DEQ Update

1
DEQ Update

• Commission on the Future of Virginias
  Environment
• November 29, 2001

2
Solid Waste Management Regulations

• Regulated Medical Waste, Amd 2
• Public Comment Period 11/19 - 1/23
• Public Hearings 1/4, 1/7, 1/8
• Final Board action late spring
• Effective date 30 days after final approval

3
Solid Waste Management Regs contd.

• Barge Regulations
• Final Regulations approved 12/18/00
• Petition for suspension recd 2/8/01
• 2nd public comment period 3/12 - 4/12
• Reconvened TAC meetings 11/15, 12/13
• Draft Submitted to Board Spring 2002
• Includes provisions from 1998 and 1999
  legislation dealing with container requirements
  and waste handling

4
Solid Waste Management Regs contd

• Solid Waste Management, Amd 3
• TAC meetings 9/5 - 11/7
• Draft presented to Board 12/12/01
• Public comment period early Spring 2002
• Final action by the Board Summer/fall 2002
• Will address provisions from 1999-2000 session
  such as determination of need for additional
  capacity and increased landfill siting review

5
Closure of HB1205 Landfills

• Notice of final closure dates sent to landfills
  on 9/28
• No notices of appeal have been received (deadline
  was on October 31)
• Prioritization based upon relative risks to human
  health and the environment
• 8 landfills ranked High will close by 2007
• 18 landfills ranked Medium will close by 2012
• 9 landfills ranked Low will close by 2020

6
Current Monitoring Program Funding

• DEQ Staff 33 FTEs 1,841,000
• DCLS 1,287,000
• Contractual Costs 2,209,000
• Field Support 357,000
• travel, supplies,
• equipment ___________
• 5,694,000
• Does not include costs for monitoring conducted
  for water quality standards development

7
How Many River Miles Are Currently Monitored?

• For Year 2000 305(b) Assessment,
• Approximately 10,000 miles assessed
• 20.2 of total 49,460 miles
• Based on
• 1,400 DEQ Ambient Monitoring Stations
• 1,400 additional stations
• Federal (USGS, USFS, etc.)
• State (VDH Shellfish, etc.)
• Citizen monitoring (Alliance for CB, SOS, etc.)

8
Monitoring Trends
Number of monitoring stations have increased
about 10 since FY96 - large increase in last
two years due to expanded computerized tracking.
Number of observations is a good indicator of
overall frequency and coverage, due to
variability in types of monitoring.
9
WQMIRA - 62.1-44.195. IIncreases in water
quality monitoring

• Contingent upon the appropriation of adequate
  funding for this purpose,
• the number of water quality monitoring stations
  and the frequency of sampling shall be increased
  by at least five percent annually, and
• all fish tissue and sediment monitoring for the
  segments identified in the water quality
  monitoring plan shall occur at least once every
  three years.

10
Funding Required for Increased Monitoring Under
WQMIRA

• Increase Water Quality Monitoring by 5
• 2 FTEs
• 142,000 in Non-Personnel Services Costs
• Increase Fish Tissue Monitoring to 3 year
  rotation
• 1 FTE
• 410,000 in Non-Personnel Services Costs
• DEQ budget submission requests and additional
  3FTEs and 760,000 per year to meet these needs

11
State Programmatic General Permit Approval (2001
non-tidal wetlands legislation)

• Public comment on COE proposal 10/31 - 12/14
• COE approval anticipated end of January
• Final approval subject to review by EPA
• Includes effective date after July 1, 2002
• delay allows time to address DEQ staffing needs
• DEQ budget submissions requests 8 FTEs and
  620,000 per year to implement the SPGP

12
SPGP contd.

• Proposal establishes tiers of state and federal
  coverage
• Tier I State permits for impacts up to 1/2 acre
  (no federal permit required)
• approximately 86 of projects impact less than
  1/2 acre
• Tier II State permits for impacts of 1/2 to up
  to 2 acre (federal permit required for those
  screened out by federal agencies)
• approximately 7 of projects impact 1/2 - 1 acre
• Federal agencies could require a federal kick
  out of SPGP if sensitive resources are impacted

13
Virginia Petroleum Storage Tank Fund
14
Fund Revenue vs. Expenditures2000 - 2001

• Revenue ? 33 million per year
• Fee on gasoline .002-.006 per gallon based on
  Fund balance
• at .006 since 09/98
• Cleanup Costs ? 39 million per year
• 26 million for reimbursement of regulated tank
  cleanups
• 10 million for reimbursement of unregulated tank
  cleanups
• 3 million for state lead cleanups
• Program Costs ? 5 million per year
• Inspections, reimbursement program, etc.

15
Reimbursement Backlog

• 2000 - 2001 demand exceeded revenue by
  approximately 11 million per year
• Current deficit of 22 Million
• Payment Queue of 1,650 Claims
• Payments Delayed 12 Months

15
16
Changes Already Implemented

• DEQ Revisions to clean up activities required for
  low-risk releases
• DEQ Revisions to Usual and Customary Rates (UCRs)
  for certain activities (ex differentiated
  between time required for writing simple reports
  versus more complex reports)
• Implementation of new DMV fee collection
  practices will increase collections/revenue

17
Impact of Changes

• Anticipated cost reductions / savings
• 6 million FY02
• 9 million FY03
• estimated cleanup costs savings for CY2001
  projected at 33M (6 million less than in
  previous year)
• Increased Collections 1.2M
• Demand anticipated to exceed revenue by
• 4M in FY02
• 1M in FY03
• Note FY01 demand exceeded revenue by 11M
• Includes changes realized from DMV collection
  practices, revisions to required cleanup
  activities and Uniform Cost Rates. No Fund
  savings realized from claim deferrals.

18
VPSTF TAC Recommendations

• Enhance enforcement against non-compliant tanks
• Increase deductible for unregulated tanks
• From 500 to 2,000, estimated savings of
  500,000
• Eliminate disincentive for private insurance
• Support low interest financing of claims
• Continue DEQ administrative cost savings
• Temporary increase in fund fee until backlog is
  eliminated (recommendation not unanimous)
• From 6/10 to 9/10 per gallon
• Estimated increased annual revenue of 16.5M

19
DEQ Recommendations

• Continuation of cost savings measures already
  implemented
• No increase in fuel fee or owner deductible
  warranted
• based on current estimates, backlog will either
  only slightly increase or will be eliminated over
  11 years if no further changes are made
• Enhance inspection and compliance efforts
• Need to more fully examine opportunities for
  private insurance
• Utilize VRA bonding proposal to ease any claimant
  problems associated with delay in reimbursements