Wisconsin DNR General Permit For Small Wetland Impacts

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has released a general permit that streamlines and shortens the wetland permitting process for some residential, commercial and industrial projects impacting wetlands. The statewide general permit (“GP”) enables projects resulting in the unavoidable filling of less than 10,000 square feet of wetland to get a permit decision more quickly if the project meets the standards and conditions in the general permit. Previously, all landowners wanting to pursue projects that involve wetland fill were required to seek an individual permit and lengthier environmental review. Projects that involve more than 10,000 square feet of wetland fill or do not meet the GP standards and conditions continue to require a wetland individual permit, which has a longer process time, a higher permit fee, and require wetland mitigation and a higher level of environmental review

The general permit for smaller projects identifies the location, design, and construction standards and other conditions any project must meet to qualify for the general permit, and to ensure that minimal environmental effects occur. The general permit is valid statewide for 5 years. When property owners’ projects apply to be covered under the general permit, DNR is required to issue a decision within 30 days.

Caltha LLP provides expert consulting services to public and private sector clients nationwide to address water quality standards, wastewater permitting and assessing potential impacts of chemicals in the aquatic environment.
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San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund Grants

Grants to state and local agencies, and non-profit organizations totaling $6.5 million have been awarded to restore water quality and wetlands throughout the San Francisco Bay watershed. Grants range from $75,000 to $1.5 million and will support ten projects that prevent pollution, restore streams and tidal marshes, and manage floodwaters.

The projects are funded under EPA’s San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund that has invested over $28 million in 48 projects across the Bay region since 2008. The project summaries, partner agencies/organizations, and funding amounts are:

• Restore Wetlands at Creek Mouths ($1.55 million, in partnership with San Francisco Estuary Partnership and the Association of Bay Area Governments): Redesign flood control channels to restore wetland habitat, water quality, and shoreline resilience at three creek mouths: San Francisquito, Lower Novato, and Lower Walnut Creeks. Restore over 100 acres of tidal marsh and re-use 70,000 cubic yards of clean sediment from dredging projects.
• Continue Reducing Sediment Loads into the Napa River ($1.5 million, in partnership with Napa County Flood Control District): Complete instream restoration of the Rutherford Reach and begin restoration of the Oakville Reach to reduce sediment loads into Napa River.
• Restore Quartermaster Reach – Presidio ($1 million, in partnership with Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy): Restore 1,050 feet of creek channel, 3.3 acres of dune-coastal scrub upland, and 4.7 acres of previously buried tidal marsh adjacent to the Crissy Field wetlands.
• Site Preparation of Sears Point Tidal Marsh Restoration ($941,000, in partnership with Sonoma Land Trust): Prepare for restoration of 960 acres of tidal marsh in the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge through removal of contaminated soil, construction of a 2.5 mile levee to manage floods, and contouring the site to accelerate sediment accumulation.
• South Bay Salt Ponds Mercury Studies ($500,000, in partnership with California State Coastal Conservancy): Conduct methylmercury studies within the 15,000-acre South Bay Salt Pond complex to support tidal wetlands restoration of ponds.
• Reduction in Packaging at Fast Food Establishments ($257,000, in partnership with Clean Water Fund): Develop source reduction programs for takeout food containers, the largest documented contributor of trash in urban waterways that flows into SF Bay, and, with partner cities, conduct outreach at fast food establishments.
• Reduction in Household Use of Toxic Pesticides ($250,000, in partnership with San Francisco Estuary Partnership and the Association of Bay Area Governments): Use social media and direct outreach to consumers and retailers to promote less-toxic pesticides and pesticide free practices. Project aims to shift Bay Area households towards using less-toxic pesticides.
• Improve Water Quality and Wetlands at Sonoma Creek Marsh ($235,000, in partnership with Audubon California): Enhance 300 acres of tidal marsh within Sonoma Creek marsh by excavating a new channel. Dredged channel material will be used to create wildlife habitat and improved tidal exchange will reduce the need for pesticides used to control mosquitoes.
• Restore Alameda Creek ($181,000, in partnership with Alameda County Resource Conservation District): Establish stream buffers, restore stream channels and riparian corridors, improve grazing practices, and upgrade rural roads in three subwatersheds of Alameda Creek.
• Improve Fish Passage on San Francisquito Creek ($75,000, in partnership with San Mateo Resource Conservation District): Remove Bonde Weir and redesign the creek channel to re-open access to 40 miles of upstream spawning habitat for steelhead.

