United States Environmental Protection Office of the Administrator EPA-100-F-00-006 February 2002 Project XL: Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan f ?or. 2CONOA1 TNKOVAT WHAT IS PROJECT XL? €^wd &L SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT SUPERIOR ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE FLEXIBILITY 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 through a collaborative process. Project XL encourages local public sector and community organizations to test new ideas that demonstrate community- designed and directed strategies for achieving greater environmental quality consistent with community economic goals. It also requires substantial involvement by stakeholders, i.e. the people and organizations affected by EPA's decisions. EPA hopes that these projects will provide opportunities for everyone to think "outside the box" of our current system and to find solutions to obstacles that limit environmental performance. Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) have signed Phase 1 of a two-phase agreement with the EPA. The Agreement spells out MSD and EPA's intentions to achieve greater environmental gains by redesigning MSD's waste water pre-treatment program, developing performance measures, and collecting data to gauge progress. Using the new information, MSD plans to move toward a more holistic watershed protection strategy for the Chenoweth Run watershed, whose current level of pollution is not meeting the State's water quality standards for aquatic life. MSD will redesign the pretreatment program to reduce key pollutant loadings and identify areas where resources can be shifted to achieve greater environmental benefits. The Phase 1 Project Agreement, EPA's 18th XL project, was signed on January 31, 2000. MSD plans to reduce the amount of pollutants being released into the watershed by using pollution prevention measures and changing pretreatment program requirements. These changes will allow local industry to save on operating costs and shift funds to nontraditional water quality controls, such as reducing erosion and storm water runoff, improving stream banks, and planting trees. Under the current proposal, MSD is not requesting regulatory flexibility from EPA. MSD's Phase I Agreement describes a process to collect data, develop pretreatment performance measures, and to redesign and Page 1 ------- STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT APPROACH TO BE TESTED CONTACTS implement an improved pretreatment program . The proposal does outline areas that may require regulatory flexibility once all data has been collected. These areas include, but are not limited to: significant noncompliance; monitoring and inspections; reporting; and the definition of significant industrial user (SIU). MSD held public meetings to request input on the project. These meetings were publicized through local newspapers and/or personal contacts. Comments on the project and EPA's response are on EPA's website and will be attached to the Final Project Agreement. Can MSD build a bridge between the pretreatment program and watershed management programs and use new and existing mechanisms to involve stakeholders and citizens in this project? EPAHQ: Ted Cochin 202-566-2181 State Contacts: Allan Bryant 502-564-2225, x521 Project Sponsor: Sharon Worley 502-540-6464 Page 2 ------- |