v>EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water
4606M
EPA815-F-05-033
November 2005
FACT SHEET
EPA Provides a Regulatory
Alternative for Class I Municipal
Disposal Wells in Specific Counties in
Florida
Why is a
regulatory
alternative
being
provided?
How does
EPA's
approach
protect the
environment
and human
health?
For more than 20 years, some municipalities in Florida have been using
underground injection as an alternative to surface disposal of treated domestic
wastewater. Recent evidence suggests that, at several of these facilities, the
injected fluids are migrating upward into underground sources of drinking water
(USDW). Because operation of Class I wells with fluid movement into an USDWis
prohibited by Federal Underground Injection Control (UIC) regulations, these
facilities would be forced to cease injecting and adopt an alternative method to
manage their wastewater, which could increase the environmental risks to surface
water and coastal environments.
This rule provides a regulatory alternative to owners and operators of Class I
municipal disposal wells in certain counties of Florida1 that have caused or may
cause movement of fluid into a USDW. It offers owners and operators of these
municipal disposal wells the ability to continue to operate their wells, provided they
meet additional wastewater treatment requirements. These new treatment
requirements are designed to provide an equivalent level of protection to USDWs as
provided by the existing no-fluid-movement requirement of the Safe Drinking Water
Act.
Without the new treatment requirements, the no-fluid-movement requirement would
remain the only available approach for the State in regulating Class I municipal
disposal wells, regardless of the level of wastewater treatment prior to injection.
Enforcing this approach would, in effect, require owners and operators of these
facilities to shut down the wells, because wastewater isolation from USDWs cannot
be ensured. The other disposal options available are advanced wastewater
treatment prior to discharge into sensitive rivers, streams, and estuaries and ocean
disposal. The new treatment requirements are designed to provide an equivalent
level of protection to USDWs that is afforded by the existing no-fluid-movement
requirement.
The alternative EPA has chosen, for Class I municipal disposal wells in certain
counties of Florida, is an approach that the Agency believes will be as effective as
confinement of fluids in protecting USDWs from contaminants in the wastewater.
This alternate approach involves rigorous control of the quality of the fluids by
requiring these facilities to treat their municipal wastewater with pretreatment,
secondary treatment, and high-level disinfection before they are injected.
1 Counties included: Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Flagler, Glades, Hendry, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River,
Lee, Manatee, Martin, Miami-Bade, Monroe, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pinellas, St. Johns, St. Lucie,
Sarasota, and Volusia
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Under this approach, the movement of fluids into USDWs, whether known or
suspected, should not endanger the USDWs because the quality of the wastewater
has been treated to a level that is no longer a threat to USDWs. This action shifts
the endangerment protection strategy used for Class I municipal disposal wells in
certain counties of Florida from the no-fluid-movement standard to an alternate
approach that relies on treatment of wastewater before it is injected. This shift,
however, does not undercut the protection of USDWs or weaken the UIC Program
requirements. Even if facility owners and operators in the designated counties use
the regulatory alternative, they must also comply with all other applicable UIC
requirements to ensure that their injection wells do not endanger USDWs.
What will the
new rule do?
In this rule, EPA amends the current Federal UIC regulations to allow owners and
operators of Class I municipal disposal wells in specific areas of Florida to continue
using their wells, even if they have caused or may have caused movement of fluid
into a USDW, provided they meet new requirements to treat their municipal
wastewater with pretreatment, secondary treatment, and high-level disinfection prior
to injection.
EPA believes this requirement will address viruses and bacteria (i.e, pathogens)
which the Agency's 2002 Relative Risk Assessment of Management Options for
Treated Wastewater in South Florida identified as the contaminant in municipal
wastewater that presents the greatest risk to USDWs. High-level disinfection of this
municipal wastewater is an effective method to inactivate pathogens.
EPA has also found that pretreatment programs and prohibitions on wastewater
from significant industrial users have prevented contaminants from getting into
wastewater in the first place, and that secondary treatment is a critical step in
wastewater treatment prior to high-level disinfection.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) oversees the UIC
Program in the State. DEP will propose State regulations that are at least as
stringent as this new Federal rule. The State already requires this level of treatment
for reclaimed water used on lawns and parks. Facilities in the City of St. Petersburg
already meet this standard and improvements to meet the standard at Miami-Dade
South District facility are underway.
How can I get
more
information?
The final rule, "Revision of the Federal Underground Injection Control Requirements
for Class I Municipal Disposal Wells in Florida" was published in the Federal
Register on November 22, 2005. The final rule and other supporting information is
available on EPA Region's 4 Web site at
http://www.epa.qov/reqion4/water/uic/class1 flrule.htm.
For additional information, contact:
Nancy Marsh, EPA Region 4. Phone: (404) 562-
9450; e-mail: marsh.nancy@epa.gov.
Lee Whitehurst, EPA Headquarters. Phone: (202)
564-3896; e-mail: whitehurst.lee@epa.gov.
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