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U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL

More Action Is Needed to
Protect Water Resources
From Unmonitored
Hazardous Chemicals
September 29, 2014
Report No. 14-P-0363
Scan this mobile
code to learn more
about the EPA OIG.

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Report Contributors:
Tapati Bhattacharyya
Steve Hanna
Tina Lovingood
Roopa Mulchandani
Naomi Rowden
Brooke Shull
Olga Stein
Abbreviations
CFR
Code of Federal Regulations
CWA
Clean Water Act
DMR
Discharge Monitoring Report
EPA
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
NPDES
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
OIG
Office of Inspector General
POTW
Publicly Owned Treatment Works
RCRA
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
TRI
Toxics Release Inventory
WET
Whole Effluent Toxicity
Cover photo: Stickney Water Reclamation Plant, Cicero, Illinois. (EPA OIG photo)
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General
At a Glance
14-P-0363
September 29, 2014
Why We Did This Review
We evaluated the effectiveness of
the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA's) programs in
preventing and addressing
contamination of surface water
from hazardous chemicals
passing through publicly owned
treatment works (hereafter
"sewage treatment plants").
Hazardous wastes, regulated by
the EPA, may be harmful to
human health or the environment.
Sewage treatment plants receive
permits, from the EPA or states,
for discharges to surface waters
that establish pollutant monitoring
requirements. However,
hazardous chemicals discharged
to sewers are not regulated under
EPA hazardous waste regulations.
Rather, they are regulated under
the Clean Water Act, which
focuses on a list of 126 priority
pollutants that does not include
many hazardous chemicals.
This report addresses the
following EPA goals or
cross-agency strategies:
•	Protecting America's waters.
•	Ensuring the safety of
chemicals and preventing
pollution.
•	Protecting human health and
the environment by enforcing
laws and assuring
compliance.
Send all inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391 or
visit www.epa.gov/oia.
The full report is at:
www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2014/
20140929-14-P-0363.pdf
More Action Is Needed to Protect Water Resources
From Unmonitored Hazardous Chemicals
What We Found
Management controls put in place by the EPA to
regulate and control hazardous chemical
discharges from sewage treatment plants to
water resources have limited effectiveness. The
EPA regulates hazardous chemical discharges to
and from sewage treatment plants, but these
regulations are not effective in controlling the discharge of hundreds of
hazardous chemicals to surface waters such as lakes and streams. Sewage
treatment plant staff do not monitor for hazardous chemicals discharged by
industrial users. This is due to a general regulatory focus on the priority
pollutants list that has not been updated since 1981, limited monitoring
requirements, limited coordination between EPA offices, a lack of tracking
hazardous waste notifications required for submittal by industrial users, or a
lack of knowledge of discharges reported by industrial users under the Toxics
Release Inventory. Except for EPA Region 9, sewage treatment plant permits
generally include very few monitoring requirements or effluent limits, which can
limit enforcement actions.
The EPA developed whole effluent toxicity test results as a mechanism to
identify toxic chemicals such as hazardous discharges to sewage treatment
plants. However, these are not required for all permits, and are not tracked by
the EPA to verify that sewage treatment plants are reporting results as
required. Moreover, exceedances of chemical limits in permits and toxicity
tests do not trigger notification to enforcement programs. Consequently, the
EPA may not be aware of chemical discharge or toxicity exceedances that
should be addressed to minimize potentially harmful contamination of water
resources.
Recommendations and Planned Agency Corrective Actions
We recommend that the EPA develop a format for sharing annual Toxics
Release Inventory data, develop a list of chemicals beyond the priority
pollutants list for inclusion in permits, confirm compliance with the hazardous
waste notification requirement, and track required submittals of toxicity tests
and violations. The agency suggested a change to one recommendation,
which the OIG accepted. All recommendations are resolved.
Noteworthy Achievements
The EPA has designed the Discharge Monitoring Report Pollutant Loading
Tool to provide access to surface water discharge and other data.
EPA does not have
mechanisms to address
discharge of hazardous
chemicals into water
resources.

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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
THE INSPECTOR GENERAL
September 29, 2014
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: More Action Is Needed to Protect Water Resources From
Unmonitored Hazardous Chemicals
Report No. 14-P-0363
FROM: Arthur A. Elkins Jr.
TO:
Ken Kopocis, Deputy Assistant Administrator
Office of Water
This is our report on the subject evaluation conducted by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This report contains findings that describe the problems
the OIG has identified and corrective actions the OIG recommends. This report represents the opinion of
the OIG and does not necessarily represent the final EPA position. Final determinations on matters in
this report will be made by EPA managers in accordance with established audit resolution procedures.
The EPA office having primary jurisdiction over the issues evaluated in this report is the Office of
Water's Office of Wastewater Management.
Action Required
You are not required to provide a written response to this final report, because you agreed to all
recommendations and provided corrective actions and completion dates that meet the intent of the
recommendations. All recommendations are resolved and open with corrective actions ongoing.
Should you choose to provide a response to this final report, we will post your response on the OIG's
public website, along with our memorandum commenting on your response. You should provide your
response as an Adobe PDF file that complies with the accessibility requirements of Section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. The final response should not contain data that you do not want
to be released to the public; if your response contains such data, you should identify the data for
redaction or removal along with corresponding justification.
We will post this report to our website at http://www.epa.gov/oig.

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More Action Is Needed to Protect Water Resources
From Unmonitored Hazardous Chemicals
14-P-0363
Table of C
Chapters
1	Introduction		1
Purpose		1
Background		1
Scope and Methodology		6
Prior Evaluation Coverage		7
2	EPA Has Not Taken Actions to Address Discharges of Hundreds of
Hazardous Chemicals From Sewage Treatment Plants		8
EPA Does Not Clearly Identify and Regulate Hazardous
Chemical Discharges From Sewage Treatment Plants		8
Sewage Treatment Plants Monitor for Few Toxic Chemicals		11
Conclusions		18
Recommendations		18
Agency Response and OIG Evaluation		19
Status of Recommendations and Potential Monetary Benefits		20
Appendices
A Agency Response to Draft Report	 21
B Distribution	 26

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Chapter 1
Introduction
Purpose
The purpose of this evaluation was to determine the effectiveness of the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) programs in preventing and
addressing contamination of surface water from hazardous wastes passing through
publicly owned treatment works (POTWs - hereafter also referred to as sewage
treatment plants1). This included examining the EPA's role and oversight of
hazardous chemical2 discharges to sewage treatment plants, and determining the
effectiveness of the EPA's management controls in regulating hazardous chemical
discharges from sewage treatment plants to surface water. We asked the following
questions:
•	Does the EPA regulate hazardous chemical discharges to and from sewage
treatment plants?
