 | Vol. 6 No. 4 Spring 1999 |
| A Newsletter About New Jersey's Water Quality Programs |
 Modified from a photo by Stanley V. Cach, Jr. |
DEP to Complete Implementation of National CSO Policy
by Dan Zeppenfeld |
The DEP and EPA are preparing to complete the remaining elements of the National Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Control Policy's Long-term Control Planning Process. To initiate a consensus building process with owners and/or operators of combined sewer systems (CSS), a Program Launch meeting is planned this spring. The DEP will be directly contacting stakeholders, consultants and other involved parties as soon as the conference arrangements are finalized.
Long-term control plans, developed under the National CSO Control Policy, require the monitoring and modeling of combined sewer systems and affected receiving waterbodies to characterize the frequency, duration, nature, and influences of CSO discharges, as well as other regulatory and facility planning obligations. To help CSS stakeholders meet these regulatory responsibilities, the DEP proposes to integrate their planning obligations with the planning obligations of other point and nonpoint stakeholders in the watershed management planning process. This will promote a joint, comprehensive evaluation of the influences of both CSOs and other point and nonpoint discharges in the watershed. Working within this framework will foster the development of cost-effective, multimedia, corrective action strategies using regulatory and non-regulatory resources. This approach has been assessed by both the DEP and EPA who determined that the National CSO Control Policy's minimum criteria requirements will be met or exceeded.
Activities proposed in the Watershed Planning Process include: identification and notification of all stakeholders, development of water quality goals and concerns, identification of areas of non-attainment and other water quality concerns, identification of CSO and non-CSO sources of pollution, development of corrective action plans and/or TMDLs (Total Maximum Daily Loads), development and implementation of CSO and non-CSO source "system-wide" facility controls, and performance assessment.
The DEP's Statewide CSO Control Program consists of three major program elements that form a single, comprehensive control strategy as follows:
Additionally, through the issuance of NJPDES permits or other enforceable commitments, the DEP initiated the first phase of the National CSO Control Policy's Long-term Control Planning (LTCP) Process by requiring land-side monitoring and modeling activities for developing stormwater management models. These models simulate how combined sewer systems respond to precipitation events by identifying the pollutant loadings discharged to receiving waterbodies. The models also serve as tools for developing and evaluating control measures.