[Pharmwaste] U.S. EPA Antimicrobials (Biocides) proposed Data Requirements - Water Quality Data Needs Addressed]

[Kelly Moran]

Since many of the participants on this list are interested in water 
quality, I'm sharing the message below, which went to the 
California-based "Urban Pesticides Committee," a group of agencies & 
other stakeholders that share information relevant to the impacts of 
pesticides used in urban areas on surface water quality (see 
www.up3project.org).

Kelly Moran
TDC Environmental

-------- Original Message -------

For the UPC,

U.S. EPA recently released a proposed set of data requirements for
"antimicrobial" pesticides, which are biocides, wood preservatives, and
marine antifouling coatings.  The proposed rule has been designed with
the intent of providing U.S. EPA with the ability to require the data
necessary to assess the water quality impacts from antimicrobials,
whether applied directly to water, washed to storm drains, or discharged
to a municipal wastewater treatment plant.   The preamble to the draft
rule notes that information  from California water quality agencies
convinced U.S. EPA to design the new rule to provide for more robust
evaluation of antimicrobials' water quality impacts.

The portions of the rule related to municipal wastewater treatment
plants are precedent-setting.  U.S. EPA elected to design these
requirements for antimicrobials because they are the class of pesticides
that are most commonly discharged to municipal wastewater treatment
plants.  Biocides are among the "personal care products" for which
detections in the nation's surface waters have garnered extensive press
coverage.

Anticipating questions about the wastewater treatment plant
discharge-related data requirements, U.S. EPA is holding a workshop on
Thursday, November 6 that will (among other topics) specifically cover
the wastewater-related portions of the proposal.  These include a set of
four POTW-specific tests, a proposed process for using available models
to evaluate the impacts of discharges to municipal wastewater treatment
plants, and several case study examples to demonstrate how U.S. EPA
proposes to complete these evaluations.  For those unable to travel to
Washington DC, the workshop will be webcast; webcast information is
attached (note times are *Eastern* time zone).  Although the workshop
starts at 5:30 a.m. Pacific time, I understand that the wastewater
portion of the agenda will be in the afternoon Eastern time, when most
westerners should be able to be in their offices.

U.S. EPA is seeking input on these proposed requirements--particularly
its proposal for reviewing potential impacts associated with discharges
to municipal wastewater treatment plants.  I encourage UPC members to
review the draft rule, participate in the webcast, and share your
expertise with U.S. EPA, so as to help it design a high-quality
pesticide review process.  Since this proposal has nationwide
implications, I encourage you to share this message with your colleagues
across the nation who have relevant expertise.  This rule is very
important--a well-designed U.S. EPA pesticide review process can prevent
pesticide-related impacts on municipal wastewater treatment plant
operations, NPDES discharge permit compliance, and surface water quality.

A copy of the proposed rule and supporting documents are available in
the federal "docket" on the Internet--instructions for accessing it are
below.  Comments are due January 6, 2009.

Kelly Moran
TDC Environmental
UP3 Project

____________________

How to get a copy of the proposed rule:  The first step is to find the
docket. Once you've found the docket web page, the next step is to find
the rule on the page and download it.

GETTING TO THE DOCKET
_Option A_:  Paste this web address into your browser:

http://tinyurl.com/5aanlo*

*_Option B_:
(1) Go to www.regulations.gov
(2) Put the EPA docket number (EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0110
<http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=EPA 
<http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=EPA>-HQ-OPP-2008-0110>) 

or  "antimicrobials" into the search box
(3) click on the "docket ID number" in any of the search results

FINDING AND DOWNLOADING THE RULE
Once you reach the docket, you'll see a long list of documents (it is at
least a two web-page list).
--The proposed RULE is the very first item in the docket

OTHER ITEMS TO REVIEW
--The POTW discharge case studies are document #44 in the docket (on the
second web page)
--The test procedures referenced in the proposed rule are available on
the Internet. U.S. EPA Office of Pesticide Programs uses "Guideline"
test procedures.  The numbers for each Guideline (if one exists) are
listed in the left hand column in the tables in the proposed rule.  The
procedures themselves are available on the EPA web site:

http://www.epa.gov/opptsfrs/home/guidelin.htm

Note:  Sometimes draft & final versions of the same procedure number are
available.  Most of the "final" versions supersede the drafts, but when
no final procedure exists, U.S. EPA ordinarily uses the draft procedure.



 
 

Athena Honore

UP3 Project Manager

San Francisco Estuary Project

1515 Clay St, Suite 1400

Oakland, CA 94612

 

Phone: (510) 622-2325

Fax: (510) 622-2501

www.sfestuary.org

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Antimicrobial web conference instructions.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 17984 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.dep.state.fl.us/pipermail/pharmwaste/attachments/20081029/41374273/Antimicrobialwebconferenceinstructions-0001.pdf
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: FR Notice Antimicrobials Workshop Webcast.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 49189 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.dep.state.fl.us/pipermail/pharmwaste/attachments/20081029/41374273/FRNoticeAntimicrobialsWorkshopWebcast-0001.pdf