•	Do sewage treatment plants monitor discharges for hazardous chemicals?
•	Has the EPA taken actions to address discharges of hazardous chemicals
to and from sewage treatment plants?
Background
Hazardous waste has properties that make it dangerous or capable of having a
harmful effect on human health and the environment. Hazardous wastes are
regulated by the EPA under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA). RCRA Subtitle C regulations address the generation, transportation, and
treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous wastes. However, under the RCRA
domestic sewage exclusion, hazardous wastes discharged to sewage treatment
1	The EPA defines a POTW as a treatment works owned by a state or municipality. This definition includes systems
used in the storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of municipal sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature.
In their technical comments on the draft report, the EPA states that the term publicly owned treatment works "is
specifically defined at 40 CFR 403.3(q) and section 212 of CWA as a treatment works which is owned by a State or
municipality. This term specifically includes the sewers, pipes, and conveyance system if and only if they convey
wastewater to a POTW Treatment Plant." They also point out that NPDES regulations at 40 CFR 122.2 do not
contain the term "sewage treatment plant." We use the term "sewage treatment plant" in this report in place of
"publicly owned treatment works" because we believe it is more understandable to a non-technical reader.
2	The term "hazardous chemical" is used in this report to refer to chemicals that, if managed under the EPA
hazardous waste program, would be considered hazardous waste. Because hazardous waste discharged to sewage
treatment plants is no longer considered hazardous waste, this term is used minimally in this report.
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plants are not regulated by RCRA once they enter the sewer. Rather, they are
regulated under the Clean Water Act (CWA).
The CWA was passed in 1972 to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and
biological integrity of the nation's waters. The goals of the CWA are to eliminate
the introduction of pollutants into the nation's waters and to achieve fishable and
swimmable water quality. The CWA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) program represents one of the key components established to
accomplish the goals of the CWA. This program requires that direct dischargers3
to surface waters such as streams, lakes, and oceans obtain an NPDES4 permit
(hereafter "discharge permit").
A sewage treatment plant is generally designed to treat typical household waste,
biodegradable commercial waste, and biodegradable industrial waste. However,
all users may also discharge toxic or non-conventional pollutants that the sewage
treatment plant is neither designed for nor able to remove. To ensure the goals of
the CWA are met, industrial and commercial users are required to comply with
pretreatment standards. Sewage treatment plants that discharge to the waters of
the United States must obtain a discharge permit. These permits include
requirements for discharge monitoring for specific chemicals, monitoring
frequency, effluent limits, and discharge toxicity tests. The sewage treatment
plant regulates discharges of industrial users through the CWA pretreatment
program. The CWA established the National Pretreatment Program to address
discharges from industrial users to sewage treatment plants. Figure 1 (next page)
illustrates the discharges of the industrial users to the sewage treatment plant, and
discharges of the sewage treatment plant to surface waters, and also identifies
some permitting and reporting requirements.
EPA guidance defines pretreatment as "The reduction of the amount of pollutants,
the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties
in wastewater before or in lieu of discharging, or otherwise introducing, such
pollutants into a POTW." EPA guidance from 2004 states that, as part of their
implementation of the industrial pretreatment program, municipal officials should
ensure that industrial users control and properly manage their hazardous waste.
This guidance further states that hazardous wastes discharged to sewers are
"subject to the CWA, must be reported to the POTW, and should meet all
applicable categorical and local discharge limits."
3	According to the EPA, a direct discharger is "A point source that discharges a pollutant(s) to waters of the United
States, such as streams, lakes, or oceans," and includes sewage treatment plants. EPA considers indirect dischargers
"facilities that discharge their wastewaters to a POTW."
4	According to the EPA, the NPDES is the national program for issuing, modifying, revoking, reissuing, terminating,
monitoring, and enforcing discharge permits from point sources to waters of the United States, and imposing and
enforcing pretreatment requirements under the CWA. In this report, we use the term "discharge permit" instead of
"NPDES permit" except in direct quotes.
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The general pretreatment regulations establish responsibilities among federal,
state, and local government; industry; and the public to implement pretreatment
standards to control pollutants that pass through or interfere with sewage
treatment plant treatment processes or that can contaminate sewage sludge. The
pretreatment program focuses on 126 priority pollutants with defined test
methods. According to EPA regulations5, all major sewage treatment plants
(sewage treatment plants with a design flow rate equal to or greater than one
million gallons per day) and sewage treatment plants with approved or developing
pretreatment programs are required to submit the results of a monitoring scan for
a modified list of the priority pollutants at least once every 5 years when the
sewage treatment plant's permit is renewed.
Thirty six states have an approved State Pretreatment Program.
5 40 CFR 122.21(j)(4)(A) and (B).
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Figure 1: Diagram of industrial discharges to and from sewage treatment plants
Toxics Release Inventory report
filed with EPA if required	
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PRO***
Discharges to the sewage treatment plant by
industrial users
-	Arrow represents influent to the sewage treatment
plant
-	Regulated under the CWA pretreatment program
-	Permitted by the sewage treatment plant
-	Hazardous waste notification form filed with the
sewage treatment plant, state, and EPA region as
necessary.
Sewage treatment plant discharges to surface water
-	Arrow represents a direct discharge to surface water
by the sewage treatment plant
-	Regulated under the CWA NPDES program
-	NPDES permit issued by the regulatory agency -
EPA region or authorized state/tribe
-	Monitoring data reported to the regulatory agency
-	WET test results reported to EPA if required
Source: OIG analysis.
The EPA's 1986 Report to Congress on the Discharge of Hazardous Wastes to
Publicly Owned Treatment Works clarified that the basis of the domesti c sewage
exclusion is not that hazardous wastes discharged to sewer are rendered harmless,
but rather that sufficient regulatory controls existed through the CWA
pretreatment program. The report emphasized four recommendations:
1. Additional research, data collection, and analysis are necessary to fill
information gaps on sources and quantiti es of hazardous wastes, their fate
and effects in sewage treatment systems and the environment, and the
design of any additional regulatory controls which might be necessary.
