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News Release
RI Department of Environmental Management
235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908
(401) 222-2771 TDD/(401) 222-4462
For Release: August 3, 2007
Contact: Gail Mastrati 222-4700 ext. 2402
Stephanie Powell 222-4700 ext. 4418

DEM ANNOUNCES PLANS TO UPDATE REGULATIONS REGARDING OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS
Informational Meeting Set for Wednesday, August 15; Public Hearing will be Held on August 29

PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management will hold an informational education workshop on Wednesday, August 15 on proposed regulatory amendments regarding the operation and maintenance of wastewater treatment facilities. A public hearing on the proposed amendments will be held on Wednesday, August 29.

The proposed amendments update regulations that have not been revised since 1980, and concern facilities with surface water discharges only. They seek to better protect public health and water quality by improving oversight of privately owned wastewater collection and pumping systems, as well as clarifying DEM's oversight of wastewater collection and treatment systems. They also make clear the responsibilities of municipalities in policing private pumping stations and collections systems that are attached to their collection systems, a necessary clarification, given the growing number of private wastewater collection systems that are now attached to municipal systems.

The proposed regulations also spell out and call attention to current requirements for adequate capacity management and operation and maintenance of collection systems, given the expansion of public and private sewage collection systems, the state's aging sewer-collection infrastructure, and the trend of more frequent and intense rain events. They also include language looking to the future that would allow DEM to access facilities' operational real-time electronic data.

The draft regulations, and a companion paper, "", are available on DEM's website, www.dem.ri.gov, by clicking on "Regulations", then "Proposed Regulations/Amendments", then "Response to Comments".

The August 15 informal workshop will be held at 1 p.m. in Room 300 at DEM Headquarters, 235 Promenade Street in Providence. The public hearing will be held on August 29 at 1 p.m. at the same location. Written comments can be delivered at the public hearing or submitted by mail to DEM's Office of Water Resources, Operations and Maintenance Section, 235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908, where they must be received by 4 p.m. on Friday, August 31.

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rev. 4/29/08