Revision: Jan. 24, 2017, 12:52 p.m.
SB 121 - AS INTRODUCED
2017 SESSION
17-0878
08/10
SENATE BILL 121
AN ACT relative to the MS 4 list of the department of environmental services.
SPONSORS: Sen. Sanborn, Dist 9; Sen. Watters, Dist 4; Rep. Cordelli, Carr. 4
COMMITTEE: Energy and Natural Resources
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This bill requires the department of environmental services to send the MS4 list to the environmental protection agency.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
17-0878
08/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seventeen
AN ACT relative to the MS 4 list of the department of environmental services.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Department of Environmental Services; Issuance of List of Impaired Waters; Findings. The general court finds:
I. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, commonly called the Clean Water Act, as last reauthorized by the Water Quality Act of 1987, requires each state to submit a list of impaired waters to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) every 2 years. The document is typically called the "303(d) List," so named because it is a requirement of Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act.
II. The New Hampshire department of environmental services (department) is responsible for submitting a list of impaired waters to the EPA in accordance with the Clean Water Act.
III. The last 303(d) List approved by the EPA for New Hampshire is the 2012 303(d) List. The 2012 303(d) List relied upon water quality data that is now very outdated.
IV. The 2012 303(d) List is based, in part, upon the June 2009 Numeric Nutrient Criteria for the Great Bay Estuary. In 2014, an independent peer review of the 2009 Numeric Nutrient Criteria concluded that the 2009 criteria was scientifically deficient and could not be relied upon. Following the publication of the 2014 independent peer review report, the Department withdrew the 2009 Numeric Nutrient Criteria for the Great Bay Estuary.
V. Because the 2012 303(d) List relied upon the 2009 Numeric Nutrient Criteria document, the 2012 303(d) List is not scientifically valid. The 2014 List should delist all such waters as nutrient impaired if there is no scientifically defensible information to document nutrient impairment.
VI. The draft 2014 303(d) List, issued in October 2015, delisted a number of previously impaired water bodies around the state. This delisting has significant Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System MS4 permit and/or wastewater treatment ramifications to those communities who have water bodies that would no longer be on the "impaired list." An impairment listing triggers significant additional regulatory requirements under EPA's draft New Hampshire MS4 permit.
2 Direction to Send List to Environmental Protection Agency. The general court directs the department to act immediately and send to EPA a Final 2014 303(d) List that eliminates outdated or speculative impairment designations. The general court further directs the department to immediately begin work on the 2016 303(d) List utilizing the most current scientific data. The department should not only consider 2015 water quality data, but should also seek to expedite the quality assurance review of the available 2016 data. The department is directed to submit the final 2016 303(d) List to the EPA no later than April 1, 2017.
3 Department of Environmental Services; Delegation of Authority for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit Program (NPDES). The general court directs the department to submit an application to the Environmental Protection Agency to receive authorization to administer the NPDES program pursuant to the Clean Water Act Section 402(b) and 40 CFR Part 123 no later than June 1, 2017.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.