United States Office of Water (4201) EPA 833-01-F-001
Environmental Protection Washington, DC 20460 January 2001
Agency http:/'\vww,eoa.gov/water
Proposed Rule To Protect Communities From
Overflowing Sewers
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to c'arifv and expand permit
requirements under the Clean Water Act for 19,000 municipal sanilarv sewer collection systems
in order to reduce sanitary sewer overflows. The proposed requirements will help communities
improve some of our Nation 's most valuable infrastructure -our wastewater collection
systems—by requiring facilities to develop and implement new capacity, management, operation,
and maintenance programs and public notification programs. The 19,000 svstems co vered bv
this rule include 4,800 municipal satellite collection systems which will be directly regulated
under the Clean Water Act for the first time. The proposed requirements will result in fewer
sewer overflows, leading to healthier communities, fewer beach closures, and fish and shellfish
that are safer to eat.
Background
Sanitary sewer collection systems perform the critical task of collecting sewage and other
wastewater from places where people live, work, and recreate, and transport it to the treatment
facility for proper treatment and disposal. These systems are essential for protecting public health
and the environment.
A combination of factors has resulted in releases of untreated sewage from some parts of the
collection systems before it reaches treatment facilities, known as sanitary sewer overflows. Most
cities and towns started building sewer collection systems over 100 years ago and many of these
systems have not received adequate upgrades, maintenance and repair over time. Cities have used
a wide variety of materials, designs, and installation practices. Even well-operated systems may
be subject to occasional blockages or structural, mechanical, or electrical failures. Problems vit'i
sewer overflows can be particularly severe where portions of a system have fallen into disrepair
or where an older system is inferior to more modem systems.
EPA estimates that there are at least 40,000 overflows of sanitary sewers each year. The
untreated sewage from these overflows can contaminate our waters, causing serious water quality
problems and threatening drinking water supplies and fish and shellfish. It can also back up into
basements, causing property damage and creating threats to public health for those who come in
contqct with the untreated sewage. .. /
Sanitary sewer overflows that discharge to surface waters have been prohibited under the Clean
Water Act since 1972. Municipal wastewater treatment plants that discharge are currently
required to comply with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits.
which require record-keeping and reporting of overflows and maintenance of their collection
system. Most satellite sewage collection systems do not current have NPDES. permits.
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Proposed Rule to Reduce Sewer Overflows
EPA is proposing revisions to the NPDES permit regulations to improve the operation of
municipal sanitary sewer collection systems, reduce the frequency and occurrence of sewer
overflows, and provide more effective public notification when overflows do occur. This
proposal will provide communities with a framework for reducing health and environmental risks
' associated with overflowing sewers. The result will be fewer overflows, better information tor
local communities, and extended lifetime for the Nation's infrastructure. This rule primarily
addresses sanitary sewer overflows, not combined sewer overflows.
Capacity Assurance, Management, Operation, and Maintenance Programs. These programs will
help communities ensure they have adequate wastewater collection and treatment capacity and
incorporate many standard operation and maintenance activities for good system performance.
When implemented, these programs will provide for efficient operation of sanitary sewer
collection systems.
Notifying the Public and Health Authorities. Municipalities and other local interests will
establish a locally-tailored program that notifies the public of overflows according to the risk
associated with specific overflow events. EPA is also proposing that annual summaries of sewer
overflows be made available to the public. The proposal also clarifies existing record-keeping
requirements and requirements to report to the state.
Prohibition of Overflows. The existing Clean Water Act prohibition of sanitary sewer overflows
that discharge to surface waters is clarified to provide communities with limited protection from
enforcement1 in cases where overflows are caused by factors beyond their reasonable control or
severe natural conditions, provided there are no feasible alternatives.
Expanding Permit Coverage to Satellite Systems. Satellite municipal collection systems are those
collectionsystems where the owner or operator is different than the owner or operator of the
treatment facility. Some 4,800 satellite collection systems will be required to obtain NPDES
permit coverage to include the requirements under this proposal.
Cost
EPA estimates that this rule would impose an additional total cost for municipalities of S93.5
million to SI26.5 million each year, including costs associated with both planning and
permitting. A collection system serving 7,500 may need to spend an average of $6,000 each year
to comply with this rule. ,
Additional Information
For additional information about EPA's proposed sanitary sewer overflow regulation, contact
Kevin Weiss at weiss.kevin@epa.gov or visit http://www.epa.gov/owm/sso.htm on the Internet.
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