INCONSISTENCIES IN CSO/SSO PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION: MAJOR FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS FOR MUNICIPAL ENTITIES

For the past decade EPA has been in the process of developing numerous requirements applicable to design and permitting of facilities intended to ensure proper management of wet weather flows. These requirements have been issued in a number of contexts and have, at times, been subject to widely varying interpretation across the country. These actions include:Issuance of various combined sewer overflow policies;Development of regulations to require elimination of sanitary sewer overflows;Enforcement actions against municipal entities interpreting various NPDES regulations adopted under different circumstances;Objections to state program permits;Informal guidance to Regional Offices; andRegional Office initiatives.The purpose of this paper is to review the major inconsistencies in current program implementation, evaluate the proper application of the applicable federal regulations and permit approaches and to recommend broadly, how communities with SSO and CSO related flows should approach state and federal agencies in resolving these matters.