Bill Text: OR HB2007 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to water; declaring an emergency.
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Failed) 2011-06-30 - In committee upon adjournment. [HB2007 Detail]
Download: Oregon-2011-HB2007-Introduced.html
76th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2011 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 3985
House Bill 2007
Sponsored by COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND LABOR
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
Makes legislative findings regarding water quality.
Requires Environmental Quality Commission and Department of
Environmental Quality to undertake certain efforts in relation to
water quality standards.
Requires Department of Environmental Quality to identify
certain permittees to apply for pilot water quality variance from
water quality standards. Requires report to Legislative Assembly.
Requires Department of Environmental Quality to identify
certain surface waters that do not meet certain criteria for
polychlorinated biphenyls. Requires department to prepare
multiple discharger variances and to submit variances to
Environmental Quality Commission and to United States
Environmental Protection Agency. Requires report to Legislative
Assembly.
Requires Department of Environmental Quality to identify
substances that exceed certain water quality standards. Requires
department to submit certain revised water quality standards to
Environmental Quality Commission and to United States
Environmental Protection Agency. Requires report to Legislative
Assembly.
Specifies certain requirements related to water quality
standards adopted by Environmental Quality Commission.
Declares emergency, effective on passage.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to water; and declaring an emergency.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. { + Sections 2 and 3 of this 2011 Act are added to
and made a part of ORS chapter 468B. + }
SECTION 2. { + The Legislative Assembly finds and declares
that:
(1) ORS 468B.035 and 468B.048 and the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act, P.L. 92-500, as amended, require the Environmental
Quality Commission to establish water quality standards for the
protection of human health in surface waters of this state. These
standards are implemented through wastewater discharge permits
for municipal and industrial facilities and through other legal
mechanisms.
(2) A source of pollutants in waters of this state is not
always within the legal or practicable control of this state.
This is often especially true of naturally occurring earth metals
that may be designated pollutants, pollutants from past human
activities pollutants contributed in small amounts from many
different human activities and pollutants generated outside this
state that ultimately reach waters of this state through
combustion sources, global air deposition and other means. As
water quality standards for the protection of human health become
more stringent, achieving the standards becomes increasingly
difficult because the sources of pollutants that are outside this
state's legal or practicable control become a larger proportion
of the pollutant sources and may alone cause the standards to be
exceeded.
(3) As water quality standards for the protection of human
health become increasingly stringent, the marginal benefits to
human health are likely to decrease, and both the absolute and
marginal economic, social and environmental costs of achieving
the standards are likely to increase.
(4) Because of the factors described in this section, very
stringent water quality standards for the protection of human
health may often result in wastewater permit discharge limits or
other requirements that are unreasonable because they are
infeasible or impossible to achieve, providing negligible or no
human health benefits. + }
SECTION 3. { + The Environmental Quality Commission and the
Department of Environmental Quality shall undertake, to the
extent allowed by federal law, all reasonable efforts to ensure
that the economic, social and environmental costs of achieving
waste discharge limits and other controls needed to meet water
quality standards for the protection of human health are
reasonable in relation to the human health benefits likely to be
achieved. + }
SECTION 4. { + (1) By October 1, 2011, the Department of
Environmental Quality shall identify one major municipal and one
major industrial National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
permittee in this state that are willing to apply for a pilot
water quality variance from a water quality standard for the
protection of human health not later than December 31, 2011. Not
later than June 30, 2012, the department shall either approve the
variances and submit the variances to the United States
Environmental Protection Agency for its approval or deny the
variances.
(2) If by December 31, 2011, the department does not receive
applications for the pilot water quality variances described in
subsection (1) of this section, the department shall report to
the Seventy-sixth Legislative Assembly by February 1, 2012. The
report shall discuss why the department considers that it did not
receive the applications, including whether the applications were
not received because no variance was needed by a major municipal
or industrial permittee or because no permittee was willing to
apply for the variance because of the cost, likelihood of
disapproval or other reasons.
(3) By November 1, 2012, the department shall report to the
Seventy-sixth Legislative Assembly on the pilot water quality
variances described in subsection (1) of this section. The report
shall include, but need not be limited to:
(a) A description of the variances;
(b) The department's reasons for approving or denying the
variances;
(c) The United States Environmental Protection Agency's action
if the variances were submitted to it for approval;
(d) The department personnel and other resources required to
process the variance applications, as well as the permittees'
costs to apply for the variances, to the extent that information
is available to the department or that it can be estimated; and
(e) The department's process for seeking comments on the
variance applications from the public, the United States
Environmental Protection Agency and other appropriate state and
federal agencies and tribal governments. + }
SECTION 5. { + (1) By October 1, 2011, the Department of
Environmental Quality shall identify the surface waters of the
state that do not meet the applicable human health water quality
criteria for polychlorinated biphenyls, including any more
stringent applicable human health water quality criteria for
polychlorinated biphenyls that have been adopted by the
Environmental Quality Commission but are not yet effective on the
effective date of this 2011 Act. The identification must be based
on reasonably available information, including information based
on the use of United States Environmental Protection Agency
Analytical Method 1668 and revisions thereof. The waters
identified must include at least all waters that are listed
pursuant to subsection 303(d) of the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act, P.L. 92-500, as amended, as having water quality
compromised due to presence of polychlorinated biphenyls.
