and costly en-
deavor. It is also an essen-
tial undertaking worthy of
our interest and par-
ticipation.
-------
Useful References
11
Federal Regulations and
Guidelines for public
involvement in the areawide
waste treatment management
program:
U.S. Environmental Protec-
tion Agency, Water Plan-
ning Division, Public Par-
ticipation Handbook for
Water Quality Management.
(Water Quality Management
Guidance Document 6-76-
02). 1976.
• Cost Analysis Handbook
for Section 208 Areawide
Waste Treatment Manage-
ment Planning, Federal
Assistance Application (May,
1975).
• Management Agencies
Handbook for Section 208
Areawide Waste Treatment
Management (September,
1975).
• Revised Area and Agency
Designation Handbook for
Section 208 Areawide
Water Quality Management
Planning (November, 1975).
• Revised Grant Application
and Work Plan Handbook
for Section 208 Areawide
Water Quality Management
(December, 1975).
• State Continuing Planning
Process Handbook (De-
cember, 1975).
• Draft Guidelines for State
and Areawide Water Quality
Management Program De-
velopment (February, 1976).
40 CFR, Part 105, Public
Participation in Water Pol-
lution Control.
40 CFR, Part 130, Policies
and Procedures for the State
Continuing Planning Process.
40 CFR, Part 131, Prepara-
tion of Water Quality Man-
agement Plans.
Strategies and Techniques for
successful participation:
League of Women Voters,
National Office. How To Be
Politically Effective.
The Conservation Founda-
tion National Headquarters.
Water Quality Training
Workshop Handbook (1974).
About the Federal Water
Pollution Control
Amendments of 1972:
The Conservation Founda-
tion National Headquarters.
Toward Clean Water.- A Guide
to Citizen Action.
Residuals Management:
U.S. Public Health Service.
Guidelines for Local Govern-
ments on Solid Waste
Management. Public Health
Service Publication No.
2084. Also available
through EPA, Office of
Solid Waste Management
(1971).
U.S. Environmental Pro-
tection Agency, Water
Quality Office. A Primer
on Waste Water Treatment
(March, 1976).
• Office of Solid Waste
Management. Developing a
Local and Regional Solid
Waste Management Plan
(1973).
U.S. Council on Environmental
Quality. Environmental
Quality: Annual Report. Is-
sued yearly in September
by the CEQ.
-------
12
Some Significant Terms
activated-sludge process-
use of biologically active
sewage sludge to hasten the
breakdown of organic matter in
raw sewage during secondary
treatment.
discharge of a pollutant—any
addition of any pollutant to
navigable waters from any point
source; any addition of any
pollutant to the waters of the
contiguous zone or the ocean
from any point source other than
a vessel.
effluent—a substance that
flows outlthe treated or
untreated liquid that flows out of
a waste treatment plant, a sewer,
or an industrial ouliall.
effluent limitation—any
restriction (including schedules
oi compliance) established by a
Stale or EPA on quantities, rates.
and concentrations of chemical.
physical, biological, and other
constituents which are
discharged from point sources
into navigable waters, the waters
of the contiguous zone, or the
ocean.
eutrophication—an aging
process in lakes, during which
the water becomes overly rich in
dissolved nutrients, resulting in
excessive development of algae
and other microscopic plants
causing a decline in levels of
dissolved oxygen (DO).
ground water—water in the
porous rocks and soils of the
Earth's crust: a large proportion
of the total supply of fresh water.
industrial user—any industry
that introduces pollutants into
public sewer systems and
whose wastes are treated by a
publicly-owned treatment
facility.
land disposal method —
advanced waste treatment that
uses soil, air, plants, and
bacteria to remove pollutants
from waste water. It includes
tour basic processes:
pretreatment to screen out large
solids: chlorination and
vegetation in the soil; spraying
over cropland where vegetation
and micro-organisms in the soil
remove additional pollutants;
and reclamation by wells or
drain tiles.
landfill—any land site to which
solid waste is hauled and
dumped. Many landfills are
neglected or poorly managed.
resulting in considerable
contamination of surface and
ground waters by runoff. Odors,
fires, vermin, and other
pathogenic agents may also
thrive in badly managed landfills.
