December Update

GOVERNOR NORTHAM NAMES NEW AIR AND WATER BOARD MEMBERS
On November 16, Governor Northam made four appointments to Virginia’s environmental citizen boards.  
On the State Air Pollution Control Board, Governor Northam appointed: 

The new Board members replace Rebecca Rubin and Samuel Bleicher whose terms expired in June.  The new Board members will serve a four-year term expiring in June 2022. The Governor has faced criticism for the timing of his appointments given a pending vote on an air compressor station permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. In response, the Governor will not “seat” the new members until after its December meeting (discussed below).   

On the State Water Control Board, Governor Northam appointed: 

The new Board members replace outgoing chair Robert Dunn and member Roberta Kellam, whose terms also expired in June.  The new Members will also serve a four-year term expiring in June 2022. 

CITIZEN BOARDS 
The State Water Control Board met on December 13.  The primary agenda item was the Board’s consideration of the final adoption of amendments to Virginia’s water quality standard for ammonia.  The new standards are based on EPA’s 2013 freshwater Ammonia criteria and are significantly more stringent than Virginia’s current criteria primarily due to the inclusion of toxicity data for freshwater mussels and snails which are the most sensitive organisms in the data set.  The proposed criteria are about twice as stringent as the current criteria.  These criteria were separated from the triennial review process due to the need for DEQ to develop a phased implementation plan (PIP) for dischargers to meet the more stringent standards.  Notably, the proposed PIP allows facilities to request and receive compliance schedules that extend beyond the five-year permit term of VPDES permits.  Although specific to the ammonia criteria, this is the first time DEQ has allowed for compliance schedules that exceed the permit term which is otherwise prohibited by DEQ regulation (9 VAC 25-31-250(A)(3)) though there is no federal prohibition on such extended compliance schedules. 

The Board will also consider for final adoption the VPDES General Permit for Discharges Resulting from the Application of Pesticides to Surface Waters. The existing General Permit will expire December 31, 2018, and the proposed General Permit had very few substantive revisions to the existing permit.  

The Board will also receive several TMDL reports – one for a bacteria TMDL in the Rudee Inlet in Virginia Beach, and one for a PCB TMDL for Reed Creek in the Upper New River. The Board will vote on the approval of seven revised waste load allocations for the TMDLs.   

The Waste Management Board met on January 8, and that meeting was summarized in a previous update.  Future meeting dates have not been set. 

The Board of Game and Inland Fisheries met on October 25.  No agenda items were relevant to VAA members.  The Board will next meet on January 24, 2019, and no agenda for that meeting has yet been posted.

The State Air Control Board met on November 8-9 to consider an air permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s Buckingham Compressor Station. The Board ultimately decided to postpone the vote on the permit and was set to meet on December 10, but due to the snow storm, the meeting was rescheduled for December 19 with the sole agenda item the consideration of the air permit. 

GENERAL INDUSTRIAL STORMWATER VPDES PERMIT OUT FOR PUBLIC COMMENT  
As authorized by the State Water Control Board in September, DEQ initiated a public comment period on the reissuance of the General Industrial Stormwater VPDES Permit.  The public comment period runs through December 28, 2018. 

As we have reported, the general permit includes helpful changes that streamline and clarify the requirements of the permit.  In particular, the permit does not require facilities to continue to sample for nitrogen, phosphorus in sediment for purposes of Chesapeake Bay TMDL requirements if, after four sampling events, it is demonstrated that the facility does not trigger the requirement for a TMDL Action Plan.

We will be drafting a letter on behalf of VAA in support of those changes and highlighting a few areas where additional clarification is needed. 

2019 GENERAL ASSEMBLY FAST APPROACHING
The 2019 General Assembly session convenes on Wednesday, January 9.  As 2019 is an odd-numbered year, this will be a short session (45 days) and should end around February 23 though adjournment and other dates such as crossover have not been set. Pre-filing of bills has commenced and will continue through January 9.  We will report on legislation of interest in future environmental updates. 

GOVERNOR ESTABLISHES HIGHWAY SAFETY TEAM
In yet another executive action, Governor Northam has created an executive leadership team on highway safety.  Through an Executive Directive (available here) issued on December 8, the Governor created the team and charged it with reducing the rising number of fatalities on Virginia’s roadways. The team is comprised of representatives from the Virginia Departments of Motor Vehicles, Transportation, Health, Education, and State Police, and is led by the Deputy Secretaries of Transportation and Public Safety and Homeland Security.  The team will be led by the Deputy Secretaries of Transportation and Public Safety.  Like other executive actions, this action calls for increased coordination between agencies.  The objectives of the team include prioritizing key strategies and actions in the Virginia Strategic Highway Safety Plan and identifying resources to implement actions to promote highway safety.  

NEW GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS 
DEQ recently issued a few new guidance documents. One newly published guidance document that may be of interest to VAA members is DEQ’s Hazardous Waste Inspector Manual.  The Manual provides good insights into the DEQ’s inspection process and is a good tool for evaluating your own Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) compliance program.  The Manual lays out in detail the elements of Compliance Evaluation Inspections (CEI), describes the scope of inspector authorities and responsibilities, provides detailed standard procedures for conducting RCRA inspections, and includes training materials for new hazardous waste inspection personnel, which may also be helpful in training your employees. The Manual was last updated in September 2017 but was published by DEQ last month. It is available here. 

Other guidance recently issued is not relevant to VAA members. For instance, DEQ issued a new air compliance guidance document for municipal solid waste landfills which is available here. 

UPCOMING REGULATORY DEADLINES
a) Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA) Reporting.  Members subject to EPCRA Tier II are reminded that the reporting deadline is March 1. More information is available on DEQ’s EPCRA page. 
b) Clean Air Act Title V Compliance Certification Reporting.  VAA members subject to Clean Air Act (CAA) Title V Compliance Certification Reporting are reminded of the upcoming March 1 deadline to submit your facility’s Annual Compliance Certification. The Compliance Certification form is available from DEQ here.