HomeMy WebLinkAbout4 - Information Item: Agenda Item for November 19, 207 meetingCITY OF BOULDER
WATER RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD
NON-AGENDA ITEM
TO: WRAB Members
FROM: Ned Williams, Director of Public Works for Utilities
DATE: October 9, 2007
RE: Information about Agenda Item for November 19, 2007 Meeting
At the November 19, 2007 WRAB meeting, staff will be requesting a Final Recommendation
concerning revisions to the Boulder Revised Code related to the industrial pretreatment program.
These changes will be considered by the City Council in December or January.
If WRAB members have any questions about these proposed changes and would like to talk to
city staff before the Nov. 19 WRAB meeting, please contact me.
BACKGROUND:
Pretreahnent staff has been working with City Attorney's Office to update Boulder Revised
Code Title ll Chapter 3 Industrial and Prohibited Discharges. The purposes for the revisions
are: (1) to insert new code language and modify existing code language to comply with changes
to the Federal Clean Water Act - 40 CFR Part 403 published October 14, 2005, (2) to insert a
reference to Rules Concerning Treatment And Disposal OfAmalgam Wastewater Within The
City Of Boulder, Apri121, 2007, and (3) correct a previously misstated flashpoint limit.
In October 2005, the Environmental Protection Agency published in the Federal Register
changes to 40 CFR part 403 - Streamlining the General Pretreatment Regulations for Existing
and New Sources ofPollution. These code changes clarify existing pretreahnent standards,
require additional standazds to be implemented, and add increased flexibility for some industrial
users. Currently city of Boulder wastewater permits already incorporate some of these changes,
therefore regulated industrial users in Boulder will be impacted minimally if at all, from these
changes. In the future, industrial users that qualify may apply for decreased regulatory oversight
in accordance with the code changes proposed. Again the main impetus for this revision to
B.R.C. 11-3 is to incorporate elements required by changes to federal code.
Other changes to the code include the insertion of a reference to Rules Concerning Treatment
And Disposal OfAmalgam Wastewater Within The City Of Boulder, April 21, 2007, and to
correct a previously misstated flashpoint limit. The first of these changes calls out the new rule
in the ordinance. There will be no pretreatment program changes based on this insertion. The
second change, to correct the city flashpoint limit, changes the limit from 187 degrees F to 140
degrees F. The flashpoint limit is established to prevent explosive atmospheres in city sewer
lines and at the wastewater treatment plant. The limit proposed by this code change, 140 degrees
F(60 degrees C) is the industry standard and recommend by EPA. It is believed that the current
limit is an oversight or typographical error as there is no know rationale for a limit different for
Page 1
the EPA recommended limit. Adoption of this limit will not require any know industrial user to
change operating practices.
These changes are not expected to impact industrial users regulated by the city pretreatment
program. In early November pretreatment program staff will notify permitted industrial users of
the changes to B.R.C. 11-3 and the date and time of the WRAB meeting. Public will be allowed
comment at the WRAB meeting, written comments and a-mail comments will also be accepted.
Page 2