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2.	Improvements could be made to standards and pretreatment controls of
hazardous wastes discharges to sewage treatment plants.
3.	EPA should utilize existing water programs to improve control of
hazardous wastes discharged to sewage treatment plants.
4.	RCRA, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and
Liability Act, and the Clean Air Act should be considered along with the
CWA to regulate hazardous waste discharges to sewage treatment plants
if the studies in recommendation 1 indicate problems.
The EPA developed regulations6 in accordance with the 1986 Report to Congress,
"to improve control of hazardous wastes introduced into POTWs under the
Domestic Sewage Exclusion." These regulations included various restrictions on
discharges by industrial users to sewage treatment plants as well as various
permitting and reporting requirements for industrial users and sewage treatment
plants. These regulations also included a notification provision:7 "The Industrial
User shall notify the POTW, the EPA Regional Waste Management Division
Director, and State hazardous waste authorities in writing of any discharge into
the POTW of a substance, which, if otherwise disposed of, would be a hazardous
waste under 40 CFR part 261." An industrial user is required to submit a one-time
notification for discharges of more than 15kg of hazardous waste in any month, or
any amount of acute hazardous waste8. If the discharge exceeds 100kg in any
month, the notification should include the hazardous constituents, the constituent
mass, and an estimate of the discharge for the next 12 months.
Information on some hazardous chemical discharges to sewage treatment plants is
available from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). Information on
discharges from sewage treatment plants is available from the EPA's Discharge
Monitoring Report (DMR) Pollutant Loading Tool. The TRI program tracks the
management of certain toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health
and the environment. U.S. facilities in different industry sectors must report
annually how much of each chemical is released to the environment and/or
managed through recycling, energy recovery and treatment. A "release" of a
chemical means that it is emitted to the air or water, or placed in some type of
land disposal. In general, chemicals covered by the TRI Program are those that
cause chronic or acute human health effects or significant adverse environmental
effects. The TRI Program currently covers 683 chemicals and chemical categories
including many, but not all, hazardous chemicals9. TRI filers are required to
6	Federal Register Vol. 55, No. 142, July, 24, 1990.
7	40 CFR Part 403.12(p).
8	Acute hazardous waste contains such dangerous chemicals that it could pose a threat to human health and the
environment even when properly managed.
9	TRI chemicals also include many chemicals not listed as hazardous waste.
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report the chemicals that are released or transferred from their facility. The
information submitted by facilities is compiled in the TRI.
According to the EPA, the DMR Pollutant Loading Tool10 is designed to
determine "who is discharging, what pollutants they are discharging and how
much, and where they are discharging." Data are currently available for the years
2007 through 2011. Individuals using the tool can identify sewage treatment
plants using a name or partial name, and download data on toxic pollutant
loadings for all sewage treatment plants for which data has been entered.
The following offices are responsible for EPA programs related to the evaluation
of hazardous discharges by sewage treatment plants:
•	The Office of Wastewater Management in the Office of Water oversees a
range of programs contributing to the well-being of the nation's waters
and watersheds.
•	The Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery in the Office of Solid
Waste and Emergency Response implements RCRA.
•	The Office of Information Analysis and Access in the Office of
Environmental Information oversees the TRI program.
•	The Office of Civil Enforcement in the Office of Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance develops and prosecutes administrative civil and
judicial cases and provides legal support for cases and investigations
initiated in EPA regions.
•	The Office of Compliance in the Office of Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance manages the ICIS-NPDES data system and the DMR Pollutant
Loading Tool.
•	The Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training investigates
violations of environmental laws and provides a broad range of technical
and forensic services for civil and criminal investigative support and
council on legal and policy matters.
Scope and Methodology
We conducted our work from March 2013 to June 2014. We conducted this
performance audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and
10 This tool is available to the public at http://cfpub.epa.gov/dmr/index.cfm. The tool uses DMR data from EPA's
Integrated Compliance Information System for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (ICIS-NPDES)
to calculate pollutant discharge amounts.
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conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained
provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit
objectives.
We interviewed EPA headquarters staff, in the Office of Resource Conservation
and Recovery in the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, the Toxics
Release Inventory Program Division in the Office of Environmental Information,
the Office of Wastewater Management in the Office of Water, and the Office of
Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. We also interviewed regional
Pretreatment Coordinators and staff in EPA Regions 2, 3, 5, 6 and 9 about specific
discharges to and from sewage treatment plants. We analyzed regional data on
specific discharges not tracked through the (NPDES) discharge permit monitoring
using TRI and the Discharge Monitoring Report Pollutant Loading Tool.
To analyze hazardous chemical discharges to sewage treatment plants, we
obtained quantitative data for discharges of hazardous chemicals to all sewage
treatment plants reported in the 2011 EPA TRI. TRI data from 2011 were the
most current data available when we performed the analyses. We identified the
largest dischargers of hazardous chemicals from 2011 TRI data. We then used the
TRI forms to identify the receiving sewage treatment plant, and determined if the
hazardous chemicals were monitored in the sewage treatment plant's (NPDES)
discharge permit by analyzing permit data from the EPA's Discharge Monitoring
Report Pollutant Loading Tool.
We reviewed EPA programs, regulations, and guidance documents related to
industrial dischargers and sewage treatment plants, the CWA and its
implementing regulations, RCRA Codes and Domestic Sewage Exclusion,
(NPDES) discharge permit and listed chemicals, and the EPA's local limits
guidance. We reviewed 2011 TRI hazardous chemical discharges to sewage
treatment plants for the selected regions to determine whether
EPA/regions/states/sewage treatment plant staff are aware of these discharges and
if these are monitored and tracked. In our interviews with EPA and state staff in
the offices mentioned above, we asked targeted questions regarding sewage
treatment plant monitoring, priority pollutants, whole effluent toxicity tests,
hazardous waste notification forms, and enforcement actions on exceedances.
Prior Evaluation Coverage
The following EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) reports addressed issues
related to pretreatment and TRI reporting:
•	Report No 2004-P-00030, EPA Needs to Reinforce Its National
Pretreatment Program, issued September 28, 2004.
•	Report No 2004-P-00004, EPA Should Take Steps to Improve Industrial
Reporting to the Toxics Release Inventory System, issued February 2, 2004.
