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PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 09-1110

NOTICES

Availability of Technical Guidance

[39 Pa.B. 3136]
[Saturday, June 20, 2009]

   Technical guidance documents are available on the Department of Environmental Protection's (Department) web site at http://www.depweb.state.pa.us (DEP Keywords: ''Technical Guidance''). The ''Final Documents'' heading is the link to a menu of the various Department bureaus where each bureau's final technical guidance documents are posted. The ''Draft Technical Guidance'' heading is the link to the Department's draft technical guidance documents.

   The Department will continue to revise its nonregulatory documents, as necessary, throughout 2009.

Ordering Paper Copies of Department Technical Guidance

   The Department encourages the use of the Internet to view and download technical guidance documents. When this option is not available, persons can order a paper copy of any of the Department's draft or final technical guidance documents by contacting the Department at (717) 783-8727.

   In addition, bound copies of some of the Department's documents are available as Department publications. Check with the appropriate bureau for more information about the availability of a particular document as a publication.

Changes to Technical Guidance Documents

   Following is the current list of recent changes. Persons who have questions or comments about a particular document should call the contact person whose name and phone number is listed with each document.

Draft Technical Guidance

   DEP ID: 362-4180-002. Title: Civil Penalty Calculation Procedure for Pollution Incidents. Description: This revised technical guidance has been developed to establish uniform instructions and procedure for calculating civil penalties for most pollution incidents where pollutants have been discharged to waters of the Commonwealth. Upon publication in the PA Bulletin as final it will replace the current version posted on the Department's web site. Penalties are calculated based on a range of mitigating factors to consider in relation to the magnitude of the violation. Besides the fundamental unauthorized discharge penalty factors (Damage, Willfulness and History), this revision incorporates references to additional regulations that allow staff to consider specific violations that may result from a typical pollution incident: the failure to mitigate; the failure to take preventative actions; the failure to develop a PPC Plan; causing a sheen and violating general water quality standards. Additionally, the guidance allows the Department to recover its costs associated with the violation, such as laboratory, supplies, travel and employee costs. The total penalty is then based on the sum of the unauthorized discharge under The Clean Streams Law, the associated regulations and recoverable Department costs associated with the violation. Written Comments: Interested persons may submit written comments on this draft technical guidance document by July 20, 2009. Comments submitted by facsimile will not be accepted. The Department will accept comments submitted by e-mail. A return name and address must be included in each e-mail transmission. Written comments should be submitted to Robert Kachonik, Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Water Standards and Facility Regulation, Rachel Carson State Office Building, 11th Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8774, (717) 772-4018, rkachonik@state.pa.us. Contact: Questions regarding the draft technical guidance should be directed to Robert Kachonik at (717) 772-4018, rkachonik@state.pa.us. Effective Date: Upon publication of notice as final in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

   DEP ID: 362-4180-006. Title: Civil Penalty Assessment Informal Hearing Procedure. Description: This draft technical guidance has been developed to establish standardized instructions to be used by Department Water Quality Field Operations staff for the assessment of civil penalties for violations of National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. Section 92.93(b) of the Department's Rules and Regulations provides that a person who has been served with a proposed civil penalty assessment by the Department for a violation of NPDES permitting requirements may request an informal hearing on the proposed assessment. This draft guidance incorporates the elements of Section 605 of the Clean Streams Law and 25 Pa. Code 92 that will assist Water Quality Field Operations staff to consistently adhere to methods described in regulation regarding the informal hearing process. Written Comments: Interested persons may submit written comments on this draft technical guidance document by July 20, 2009. Comments submitted by facsimile will not be accepted. The Department will accept comments submitted by e-mail. A return name and address must be included in each e-mail transmission. Written comments should be submitted to Robert Kachonik, Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Water Standards and Facility Regulation, Rachel Carson State Office Building, 11th Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8774, (717) 772-4018, rkachonik@state.pa.us. Contact: Questions regarding the draft technical guidance should be directed to Robert Kachonik at (717) 772-4018, rkachonik@state.pa.us. Effective Date: Upon publication of notice as final in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

   DEP ID: 362-4180-001. Title: Guidance for Civil Penalty Calculations for Effluent Violations. Description: This revised guidance document provides instructions for the calculation of civil penalties for effluent violations. Section 605(a) of the PA Clean Streams Law, 35 P. S. 691.605(a); Civil Penalties Generally, requires the Department to consider the willfulness of the violation, damage to waters of the Commonwealth, cost of restoration, and other relevant factors. This revised guidance document primarily differs from the 2002 version by including the Willfulness factor. In addition, unlike the 2002 version, which calculated penalties by starting out low and working upwards to the statutory maximum of $10,000 per day per violation, this revision starts out at the statutory maximum and is then factored down allowing for more appropriate penalty amounts. Furthermore, this revision allows the Department to take into consideration the Economic Benefit of a violation and also allows the Department to include recoverable costs associated with the violation. Written Comments: Interested persons may submit written comments on this draft technical guidance document by July 20, 2009. Comments submitted by facsimile will not be accepted. The Department will accept comments submitted by e-mail. A return name and address must be included in each e-mail transmission. Written comments should be submitted to Robert Kachonik, Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Water Standards and Facility Regulation, Rachel Carson State Office Building, 11th Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8774, (717) 772-4018, rkachonik@state.pa.us. Contact: Questions regarding the draft technical guidance should be directed to Robert Kachonik at (717) 772-4018, rkachonik@state.pa.us. Effective Date: Upon publication of notice as final in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

Final Technical Guidance--Minor Revision

   DEP ID: 361-0100-003. Title: Water Quality Toxic Management Strategy. Description: The primary purpose of this Toxic Management Strategy (TMS) is to regulate priority pollutants and other pollutant discharges by point sources in order to avoid toxic impact on human health and aquatic life. This TMS also encourages a consistent Statewide approach for dealing with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) priority pollutants that are known or suspected to have toxic impacts under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program. It is based upon the Department's Toxic Management Policy Statement as contained in Title 25 Pa. Code Chapter 16 available on the web www.pacode.com. This minor revision to the TMS is to clarify how ''nondetect'' or ''ND'' values in Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMR) are to be reported in the eDMR system. The current TMS indicates, on page 16, that permittees should report ''nondetect'' or ''ND'' on the DMR, which cannot be accepted by the Department's eDMR system. The TMS has been revised to require permittees to use the less than (<) symbol, which is widely accepted by the eDMR system for nondetect data. Contact: Questions regarding this minor revision for the technical guidance document should be directed to Dharmendra Kumar at (717) 783-2288 or dkumar@ state.pa.us. Effective Date: Upon publication of notice as final in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

JOHN HANGER,   
Secretary

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 09-1110. Filed for public inspection June 19, 2009, 9:00 a.m.]


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