Public Health Pesticides and the Clean Water Act:

Current Status

Joseph M Conlon

Technical Advisor

FIFRA vs CWA

FIFRA CWA

Cost/benefit No cost/benefit

Risk-based Hazard-based

$7000/incident $37,000/day

No citizen suits Citizen suits

3

Pesticide General Permit: Contents

• Fact sheet

• Notice of Intent

• Effluent Limits

• Pest Management Discharge Plan

• Monitoring

• Annual Reporting

• Recordkeeping

4

Pesticide General Permit: Contents

• Fact sheet• Notice of Intent • Effluent Limits• Pest Management Discharge Plan• Monitoring • Annual Reporting• Recordkeeping

Fact Sheet Components

• Fact sheet will be public noticed with draft permit.

• Fact sheet includes information such as:– Principal facts and significant factual, legal,

methodological, and policy questions considered in preparing the permit.

– Description of types of activities covered.– Types of discharges covered.– Rationale for permit requirements, incl. calculations

and analysis.– Brief summary of the basis for permit conditions.

6

Pesticide General Permit: Contents

• Fact sheet

• Notice of Intent • Effluent Limits• Pest Management Discharge Plan• Monitoring • Annual Reporting• Recordkeeping

Notice of Intent (NOI)

• Type or scale of application – water-acres?

• Identify the responsible entity– Contact information - address, phone, email– Description of entity – Type of discharges (pesticide use patterns) – Receiving stream(s)– File electronically by > 10 days prior to discharge– Authorization date – 10 days after EPA receipt

• 25 (B) not “exempt”

8

Pesticide General Permit: Contents

• Fact sheet• Notice of Intent

• Effluent Limits• Pest Management Discharge Plan• Monitoring • Annual Reporting• Recordkeeping

Technology-Based Effluent Limits General Concept

• Minimize pesticide discharges – Based on integrated mosquito management

practices– Minimize pesticide discharges by BMPs that

are available and economically practicable– Use lowest effective amt. and optimize

frequency of applications– Regular maintenance– Calibrate

Technology-Based Effluent Limits Integrated Mosquito Management

– Identify problem– Mosquito management

• Prior/each year select for each treatment area

• Water quality/non-target/resistance/feasibility/cost effectiveness

– No action– Prevention– Mechanical/physical methods– Cultural methods– Biological control– Pesticides

– Pesticide Use - larvicides are primary

““Best Management Practices for Best Management Practices for Integrated Mosquito Management”Integrated Mosquito Management”

•Mosquito SurveillanceMosquito Surveillance

•MappingMapping

•Action ThresholdsAction Thresholds

•Physical Control or Source ReductionPhysical Control or Source Reduction

•Biological ControlBiological Control

•Chemical ControlChemical Control

•Monitoring for Efficacy/ResistanceMonitoring for Efficacy/Resistance

•Education and Community OutreachEducation and Community Outreach

•Record-keeping Record-keeping

Water Quality-Based Effluent Limitations

• Narrative– Discharge must be controlled as necessary to

meet numeric WQS– EPA may impose additional limitations or

require individual permit

13

Pesticide General Permit: Contents

• Fact sheet• Notice of Intent • Effluent Limits

• Pest Management Discharge Plan

• Monitoring • Annual Reporting• Recordkeeping

Pesticide Discharge Management Plan - General

• Within 90 days of NOI

• Documents implementation of permit requirements

• Can reference pre-existing IMM plans

• Not subject to challenge

Pesticide Discharge Management Plan - Components

• Pesticide Discharge Management Team• Problem• Control measures• Surveillance• Schedules and procedures

– Spill prevention/response

– Equipment maintenance

– Adverse incident response plan

– Pesticide monitoring

Pesticide Discharge Management Team

• Person(s) responsible for: – Managing mosquitoes– Developing PDMP– Taking corrective actions– Pesticide applications

Problem Description

• Treatment area – description and boundaries

• Mosquito management objective

• Target species

• Action thresholds

• Applicable WQS and data source

Description of Control Measures

• Water quality/non-target/resistance/feasibility/cost effectiveness– No action– Prevention– Mechanical/physical methods– Cultural methods– Biological control