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Chapter 2
EPA Has Not Taken Actions to Address
Discharges of Hundreds of Hazardous Chemicals
From Sewage Treatment Plants
The EPA regulates discharges to and from sewage treatment plants, but these
regulations are not effective in controlling the discharge of hundreds of hazardous
chemicals to surface waters such as lakes and streams. Sewage treatment plant
staff do not monitor for hazardous chemicals discharged by industrial users. This
is the result of factors we observed, including a general regulatory focus on the
priority pollutants list that has not been updated since 1981, limited monitoring
requirements, limited coordination between EPA offices, a lack of tracking
hazardous waste notifications required for submittal by industrial users, or a lack
of awareness of discharges reported by industrial users under the Toxics Release
Inventory. Except for EPA Region 9, sewage treatment plant permits generally
include very few monitoring requirements, which can limit enforcement actions.
Whole effluent toxicity tests were developed by the EPA as a mechanism to
identify toxic chemicals such as hazardous waste. However, these toxicity tests
are not be required for all permits, and are not tracked by the EPA to verify that
sewage treatment plants are reporting results as required. Moreover, exceedances
of chemical limits in permits and toxicity tests do not trigger notification to
enforcement programs. Consequently, the EPA may not be aware of exceedances
that should be addressed to minimize potentially harmful contamination of water
resources.
EPA Does Not Clearly Identify and Regulate Hazardous Chemical
Discharges From Sewage Treatment Plants
Priority Pollutants List Not Updated Since 1981
As a result of a suit filed by several environmental groups against the EPA in
1975, the EPA agreed to regulate the discharge of 65 categories of pollutants
comprising 126 priority pollutants from 21 industrial categories. Despite changes
in the list of regulated industrial categories and the number of pollutants
discharged, the EPA has not updated the list of 126 priority pollutants since 1981.
Hundreds of RCRA Hazardous Chemicals are Not Listed as Clean
Water Act Priority Pollutants
Figure 2 compares the RCRA hazardous chemicals with those on the CWA
priority pollutants list. There are 83 RCRA hazardous chemicals that are also
included on the CWA priority pollutants list. However, there still remain about
300 RCRA hazardous chemicals not included on the CWA priority pollutants list.
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This illustrates the large number of RCRA hazardous chemicals not monitored by
sewage treatment plants in their discharge permits, including many acute
hazardous wastes such as pesticides, metals and organic solvents.
Figure 2: RCRA hazardous chemicals overlap with CWA priority pollutants listed
chemicals11
RCRA Hazardous
Chemicals
300
Source: OIG analysis.
Agency Staff Uncertain About Regulating Beyond 33-Year Old Clean
Water Act Priority Pollutants
The CWA gives the EPA authority to regulate "any pollutant" through a discharge
permit. At the same time, the CWA incorporates the priority pollutants list into
law and requires that effluent limitations be promulgated for the chemicals on the
list. This has created a focus on the CWA priority pollutants list for discharge
permits.
Some EPA staff, including enforcement staff, stated that the EPA has the
authority to regulate any chemical necessary to achieve water quality standards.
However, other staff within the EPA and states expressed different opinions about
regulating chemicals beyond the list of priority pollutants. For example:
•	Monitoring for specific chemicals by a sewage treatment plant is not
required because the chemicals are not on the list of priority pollutants.
•	Monitoring for specific chemicals is not required because the chemicals
are not on the state list of chemicals identified for monitoring.
11 The number of RCRA hazardous waste chemicals in this diagram includes chemicals specifically listed by EPA as
hazardous wastes or acute hazardous wastes.
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•	Chemicals cannot be in a discharge permit if they are not on the list of
priority pollutants.
•	Discharge permits are designed to primarily regulate chemicals on the list,
although programs do have the authority to regulate beyond the list.
•	Sewage treatment plants probably focus on priority pollutants because the
state and EPA focuses on them.
According to the CWA, discharge permits may be issued for a term of up to 5
years. According to EPA staff, as part of the renewal application process, sewage
treatment plants screen for the 126 priority pollutants. Based on the data
submitted, the permit writer then determines whether there is a reasonable
potential for any of the pollutants to impact the water quality of the receiving
water body. Only those pollutants identified as a concern are put in the permit
either with limits or for monitoring only. Thus, discharge permits remain more
focused on the priority pollutants list than on the CWA's broader authority to
regulate any pollutant that impairs water quality. As a result, other chemical
discharges not included on the priority pollutants list, such as many RCRA
hazardous wastes, are not monitored. Lack of monitoring or limits for these
chemicals may result in contamination of surface waters.
Industrial Users' Hazardous Waste Discharge Reports May Not Have
Been Submitted as Required
Under the general pretreatment regulations, industrial users are required to notify
the sewage treatment plant, the EPA Regional Waste Management Division
Director, and state hazardous waste authorities in writing of any discharge into the
sewage treatment plant of a substance, which, if otherwise disposed of, would be
a hazardous waste. This refers to RCRA hazardous wastes. However, when we
asked EPA staff about these notifications, there was a general lack of awareness
of the requirement.
During interviews with EPA staff in headquarters, and Regions 2, 3, 5, 6 and 9, as
well as state staff, we asked if the hazardous waste notifications had been
submitted as required and if they were tracked. We received various responses,
including:
•	EPA regional and sewage treatment plant staff stated that the discharges
are not considered hazardous waste so this notification was not required.
•	One EPA region believed that based on information available through the
pretreatment program, the notification did not have to be submitted. The
region also stated that failure to notify, or to discharge hazardous wastes
would be met with enforcement action, and that is the deterrent.
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•	The pretreatment coordinator of another EPA region noted that he had
seen the notification forms some time ago and that they perform annual
archives of the sewage treatment plant files.
•	Two states in one EPA region with authorized state programs informed us
that the discharger files the hazardous waste discharge notification.
However, one of the states indicated the notifications do not go to the
region, but rather to the state hazardous waste office and the sewage
treatment plant.
•	One EPA region was unfamiliar with the notification requirements and
had not seen notifications from industrial users for discharging hazardous
waste to sewage treatment plants.
