*EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of the Administrator [Mail Code 11011 Project XL: Denton Pretreatment Project EPA-100-F-00-003 February 2000 (http://www.epa.gov) PE I NV E » 'I C t WHAT IS PROJECT XL? Project XL, which stands for "excellence and Leadership," is a national initiative that tests innovative ways of achieving better and more cost- effective public health and environmental protection. The information and lessons learned from Project XL are being used to assist EPA in redesigning its current regulatory and policy-setting approaches. Project XL encourages testing of cleaner, cheaper, and smarter ways to attain environmental results superior to those achieved under current regulations and policies, in conjunction with greater accountability to stakeholders. It is vital that each project tests new ideas with the potential for wide application and broad environmental benefits. As of February 2000, 19 pilot experiments are being implemented and thirty-five additional projects are in various stages of development SUMMARYOF THE DENTON PROJECT In 1997, the City of Denton Environmental Services Division and the University of North Texas (UNT) Institute of Applied Sciences conducted an 18 month study to assess the feasibility of integrating the industrial pretreatment program activities with those required under the Phase II Stormwater regulations. Denton's XL project will allow it to continue to implement the recommendations resulting from that study, which was completed in March of 1998. Denton will reduce its monitoring and annual inspections for certain individually approved facilities and focus on pollutants in the urban stormwater drainage. The Final Project Agreement (FPA), EPA's 20th XL project, was signed on February 22, 2000. Denton's proposal is unique in that it will integrate its flash-flood early warning system with transmission of realtime water quality data from remote monitoring stations both up and down stream of the water treatment facility. The system will be connected to dispatchers, emergency response crews, and the facility. Through this experiment Denton will determine if the biological sensors recently developed by UNT can trigger automatic samplers to take water samples. Denton will also develop alternative best management practices (BMPs) to prevent erosion and runoff from the biosolids composting operation. Page 1 ------- SUPERIOR ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE FLEXIBILITY STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT APPROACHES TO BE TESTED Saved resources will be reapportioned to watershed protection activities including inspections of vehicle maintenance facilities, recycling centers, junkyards, salvage yards, municipal and school district fleet service operations, construction sites, establishment of a remote creek monitoring network, and incorporation of pollution prevention BMPs into the local code of ordinances. Denton will be reducing its monitoring and inspection frequencies for certain individually approved facilities, so that it can redirect resources to focus on pollutants in the urban stormwater drainage. Denton held public meetings to request input on the project. These meetings were publicized through local newspapers and personal contacts. Comments on the project and EPA's response are attached to the FPA. CONTACTS FOR ELECTRONIC INFORMATION Can integrating industrial pretreatment program activities with those required under the Phase II Stormwater regulations improve the environment? Can a combination of pollution prevention measures, including BMPs, buffer zones and public education increase control of run-off from point and non-point sources? Regional Contacts: EPA/XL HQ: State Contacts: Project Sponsor: Adele Cardenas Chad Carbone Ken Zarker Jim Coulter 214-665-7210 202-260-4296 512-239-3144 940-349-7194 More information about Project XL is available on the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/ProjectXL, or via Project XL's Information Line at 202- 260-5754. Page 2 ------- |