United States
Environmental Protection
\r ^1 # ^Agency
Office of Water
EPA 821-F-21-001
January 2021
Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 14
Summary
EPA has published the final Effluent Guidelines
Program Plan 14 (Plan 14) describing analyses,
studies, and rulemakings related to effluent
limitations guidelines and standards (ELGs), which
are national, technology-based regulations for
controlling industrial wastewater discharges to
surface waters and into publicly owned treatment
works.
Background
Clean Water Act section 304(m) requires EPA to
biennially publish a plan for new and revised ELGS,
after public review and comment. EPA publishes a
preliminary plan upon which the public is invited to
comment, and then publishes a final plan. EPA
published Plan 13-the Final 2016 Effluent
Guidelines Program Plan - on May 2, 2018. EPA
published Preliminary Plan 14 for public comment on
October 24, 2019.
Contents of ELG Plan 14
Plan 14 presents preliminary results from some new
analyses and provides updates on EPA's reviews of
industrial wastewater discharges and treatment
technologies discussed in Preliminary Plan 14,
including analyses of industrial sources and
discharges of nutrients, proposed treatment
technology reviews, and the effluent limitations
guidelines database.
Plan 14 also provides updates on ongoing point
source category studies, including EPA's decision to
conclude the Petroleum Refining Category study and
the Agency's planned next steps for the detailed
study on the Electrical and Electronic Components
Category. Plan 14 provides an update on the PFAS
Multi-Industry study, the scope of which includes
organic chemical manufacturers, airports, rug and
textile manufactures, pulp and paper manufacturers,
and the metal finishing point source category.
Finally, Plan 14 discusses several ongoing regulatory
actions, including:
¦	upcoming revisions to 40 CFR Part 437 to
increase flexibility for centralized waste treaters
who treat produced water from oil and gas
extraction;
¦	an upcoming notice of proposed rulemaking to
consider BAT limitations for two wastestreams
(landfill leachate and legacy wastewater) for the
steam electric power generating point source
category; and
¦	an upcoming advance notice of proposed
rulemaking for the Organic Chemicals, Plastics,
and Synthetic Fibers point source category to
solicit additional information or data about PFAS
manufacturers and formulators.
Where can I find more information?
You can access the Federal Register notice,
Preliminary Plan 14 document, and all supporting
documents on EPA's Effluent Guidelines Plan
website at: https://www.epa.gov/eg/effluent-
guidelines-plan.
For other related information, contact Dr. Phillip
Flanders by phone at (202) 566-8323, or by e-mail at:
flanders.phillip@epa.gov.

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