In the 1990 final rule that established the notification requirement, the EPA noted
that "There is currently no regulatory requirement that industrial users report the
discharge of all hazardous wastes to sewers." The final rule further stated that the
information provided by the hazardous waste notification "is needed for the
ultimate development by POTWs of controls to prevent pass through and
interference." In addition, the rule indicated the agency was considering the
development of a database of notification information that would make the
information available in a usable format for interested parties. Based on our
interviews with the EPA and states, the notification is not providing information
to the sewage treatment plants as intended. Not only is there no database of the
information, we found that no compilation of the notification forms was available
in the regions and states we interviewed. Further, there is a general lack of
knowledge of the requirement, and no reliance upon or use of the notifications by
the sewage treatment plants to manage the discharge of hazardous wastes.
Sewage Treatment Plants Monitor for Few Toxic Chemicals
Number of Chemicals Monitored by EPA Regions Varies Widely
According to EPA staff, while sewage treatment plants are required to perform a
monitoring scan for all 126 CWA priority pollutants once every 5 years, the EPA
does not require that all 126 priority pollutants be included on a sewage treatment
plant's DMR. Analysis of DMR data reported to the EPA reveals large regional
differences in the number of chemicals12 monitored and reported on the DMR.
Sewage treatment plant discharge permits within Region 9 require monitoring for
many more toxic chemicals as compared to other regions. For example acrolein,
which is an acute RCRA hazardous waste and is also a priority pollutant, is
monitored by a total of 194 sewage treatment plants nationwide. Of these sewage
treatment plants, 193 are in Region 9. Region 9 stated that monitoring can assist
12 These are chemicals for which the EPA has developed a toxicity weighting factor in the Discharge Monitoring
Report Pollutant Loading Tool, which includes many hazardous waste chemicals.
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with identifying chemicals that need a limit set during the next discharge permit
term.
The extent of the disparity of regional discharge monitoring requirements and
reporting is illustrated in Figure 3. Region 9's states require an average of more
than 104 chemicals/sewage treatment plant, while other regions require an
average of fewer than four chemicals/sewage treatment plant.
Figure 3: Number of toxic chemicals monitored per sewage treatment
plant by EPA region
Sewage Treatment Plant Monitoring of
Toxic Chemicals
120
E ioo
80
60
40
20
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 10
EPA Region
Source: OIG analysis of data from the EPA's DMR Pollutant Loading Tool.
Lack of Data in Discharge Permits Can Hamper Enforcement
Enforcement actions against a sewage treatment plant due to pass through of
chemicals from the sewage treatment plant into the receiving water body can be
taken when there is a violation of any requirement of the sewage treatment plant's
discharge permit. According to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) in 40 CFR
§403.3(p), "The term Pass Through means a Discharge which exits the POTW
into waters of the United States in quantities or concentrations which, alone or in
conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, is a cause of a
violation of any requirement of the POTW's NPDES permit (including an
increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation)." As a result, enforcement
action relies on pollutants and limits documented in a discharge permit. Without
monitoring or limits in place, certain pollutants may be discharged by the sewage
treatment plant and potentially harm human health and the environment.
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Region 9 staff did not have an explanation for the additional monitoring
performed by sewage treatment plants in their region. We did find examples of
additional monitoring of chemicals by sewage treatment plants outside of Region
9 states, but the monitoring results were not included in the DMRs. Staff in one
EPA region stated that information on chemicals not reported in the DMRs are
available in annual sewage treatment plant reports. However, including
monitoring data in discharge permits, as Region 9 does, provides regulators with
the ability to readily identify chemicals in need of discharge limits and identify
and enforce pass through violations. Further, the discharge permits for Region 9
states' sewage treatment plants include more hazardous chemicals than the
sewage treatment plant discharge permits in other states.
Discharge Permit and Pretreatment Programs Do Not Always
Coordinate
EPA regions directly implement discharge permit programs in the four states that
have not received program authorization. EPA still retains oversight authority for
states with authorized programs. Pretreatment programs may also be authorized to
states; however some states have been authorized to implement the discharge
permit program but not the pretreatment program. In some cases, this has resulted
in separate organizations managing the discharge permit and pretreatment
programs. In these cases the pretreatment programs may not provide input to
identify the chemicals that should be included for monitoring in the discharge
permits.
EPA Office of Water staff stated that the pretreatment and discharge programs do
not necessarily coordinate efforts during the discharge permit application review
and issuance process. Staff in the Office of Water noted that the pretreatment
coordinators do not appear to have the role they should during the permit writing
process and acknowledged that there is an issue with coordinated efforts between
the programs for permit quality review. As a result, the pretreatment program staff
may not have been included in determining which chemicals should be included
in the sewage treatment plant discharge permits. This could result in the absence
of pretreatment controls in the discharge permits, which impacts what is or is not
being monitored for by sewage treatment plants in their discharge permits.
Pretreatment enforcement staff in one region specifically noted that they did not
have the opportunity to review the draft discharge permits before they were
issued.
Whole Effluent Toxicity Test Not Effectively Used for Monitoring and
Enforcement
In the 1980s, the EPA recognized that some sewage treatment plant discharges
remained toxic despite pretreatment programs which were designed to prevent
pass through of specific chemicals. As a result, the EPA developed a control to
reduce or eliminate toxic discharges based on whole effluent toxicity (WET)
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testing. According to EPA regulations13, sewage treatment plants with flow rates
equal to or greater than one million gallons per day, or sewage treatment plants
with pretreatment program requirements, must submit three WET test results
taken within a four and one-half year period prior to the date of the discharge
permit application. EPA staff stated that WET test results are an integral tool in
the assessment of water quality. When a WET test exceedance is encountered, the
sewage treatment plant conducts a series of additional tests to identify the toxic
pollutants and their source so pass through can be eliminated.
During our interviews, EPA staff repeatedly stated that the WET tests provide a
suitable backup mechanism for identifying possible discharges of hazardous
waste. However, according to data supplied by EPA14 we found that WET test
reporting requirements and tracking of the results do not provide backup for
possible discharges (Figure 4):
•	Not all sewage treatment plants are required to report- According to the
EPA, during 2011 there were 14,241 active sewage treatment plants
nationwide. However, only 4,399 (31 percent) of these were required to
report WET test results. Reporting was not required for 9,842 (69 percent)
of the sewage treatment plants, which significantly restricts any use of the
WET test as a backup mechanism to identify hazardous chemical
discharges.
•	Only about half of the sewage treatment plants report as required - Of the
4,399 required to report, only 1,992 (45 percent) submitted WET test
results. According to EPA staff, not all data may be entered into the data
system. Therefore, more sewage treatment plants may have completed the
required WET test, and 1,992 reflects those WET test submittals entered.