Caltha LLP provides expert consulting services to public and private sector clients nationwide to address water quality standards, wastewater permitting and assessing potential impacts of chemicals in the aquatic environment. Caltha LLP Aquatic Toxicology / WQ Standards Services Website

Minnesota Department of Health Grant To Reduce Mercury Exposure From Fish

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a $1.4 million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grant to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to reduce mercury exposure risk for women and children who live along Lake Superior’s north shore. Excessive blood mercury levels have been documented in infants in this area. The funding will be used to improve health screening and to develop more effective fish consumption advisories. Over the last three years, the GLRI has provided more than $320 million to clean up toxic contamination in Great Lakes Areas of Concern and to reduce the risks associated with toxic substances in the Great Lakes ecosystem.

The Grand Portage Chippewa Tribe and the Sawtooth Mountain Clinics in Grand Portage and Grand Marais, Minnesota will participate in the MDH project. Physicians affiliated with the clinics will survey consenting female patients of childbearing age about fish consumption and test blood mercury levels. Patients will also be counseled to promote safe fish consumption choices.

The work supported by the grant will build on an earlier EPA-funded study which was completed last year by MDH. In that study, 1,465 newborns in the Lake Superior Basin were tested for mercury in their blood. The study found that 8 % of the infants had mercury levels higher than those recommended as safe by EPA.


Caltha LLP provides expert consulting services to public and private sector clients nationwide to address water quality standards, wastewater permitting and assessing potential impacts of chemicals in the aquatic environment.
Caltha LLP Aquatic Toxicology / WQ Standards Services Website

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Grants Awarded In Michigan

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grants for projects in Michigan to improve water quality and reduce excess nutrients that contribute to harmful algal blooms in Great Lakes watersheds, including Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. The restoration projects in Michigan are:

• $350,000 to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality For Nutrient Reduction in the River Raisin and Lake Erie Basin: This project will reduce agricultural sources of nitrogen and phosphorus by 30 -50% through the installation of 133 water control structures on 4,000 – 5,000 acres of tilled cropland. Environmental benefits will include a reduction in nitrate and dissolved reactive phosphorus loadings from the treated areas to the River Raisin watershed and the Western Lake Erie Basin. This project builds on an earlier GLRI project which promoted voluntary best management practices designed to reduce nutrients from agricultural operations in the Raisin River watershed.
• $265,980 to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to Reduce Sediment and Nutrients Entering the Western Lake Erie Basin: The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will use this funding to increase implementation of effective conservation practices on farm fields to significantly reduce the quantity of sediment and nutrients discharged into the Western Lake Erie Basin. The project will prevent 30,400 tons of sediment, 42 tons of phosphorus and 67 tons of nitrogen from entering Lake Erie tributaries; 176 acres of wetlands will be restored.
• $499,741 to the Grand Traverse Bay Watershed Initiative for the Kids Creek Stormwater Reduction Project: This project will improve water quality on a major tributary to Kids Creek, an impaired stream in the Grand Traverse Bay watershed, by replacing underground culverts and channelized ditches with a natural meandering channel. The new stream channel will eliminate 73,000 square feet of impervious area, establish 27,000 square feet of floodplain and create a 15- to 30-foot-wide buffer. Green infrastructure will also be installed to further reduce stormwater and sedimentation impacts to Kids Creek.
• $995,204 to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for Kawkawlin River Targeted Phosphorus and E. Coli Reduction: This project will implement best management practices (BMPs) identified in the Kawkawlin River Watershed Management Plan. The BMPs include installing six miles of agricultural buffers, 1,700 acres of wind barriers, 1,000 feet of livestock exclusion fencing and planting 6,000 acres of cover crops. This project is expected to prevent E. coli, 15,491 pounds of phosphorus (30 % of the load reduction goal for the watershed) and 10,921 tons of sediment from reaching Saginaw Bay each year.
• $798,282 to the Muskegon River Watershed Assembly for Restoration of Riparian Areas in the Muskegon River Watershed: This project will reforest more than 400 acres of riparian land, restore 150 acres of streambank using native vegetation, put 150 acres of revegetated or natural riparian land into conservation easements, develop 14 forest stewardship plans and implement proper erosion control best management practices at four riparian sites in high priority sub-watersheds of the Muskegon River. This project is expected to prevent 100 tons of sediment, 1,000 pounds of phosphorus and 6,000 pounds of nitrogen from reaching the Muskegon River, the Muskegon Lake Area of Concern and Lake Michigan each year.
• $189,376 to Michigan State University for Locating and Targeting High-Impact Farm Fields to Reduce Phosphorus Discharges: This project will provide electronic mapping technology to agricultural conservation technicians (such as federal and state natural resource agency employees) that will help the technicians identify and target farm fields that are especially prone to high rates of phosphorus discharge. The technicians can then begin working with the owners of these targeted fields and encourage the implementation of conservation practices such as cover crops and improved management of phosphorus and drainage water. As a result of this project, conservation practice implementation can be focused on farm fields having the greatest impacts on water quality, ultimately resulting in a reduction of soluble phosphorus loading in the Saginaw basin.

