DEM ISSUES AMENDED REQUIREMENTS FOR SEWAGE COLLECTION AND TREATMENT

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Amended O&M Rules

News Release
RI Department of Environmental Management
235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908
(401) 222-2771 TDD/(401) 222-4462

For Release:	May 6, 2008
Contact:	Gail Mastrati 222-4700 ext. 2402 Stephanie Powell 222-4700 ext. 4418

DEM ISSUES AMENDED REQUIREMENTS FOR SEWAGE COLLECTION AND TREATMENT
Rules Aimed at Improving Operation and Maintenance of Sewage Systems to Further Protect Public Health and the Environment

PROVIDENCE-The Department of Environmental Management announces that updated regulations, scheduled to take effect on May 19, will vastly modernize statewide requirements for the operations and maintenance of sewage collection and treatment systems. Responding to aging sewage collection systems and the steady increase in privately owned sewage-collection infrastructure, DEM revised its "Rules and Regulations for the Operation and Maintenance of Wastewater Treatment Facilities" to clarify and codify the operation, maintenance, and capacity management requirements for publicly and privately owned wastewater infrastructure.

"The changes in these regulations are founded on two fundamental issues," says DEM Director W. Michael Sullivan, Ph.D. "The first is, of course, ensuring that those who own and operate wastewater collection and treatment systems do so properly, which means protecting human health and the Ocean State ecology as best as possible. This especially includes protecting the shellfishing industry and tourism. The second issue is helping communities understand that their wastewater assets — their sewer mains, pump stations and repair equipment — are some of the most expensive and technically advanced that they own. To adequately maintain and fund these major assets, which are often hidden from public view, just makes good economic sense. It's like maintaining your car: in the end, it's cheaper to spend $20 or $30 on an oil change every few months than it is to replace a seized engine."

The regulations, which have not been revised since their promulgation in 1979, require so-called "satellite systems" — those municipal collection systems that discharge to another community's collection system for final treatment at a wastewater treatment facility — to have a written plan for operations and maintenance, as well as design data and emergency response plans. Under the previous regulations, the owner of a sewage treatment plant was responsible for the entire collection system, no matter what community the sewer system extended into. The new regulations also ensure that communities track proper maintenance of private wastewater systems that have been allowed access into a publicly owned system.

"While many communities are doing some great work to modernize their systems and their programs to protect public health from sewage spills," Sullivan says, "many other communities have some work ahead of them to ensure that they are taking appropriate measures to maintain and fund their sewer systems. But they won't be doing this alone. The Department and the federal Environmental Protection Agency will be providing technical assistance and guidance to help especially the smaller communities meet these requirements in a reasonable time, taking into account the harsh financial times we are all facing."

The updated regulations can be found on DEM's website, www.dem.ri.gov, by clicking on "Water Resources" under "Regulations". For technical assistance and guidance, municipal officials can contact Bill Patenaude at 222-4700 ext. 7264, or via e-mail at bill.patenaude@dem.ri.gov.

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