•	No system controls automatically track required submittals or exceedances
- According to EPA staff, there are no mechanisms for the automatic
identification, tracking, and follow-up of required WET test submittals or
exceedances. This limits the effectiveness of WET test in identifying
releases of unidentified chemicals such as hazardous waste.
According to the Office of Water, the permitting authority determines the WET
test requirements and frequency. Office of Water staff also acknowledged that
monitoring is important as it improves the chances of identifying toxic chemicals
such as hazardous wastes. The lack of regular reporting, tracking, and follow-up
on WET test exceedances limits the ability of WET tests to provide a mechanism
to identify discharges of hazardous chemicals that may not otherwise have been
identified by the sewage treatment plant.
13	40 CFR 122.21(j)
14	Data were from EPA's ICIS-NPDES database.
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Figure 4: WET Test Results
WET Tests Submitted to EPA by
Sewage Treatment Plants
2,407
9,842
¦ No WET Test Required ¦ Required and Submitted Required and Not Submitted
Source: OIG analysis of data supplied by EPA staff.
Hazardous Chemical Sewage Treatment Plant Discharges Identified
in TRI Not Monitored
Although TRI reporting does not include all industrial users discharging to
sewage treatment plants or all hazardous chemicals, it is a source of data readily
available to identify discharges of hazardous wastes to sewage treatment plants.
We used 201115 TRI data to query EPA regions, states, and/or sewage treatment
plants to determine their awareness and management of TRI hazardous chemical
discharges. We identified hazardous chemicals discharged by TRI reporters to
sewage treatment plants. We initially identified 731 discharges of hazardous
chemicals, and narrowed this list down to 207 discharges by eliminating TRI
reporters with small volume discharges. We found that sewage treatment plants
monitor for few of the chemicals. Of the 207 discharges identified, only 28
15 At the time of our analysis, data from 2011 were the most current available from TRI and the Discharge
Monitoring Report Pollutant Loading Tool.
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(14 percent) were chemicals monitored on the sewage treatment plants' discharge
permits (Figure 5).
We further analyzed data for a small number of sewage treatment plants to
examine reasons hazardous chemicals are not monitored. We selected eight
sewage treatment plants for additional follow-up based on the high TRI discharge
volume and number of TRI hazardous chemicals that were not monitored in their
Figure 5: TRI hazardous waste chemicals present in permits	
TRI Hazardous Waste Chemical
Discharges Listed in Discharge Permits
¦	TRI Hazardous Waste Discharges Listed in Discharge Permits
¦	TRI Hazardous Waste Discharges not Listed in Discharge Permits
Source: OiG analysis of data from TRi and the EPA's DMR Pollutant Loading Tool.
discharge permits. We had discussions with the EPA region, authorized state,
and/or the sewage treatment plant to determine if they were aware of the TRI
discharges and determine why the chemicals were not included in the discharge
permits. We found the eight sewage treatment plants did monitor for 14 of the 50
(28 percent) chemicals identified. However, the monitoring was not required by
the sewage treatment plant discharge permits, and was not reported to EPA.
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More importantly, the eight sewage treatment plants did not monitor for 36 of the
50 (72 percent) hazardous chemicals identified, which included some acute
hazardous chemicals. We received a range of responses for the sewage treatment
plants' lack of monitoring, including:
•	Monitoring of the chemicals was not necessary because the chemicals in
question should be metabolized and rendered harmless in the sewage
treatment process.
•	Monitoring of the chemicals was not required because the chemicals had
been monitored in past years and the discharges were inconsequential. In
some cases this was between 7 and 24 years ago.
•	No response for why specific chemicals were not monitored.
•	Chemicals were not monitored because they were not on the list of
priority pollutants or a state list.
•	Data were submitted on an annual report to the state.
•	Discharges from the sewage treatment plant were not monitored because
the influent from the industrial users was monitored.
These responses indicate that sewage treatment plants are not always monitoring
chemical discharges, which could result in their release to the environment and
impair appropriate enforcement. The sewage treatment plants did not routinely
review the TRI data to ensure complete knowledge of the discharges from their
respective industrial users. Although there is no requirement that sewage
treatment plants use TRI data, we believe these data could provide a useful
resource. Discharge permit writers, pretreatment authorities and sewage treatment
plants could utilize TRI data to enhance their knowledge of all industrial user
discharges. This would help ensure that permits accurately represent known
discharges, mitigating the risk of potential release of these chemicals into the
environment.
Exceedances in Discharge Monitoring Reports Do Not Automatically
Trigger Follow-up
Although sewage treatment plants report annual monitoring data in Discharge
Monitoring Reports, there is no automatic trigger in EPA information systems to
notify enforcement staff of chemical exceedances. According to the EPA, to
identify exceedances in violation of discharge permit limits, an exceedance report
from the Discharge Monitoring Report must be manually generated. Thus,
enforcement and oversight of chemical exceedances rely on the individual review
of exceedance reports by states or the EPA. As a result, exceedances of discharge
permit limits may not be identified or reviewed. This could result in the potential
undetected discharge of chemicals beyond their defined maximum levels.
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Conclusions
Management controls put into place by the EPA to regulate and control hazardous
chemical discharges from sewage treatment plants to water resources are not
always effective. According to interviews with the EPA's enforcement and
permitting staff, states and sewage treatment plant operators, all parties are not
always aware of all hazardous chemical discharges flowing into and out of the
sewage treatment plant. In addition, most hazardous chemical discharges we
identified in selected sewage treatment plants are not monitored by the sewage
treatment plants. As a result, sewage treatment plants may not be adequately
treating wastewater entering their facilities and are at risk of discharging
hazardous chemicals into receiving bodies of water such as rivers and streams.
These hazardous chemical discharges can have detrimental effects on human
health and the environment. The EPA's limited management controls for
identifying and monitoring hazardous chemical discharges from sewage treatment
plants do not support the CWA's objective to maintain the integrity of the
nation's waters.
Recommendations
We recommend that the Assistant Administrator for Water:
1.	Develop, in coordination with the Office of Environmental Information, a
usable format for sharing TRI data on discharges sent to sewage treatment
plants, with OW developing materials to explain the utility of TRI data to
NPDES permit writers and pretreatment program personnel. This will
include exploring options for an online search tool to more easily identify
TRI discharges to specific sewage treatment plants.