Caltha LLP provides expert consulting services to public and private sector clients nationwide to address water quality standards, wastewater permitting and assessing potential impacts of chemicals in the aquatic environment.
Caltha LLP Aquatic Toxicology / WQ Standards Services Website

Industrial Storm Water Training: Eagan, Minnesota Nov 30, 2012

Complying with Minnesota Industrial Stormwater Requirements
Eagan, MN
Friday, November 30, 2012

This full day training seminar will cover the requirements of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP) for industrial storm water discharges. The course will begin with a discussion of the regulation of stormwater discharge under the Federal Clean Water Act, and then the specific requirements under the MPCA industrial permit, issued in 2010. This will include sector specific requirements, use of benchmark monitoring, effluent guideline monitoring and corrective action requirements. The morning session will include a discussion of additional requirements for stormwater discharges to impaired waters and other special waters identified in the MSGP.

The afternoon session will focus on implementing best managemt practices and development of a stormwater pollution prevention plan (SWPPP) at individual facilities. This will include a discussion of monitoring and reported requirements to comply with the Minnesota MSGP.

For more information or to register, go to:
Training Seminar - Complying with Minnesota Industrial Stormwater Requirements, November 30, 2012

Agenda

Industrial Stormwater Laws and Regulations

• Federal Clean Water Act overview
• Application of Clean Water Act to stormwater discharges

Minnesota industrial stormwater permitting process

• Overview of permit requirements
• Industrial sector-specific requirements
• Benchmark monitoring/effluent monitoring
• Corrective action triggers

Application of Rules/Permit to Individual Facilities

• Impaired waters/TMDLs
• Nondegradation/antidegradation requirements
• Special waters
• Wetlands
• Industrial sites with potential soil/groundwater contaminants
• Local and regional requirements

Creating Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP)

• Complying with stormwater control measure requirements
• Describing facility
• Providing assessment of activities and materials
• Modification and reporting requirements
• Availability requirements
• Construction site runoff control

Implementing Best Management Practices (BMPs)

• BMPs to achieve “no exposure”
• Stormwater reduction
• Reuse of stormwater
• Stormwater control/management
• Structural BMPs for treating stormwater
• Contingency planning for extreme weather

Sampling and Annual Reporting

• Setting up monitoring procedures
• Collecting and evaluating samples
• Submitting annual reports
• Modifying BMPs

US and Canada Amend Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Canada’s Minister of the Environment have signed the newly amended Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. The agreement, first signed in 1972 and last amended in 1987, is binational effort to protect the world’s largest surface freshwater system and the health of the surrounding communities.

The revised agreement will facilitate United States and Canadian action on threats to Great Lakes water quality and includes measures to anticipate and prevent ecological harm. New provisions address aquatic invasive species, habitat degradation and the effects of climate change, and support continued work on existing threats to human health and the environment in the Great Lakes Basin such as harmful algae, toxic chemicals, and discharges from vessels.

The overall purpose of the Agreement is “to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the waters” of the Great Lakes and the portion of the St. Lawrence River that includes the Canada-United States border. Both governments sought extensive input from stakeholders before and throughout the negotiations to amend the Agreement. Additionally, the amended Agreement expands opportunities for public participation on Great Lakes issues.

Caltha LLP provides expert consulting services to public and private sector clients nationwide to address water quality standards, wastewater permitting and assessing potential impacts of chemicals in the aquatic environment.
Caltha LLP Aquatic Toxicology / WQ Standards Services Website

Ohio Proposes Changes To Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator Exams

The Ohio EPA has proposed rules that will eventually allow a third party provider to sponsor and administer certifications exams for Water and Wastewater treatment plant operators. By using the third party, Ohio EPA hopes to provide examinations more often, in more locations throughout the state, using computer based testing. The Agency also believes that by using the third party, the pool of questions will expand and the third party will be responsible for verifying the validity of those test questions.

The cost of the third party administration may be passed on to applicants in the form of higher fees. In the interim, State-Sponsored exams will continue to be held twice per year in order to give operators the choice of the computerized approved exam-provider or the additional state examination. The Ohio EPA hopes to eventually eliminate the state sponsored exam and rely solely on the examinations provided by the approved exam provider.

Caltha LLP provides expert consulting services to public and private sector clients nationwide to address water quality standards, wastewater permitting and assessing potential impacts of chemicals in the aquatic environment.
Caltha LLP Aquatic Toxicology / WQ Standards Services Website