City Commissioners will be asked during their Feb. 6 meeting to adopt changes to city code pertaining to the industrial pretreatment program and prohibited discharges and limitations.
Commissioners accepted to code change on first reading in August, but were awaiting a public comment period and approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The city received that approval for a program modification on Jan. 16. The EPA noted no substantive comments were received during the public comment period.
The city’s current Montana Pollutant Discharge Permit for the wastewater treatment plant was renewed on Sept. 1, 2019.
City considering update to industrial pretreatment program
The 2019 permit contains requirements that the city determines if the existing technically based local limits are adequate to implement the general and specific prohibitions of the industrial pretreatment program.
The city’s local limits currently in city code are a direct reflection of the permit’s effluent limitations and were last updated in 2016.
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City staff conducted a technical review of its local limits and concluded re-evaluation was necessary, according to the staff report.
Staff conducted sampling to update analytical data reflecting current influent and effluent at the wastewater treatment plant and used the latest EPA guidelines to develop the proposed limits.
City staff submitted a draft report of the proposed limits to EPA for review and have made multiple updates to address EPA comments and concerns, according to the staff report.
The EPA notified the city in July that the proposed local limits were considered “approvable,” pending city ordinance updates, according to staff.
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The new local limits will “enforce more stringent applicable water quality standards and help protect the city’s publicly owned treatment works, including the wastewater treatment plant, sanitary sewer collection system and lift stations,” according to the staff report.
The proposed ordinance adjust the city’s industrial pretreatment local limits to reflect the city’s current 2019 permit requirements.
If Commissioners don’t adopt the code changes, the EPA would require the city to enforce the existing limits, which are “less stringent than necessary to ensure the wastewater plant remains in compliance with state and federal regulations; are less stringent than necessary to ensure potential contaminants are not discharged to our local waterbodies, and do not reflect the city’s current influent/effluent characteristics,” according to the public works staff report.