2.	Develop, in coordination with EPA regions, a list of chemicals beyond the
priority pollutants appropriate for inclusion among the chemicals subject
to discharge permits. This may include:
a.	Review of TRI-reported discharges to sewage treatment plants.
Initial review could focus on RCRA hazardous chemicals reported
in TRI.
b.	Review of chemicals monitored nationwide in sewage treatment
plant discharge permits, especially chemicals monitored by
Region 9.
c.	Review of chemical monitoring data already collected by sewage
treatment plants but not included in discharge permits.
d.	Discussion with the Office of Resource Conservation and
Recovery for suggested hazardous chemicals.
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e. Development of mechanisms that ensure discharge and
pretreatment programs coordinate during discharge permit writing.
3.	Confirm, in coordination with the Office of Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance and EPA regions, that sewage treatment plants and their
industrial users are aware of and comply with the 40 CFR 403.12(p)
requirement that industrial users submit hazardous waste notifications.
4.	Develop, in coordination with the Office of Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance, mechanisms to:
a.	Improve sewage treatment plant compliance with permit terms that
require submission of WET monitoring results to the permitting
authority.
b.	Facilitate the use of monitoring data to track facilities that have
violated chemical or WET permit exceedance requirements.
Agency Response and OIG Evaluation
The agency agreed with recommendations 2, 3, and 4. They disagreed with
recommendation 1 but suggested a minor revision which meets the intent of the
recommendation. All recommendations are resolved. The agency provided
corrective action plans with milestone dates for all recommendations. Based on
the agency's response, all recommendations are open with corrective actions
underway. The Agency provided the planned completion date of 9/30/15 for all
recommendations. Appendix A contains the agency's response to our draft report
and planned actions to address our recommendations. We reviewed the agency's
technical comments and made revisions to the report as appropriate.
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Status of Recommendations and
Potential Monetary Benefits
RECOMMENDATIONS
POTENTIAL MONETARY
BENEFITS (In $000s)
Rec. Page
No. No.
Subject
Status1 Action Official
Planned
Completion
Date
Claimed
Amount
Ag reed-To
Amount
18 Develop, in coordination with the Office of Environmental
Information, a usable format for sharing TRI data on
discharges sent to sewage treatment plants, with OW
developing materials to explain the utility of TRI data to
NPDES permit writers and pretreatment program personnel.
This will include exploring options for an online search tool to
more easily identify TRI discharges to specific sewage
treatment plants.
18 Develop, in coordination with EPA regions, a list of
chemicals beyond the priority pollutants appropriate for
inclusion among the chemicals subject to discharge permits.
This may include:
a.	Review of TRI-reported discharges to sewage
treatment plants. Initial review could focus on
RCRA hazardous chemicals reported in TRI.
b.	Review of chemicals monitored nationwide in
sewage treatment plant discharge permits,
especially chemicals monitored by Region 9.
c.	Review of chemical monitoring data already
collected by sewage treatment plants but not
included in discharge permits.
d.	Discussion with the Office of Resource
Conservation and Recovery for suggested
hazardous chemicals.
e.	Development of mechanisms that ensure
discharge and pretreatment programs coordinate
during discharge permit writing.
Assistant
Administrator
for Water
09/30/15
Assistant
Administrator
for Water
09/30/15
19 Confirm, in coordination with the Office of Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance and EPA regions, that sewage
treatment plants and their industrial users are aware of and
comply with the 40 CFR 403.12(p) requirement that
industrial users submit hazardous waste notifications.
19 Develop, in coordination with the Office of Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance, mechanisms to:
a.	Improve sewage treatment plant compliance with
permit terms that require submission of WET
monitoring results to the permitting authority.
b.	Facilitate the use of monitoring data to track
facilities that have violated chemical or WET
permit exceedance requirements.
Assistant
Administrator
for Water
Assistant
Administrator
for Water
09/30/15
09/30/15
O = Recommendation is open with agreed-to corrective actions pending.
C = Recommendation is closed with all agreed-to actions completed.
U = Recommendation is unresolved with resolution efforts in progress.
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Appendix A
Agency Response to Draft Report
(Dated July 28, 2014)
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: Response to Office of Inspector General Draft Report/Project No. OPE-FY13-0015
"More Action Is Needed to Protect Water Resources from Unmonitored
Hazardous Waste," dated June 27, 2014
FROM: Nancy K. Stoner
Acting Assistant Administrator
TO:	Arthur A. Elkins Jr.
Inspector General
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the issues and recommendation in the subject Draft
Report. Following is a summary of the Agency's overall position, along with its position on each
of the Draft Report's recommendations. For the Draft Report's recommendations with which the
agency agrees, we have provided high-level intended corrective actions and estimated
completion dates. For the report recommendation with which the agency does not agree, we have
explained our position and proposed an alternative to the recommendation. For your
consideration, we have included a Technical Comments Attachment to supplement this response.
AGENCY'S OVERALL POSITION
The EPA agrees that the effectiveness of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES) permit program and the National Pretreatment Program in preventing and addressing
contamination of surface water from hazardous pollutants could be improved. We believe that
the current regulatory structure provides for adequate controls to address hazardous pollutants,
however, we welcome the IG's recommendations on potential improvements to the
implementation of these programs. While we agree that there is room for improvement, we have
some concerns about some of the findings and one of the recommendations.
Generally, OW is concerned that the draft report uses terminology in unconventional manners,
inconsistent with the way the same terms are specifically defined in regulations, especially with
respect to the term "hazardous waste". This might have led the OIG to draw inaccurate
conclusions. Similarly, readers of the report may also misinterpret both the findings and
conclusions as they may rely on their knowledge and application of the regulatory definitions.
We recommend that the OIG either use terms consistent with how they are defined in the
regulations or clearly state how and why unconventional definitions are being used in the report.
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"Hazardous waste" is a term of art under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
statute, and not a term used in the Clean Water Act (CWA). A RCRA regulation known as the
"domestic sewage exclusion" says that waste mixed with sewage cannot be "solid waste," see 40
CFR 261.4(a)(1). Under RCRA, if a waste is not a "solid waste", it cannot be a "hazardous
waste." It is therefore regulated by the CWA and not the RCRA. Thus, the use of the term
"hazardous waste" in this CWA context is incorrect. Thus, the use of the term "hazardous
waste" in the Draft Report's title and throughout the draft report is incorrect. As an alternative,
we suggest the terms "hazardous chemicals" or "hazardous pollutants" could be used.