navigable waters—the waters
of the United Slates, including •
Ihe territorial seas, and intrasiate
waters.
nonpoint source—any
unconfined area from which
pollutants are discharged into a
body of water, i.e.. agricultural
runoff, urban runoff, and
sedimentation from construction
sites.
performance standard—a level
of control for a given pollutant
from a given source as defined
by Ihe EPA. Public Law 92-500
requires the EPA to specify what
these "performance standards"
shall be for major dischargers of
pollutants inlo Ihe Nation's
navigable waters. A
performance standard must be
set by the EPA according to the
"best available demonstrated
control technology, process,
operating methods, or other
alternatives including, where
practicable, a standard
permitting no discharge of
pollutants."
permit—a legally binding
document issued by a State or
Federal permit agency to Ihe
owner or manager of a point
source discharge. The permit
document contains a schedule
of compliance requiring the
permit holder to achieve a
specified standard or limitation
(by constructing treatment
facilities or modifying plant
processes) by a specified date.
Permit documents also specify
monitoring and reporting
requirements to be conducted
by the applicant. All permits
issued are valid for a maximum
of five years.
point source—any discernible.
confined, and discrete
conveyance, including . . . any
pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel.
conduit, well, discrete
operations, or vessel, or other
floating era!!, from which
pollutants are or may be
discharged.
-------
pollution—(he man-made or
man-induced alteration of the
chemical, physical, biological,
and radiological integrity of
water making it less desirable for
the propagation of balanced
indigenous populations of fish,
for recreation, industry, or
wildlife uses.
pollutant—waste discharged
into water including: dredged
spoil, solid waste, incinerator
residue, sewage, garbage,
sewage sludge, munitions,
chemical wastes, biological
materials, radioactive materials.
heat, wrecked or discarded
equipment, rock, sand, cellar
dirt, and industrial, municipal.
and agricultural waste; but not
including, sewage discharged
from vessels nor material
injected into wells in connection
with the production of oil and
gas.
pretreatment—any process
used to reduce the pollutant load
before the waste is introduced
into a sewer system or delivered
to a treatment plant.
receiving waters—bodies of
water into which waste water
effluents are discharged.
river basin—one of 267 major
and minor basin areas drained
by a river and its tributaries.
sanitary landfill—a site, used
for the land disposal of refuse.
managed so thai nuisances or
hazards to public health and
safety are avoided. The refuse is
confined to the smallest
practical area, is reduced to the
smallest practical volume and is
covered with a layer of earth at
the conclusion of each day's
operation, or more frequently if
necessary. Such landfill usually
reduces the contamination of
surface and ground waters
resulting from waste disposal.
sewer—any pipe or conduit
used to carry sewage or storm
water to treatment plants or
receiving waters.
sewer, combined—sewer that
carries both waste water and
storm water.
sewer, interceptor—a sewer
which collects the sewage from
the main and trunk sewers and
carries them to points of
treatment or discharge.
sludge—the solids removed
from waste water by
sedimentation and precipitation;
often presents a problem of
ultimate disposal
toxic pollutants—a pollutant or
combination of pollutants
including disease-causing
agents, which after discharge
and upon exposure, ingestion.
inhalation, or assimilation into
any organism either directly or
indirectly cause death, disease.
cancer, genetic mutations.
physiological malfunctions
(including malfunctions in
reproduction), and physical
deformities in such organisms
and their offspring.
turbidity—a cloudiness or
discoloration of water as a result
of suspended solids. Most
commonly, turbidity is caused by
dissolved sediment and
produces a "muddy"
appearance.
water quality standard—a plan
for water quality management
specifying: the use (recreation,
fish and wildlife propagation.
drinking water, indusirial. or
agricultural) to be made of the
water; criteria to measure and
protect these uses;
implementation and
enforcement plans; and an
antidegradation statement to
protect existing water quality.
water quality criteria—the
levels of polluiants that affect the
suitability of water for a given
use.
-------
United Slales
Environmental Pfoleclion
Agency
Ollice ol
Public Awaieness (A-107)
Washingion. D.C. 20460
Ollicial Business
Penally loi Piivaie Use
$300
Postage and
Fees Paid
Environmental
Prelection Agency
EPA-335
Third Class Bulk
------- |