(2) For the waters identified under subsection (1) of this
section, the department shall prepare a multiple discharger
variance or multiple discharger variances from the applicable
human health criteria for polychlorinated biphenyls for all those
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permittees to
which the criteria would apply and that may have a reasonable
potential to cause or contribute to a violation of the criteria.
Separate multiple discharger variances may be prepared for
different waters or categories of permittees. The multiple
discharger variances may be prepared with conditions or criteria
that would exclude permittees that would not be eligible for a
water quality variance.
(3) By June 30, 2012, the department shall submit the multiple
discharger variances described in this section to the
Environmental Quality Commission for adoption, and if so adopted,
to the United States Environmental Protection Agency for
approval.
(4) By November 1, 2012, the department shall report to the
Seventy-sixth Legislative Assembly on whether the multiple
discharger variances required by this section were adopted by the
Environmental Quality Commission and, if so, whether the
variances were submitted to and approved by the United States
Environmental Protection Agency. If any circumstances precluded
the department from preparing a multiple discharger variance or
multiple discharger variances for all the permittees required by
this section, the department shall identify which permittees or
categories of permittees were excluded and the reasons for the
exclusion, as well as what actions the department plans to take
to address these permittees' compliance with the applicable human
health criteria for polychlorinated biphenyls. + }
SECTION 6. { + (1) By November 1, 2011, the Department of
Environmental Quality shall identify in a report to the
Seventy-sixth Legislative Assembly any substances for which
concentrations allowed for that substance in a water quality
standard for the protection of human health, including any such
standard that has been adopted by the Environmental Quality
Commission but that is not yet effective for any waters of the
state, have been naturally exceeded or are likely to be naturally
exceeded.
(2)(a) For any substances and waters identified pursuant to
subsection (1) of this section for which there are discharges
permitted by the Department of Environmental Quality under the
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program,
the department shall evaluate whether and to what extent drinking
water, fishing and other beneficial uses protected by the human
health water quality standard are attainable at the natural
pollutant levels plus the pollutant allowances for human
activities that do not significantly impair these beneficial
uses.
(b) If the Department of Environmental Quality determines
pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection that the beneficial
uses are attainable, the department shall prepare and submit to
the Environmental Quality Commission by November 1, 2012, revised
human health water quality standards that are no more stringent
than standards that reflect the natural pollutant levels plus the
pollutant allowances for human activities that do not
significantly impair the beneficial uses. If the commission
agrees that the beneficial uses are attainable at the proposed
water quality standards or at less stringent standards, the
commission shall adopt the proposed or less stringent standards
and submit them to the United States Environmental Protection
Agency for approval.
(c) If the Department of Environmental Quality determines
pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection that the beneficial
uses are not attainable, if pursuant to paragraph (b) of this
subsection the Environmental Quality Commission does not agree
that the beneficial uses are attainable at the natural pollutant
levels plus the pollutant allowances for human activities that do
not significantly impair the human health uses or if the United
States Environmental Protection Agency does not approve the
standards submitted to the agency pursuant to paragraph (b) of
this subsection, the department shall prepare and submit to the
commission for approval:
(A) Revised water quality standards that do not include the
human health uses or that include designations of impaired human
health uses; and
(B) Revised water quality standards that are no more stringent
than standards that reflect the natural pollutant levels plus
pollutant allowances for human activities that do not
significantly impair the human health uses.
(d) The commission shall submit revised water quality standards
adopted pursuant to paragraph (c) of this subsection to the
United States Environmental Protection Agency for approval.
(3) The Department of Environmental Quality shall report to the
Seventy-sixth Legislative Assembly not later than December 31,
2012, on its actions and those of the Environmental Quality
Commission pursuant to the provisions of this section. + }
SECTION 7. { + For purposes of National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System permits issued by the Department of
Environmental Quality pursuant to ORS 468B.050 as part of this
state's administration of section 402 of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act, P.L. 92-500, as amended, any numeric water
quality standard for the protection of human health that is
adopted by the Environmental Quality Commission on or after the
effective date of this 2011 Act that is more stringent than any
standard adopted by the Environmental Quality Commission before
the effective date of this 2011 Act may not become effective
until March 1, 2013, or one year after it is approved by the
United States Environmental Protection Agency, whichever is
later. This section does not apply to any water quality standard
that the United States Environmental Protection Agency has not
been approved because it has determined that an earlier effective
date is necessary to comply with the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act. + }
SECTION 8. { + This 2011 Act being necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency
is declared to exist, and this 2011 Act takes effect on its
passage. + }
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