There are other terms that are misused. Please see the attached Technical Comments for detailed
explanation of the apparent misuse of these terms.
The OIG should update the report to clarify its use of these terms and phrases to reflect
appropriate legal usage or explain why the OIG is using non-traditional use of legal terms.
OIG Response: The term "hazardous chemical" is used wherever possible, and the use of this
term in referring to hazardous waste is footnoted. We have incorporated changes in
terminology and explanatory footnotes as needed to address the issues cited in the technical
comments.
Below is our consolidated response to the OIG Recommendations. Our response is separated
into two sections: Recommendations to which we agree and identify our intended corrective
action (OIG Recommendations 2, 3, and 4); and the Recommendation to which we disagree and
provide a proposed alternative (Recommendation 1).
AGENCY'S RESPONSE TO REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
Agreements
No.
Recommendation
High-Level Intended Corrective Action(s)
Estimated
Completion by FY
2
Coordinate with EPA regions
to develop suggested
chemicals, beyond the priority
pollutants, for possible
inclusion in discharge permits.
This may include:
a.	Review of TRI-reported
discharges to sewage treatment
plants. Initial review could focus
on RCRA hazardous chemicals
reported in TRI.
b.	Review of chemicals
monitored nationwide in sewage
treatment plant discharge permits,
especially chemicals monitored
by Region 9.
OW will issue a memorandum to the regions
and notify approved pretreatment states
describing best practices for how the NPDES
permits and the pretreatment programs
coordinate. This memorandum will include
information on how to access information
reported by industries per 40 CFR403.12 on
discharges sent to POTWs, including TRI data
and notifications of substances, which, if
otherwise disposed of, would be a hazardous
waste. The best practices will describe how
such data are used by NPDES permit writers
and pretreatment program personnel to
properly address such pollutants.
09/30/2015
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c.	Review of chemical
monitoring data already
collected by sewage
treatment plants but not
included in discharge
permits.
d.	Discussion with the
Office of Resource
Conservation and Recovery
for suggested hazardous
waste chemicals.
e.	Develop mechanisms that ensure
discharge and pretreatment
programs coordinate during
discharge permit writing.
In addition, the OW will also review chemicals
monitored by POTWs as reported on DMRs
and available as in ICIS-NPDES.
The OW will also engage in a discussion with
staff from ORCR regarding suggested
hazardous waste chemicals.
No.
Recommendation
High-Level Intended Corrective Action(s)
Estimated
Completion by FY
3
Coordinate with Office of
Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance and EPA regions to
confirm sewage treatment plants
and industrial users are aware of
and comply with the 40 CFR
403.12(p) requirement that
industrial users submit
hazardous waste notifications.
OECA and OW will issue a joint
memorandum to the regions and approved
pretreatment states that discusses the
requirement to submit notifications per 40
CFR 403.12(p) and 40 CFR 403.12(j) of
substances, which, if otherwise disposed
of, would be a hazardous waste and to
highlight the importance of the
notifications in the pretreatment program.
The memorandum will also emphasize the
Control Authority's responsibility to
ensure industrial users are complying with
this requirement.
09/30/2015
No.
Recommendation
High-Level Intended Corrective Action(s)
Estimated
Completion by FY
4
Coordinate with the Office of
Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance to develop a
mechanism to:
a.	Improve sewage treatment
plant compliance with permit
terms that require
submission of WET
monitoring results to the
permitting authority.
b.	Facilitate the use of
monitoring data to track
a. 1.) OECA and OW will develop
training materials that explain the
importance of WET permit
requirements and how to comply with
them (e.g., doing required monitoring
and completing DMRs).
2.) OECA will post the training
materials on WET compliance to the
website for the Local Governments
Environmental Assistance Network
09/30/2015
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facilities that have violated
chemical or WET permit
exceedance requirements.
(EPA compliance assistance center,
http://lsean.ors/).
b. OECA will develop an ICIS-NPDES
standard report for WET violations and
announce the availability of the report
to regions and states along with some
explanation of how to utilize the
reports for program implementation
and oversight activities.

Disagreements
No.
Recommendation
Agency Explanation/Response
Proposed Alternative
1
Coordinate with the Office of
Environmental Information to
develop processes for annual
distribution of TRI data to EPA
regions and delegated state
programs.
TRI data are already publicly
available. However, knowledge
of how to easily access the data
and how its information may
be useful in program
implementation may not be
known.
Coordinate with the Office of
Environmental Information
[OEI] to develop a usable
format for sharing TRI data
on discharges sent to POTWs,
with OW developing
materials to explain the utility
of TRI data to NPDES permit
writers and pretreatment
program personnel. This will
include exploring options for
an online search tool to more
easily identify TRI discharges
to specific POTWs.
OIG Response: For Recommendation 1, the suggested revision meets the intent of the
recommendation, and the report updated to reflect this. OW clarified that the estimated
completion date for this recommendation is 09/30/2015. The Agency agreed to add additional
corrective actions to address Recommendation 4, developing three additional reports by
09/30/2015. These reports are (1) report that will show who is required to report WET and, if
they are required report, who has not reported WET data, (2) a report on WET violations, and
(3) all chemical exceedances including WET.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions regarding this response, please contact Deborah Nagle,
Director of the Water Permit Division on (202) 564-1185 or Nagle.Deborah@epa.gov
or Marcus Zobrist, Chief of the Industrial Branch on (202) 564-8311 or
Zobrist.Marcus@epa.gov.
Attachments
cc: Cynthia Giles, OECA
Renee Wynn, OEI
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Appendix B
Distribution
Office of the Administrator
Assistant Administrator for Water
Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
Assistant Administrator for Environmental Information and Chief Information Officer
Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response
Agency Follow-Up Official (the CFO)
Agency Follow-Up Coordinator
General Counsel
Associate Administrator for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations
Associate Administrator for Public Affairs
Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water
Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for Environmental Information
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response
Audit Follow-Up Coordinator, Office of Water
Audit Follow-Up Coordinator, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
Audit Follow-Up Coordinator, Office of Environmental Information
Audit Follow-Up Coordinator, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response
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