Description of Control Measures

• Name of pesticide and EPA registration #

• Procedures for determining lowest effective amt. and freq of application

• Document why larviciding is not primary method

Surveillance

• Must document procedures for conducting pre and post-application surveillance– Where– When– How

Schedules and Procedures

• Spill prevention/response

• Equipment maintenance/calibration

• Adverse incident response procedure

• Pesticide monitoring– Process for determining monitoring location– Schedule and procedures for monitoring– Person(s) responsible for monitoring

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Pesticide General Permit: Contents

• Fact sheet• Notice of Intent • Effluent Limits• Pest Management Discharge Plan

• Monitoring • Annual Reporting• Recordkeeping

Site Monitoring

• Required– “visual monitoring” of “application area”

• During application in daylight – except aerial/truck

• During post application efficacy check

• Unanticipated death/distress of non-targets

• Disruption of wildlife habitat, recreational, or municipal water

– “enhanced visual monitoring” for some applications

– No ambient water quality testing foreseen – yet

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Pesticide General Permit: Contents

• Fact sheet• Notice of Intent • Effluent Limits• Pest Management Discharge Plan• Monitoring

• Annual Reporting• Recordkeeping

Annual Reporting

• Permittee’s name• NPDES Permit tracking #• Permittee’s mailing address• Contact name, title, e-mail, phone #• EPA registration #s• Amount of product used• Location/names of waters • Mosquitoes controlled• Submit electronically

26

Pesticide General Permit: Contents

• Fact sheet• Notice of Intent • Effluent Limits• Pest Management Discharge Plan• Monitoring • Annual Reporting

• Recordkeeping

Recordkeeping

• Required to be on hand– Copy of permit – can be electronic– Copy of any adverse incident reports– Copy of NOI

EPA Permit Issuance as Federal Action

• Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires EPA consultation with USFWS and NOAA

• EPA is discussing PGP with the Services

• Discussions may result in additional permit requirements.

Schedule

June 2009

June 2009

Oct 2009

Oct 2009

Apr/May 2010

Apr/May 2010

Dec 2010

Dec 2010

Apr 9, 2

011

Apr 9, 2

011

Discuss

Prototype

Discuss

Prototype

Public C

omment o

n Dra

ft

Public C

omment o

n Dra

ft

Permits

– 60/90 Days

Permits

– 60/90 Days

Mandate

Issues

Mandate

Issues

Issue F

inal Perm

it

Issue F

inal Perm

it

2 mo2 mo.. 8 mo8 mo.8 mo8 mo. 4 mo4 mo..

Update

• Cert petitions appealing 6th CCA decision to SCOTUS filed on 11 January 2010

• Congressional amicus curiae

• AMCA filed amicus curiae in two cases involving CWA– NPDES – 6th Circuit (with NASDA, et al.)

– Peconic – 2nd Circuit

Supreme Court CertAmicus Curiae

• Industry - invasive species

• Solicitor General Files in opposition– Argued opinion and should have deferred to EPA

expertise

– However:• Only applies to very narrow range of activities

• Cited grant of 2 year stay

• Sufficient time for general permit development to minimize potential disruptions

Supreme Court CertEnvironmentalist Amicus Curiae

"Imagining catastrophe, Petitioners argue that the Sixth Circuit's opinion will sweep into the Act's permitting program a variety of activities Congress did not intend to regulate…they suggest that this case warrants review because other courts may mistakenly extend the Sixth Circuit's analysis beyond the opinion's holding.”

Second Circuit

• Peconic Baykeeper

– Appealing dismissal of claims made against Suffolk County for spraying w/o permit

– No precedence to abide by 6th Circuit

– Court wants to wait until permit to be issued

What Now?

• Supreme Court to accept/deny Cert by February 22– If accepted, oral arguments by October

– If cert denied, mandates goes into effect 9 April 2011

• Second Circuit to opine April – June in Peconic