Pollution Control Standards Third Review

Third Public Review of the Pollution Controls Standards: March 1st – April 15th, 2019

Notice of Public Hearings on Proposed Revisions to ORSANCO’s Pollution Control Standards

The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission is accepting public comments, and technical and scientific studies and data supporting those comments, starting Friday, March 1, 2019 through Monday, April 15, 2019, to assist in a public review and update of its current Pollution Control Standards for Discharges to the Ohio River – 2015 Revision. The purpose of the public review is to receive comments from interested parties on the proposed 2019 Revision. ORSANCO is particularly interested in receiving technical and scientific information or data that supports comments on proposals for revising the Standards.

Pursuant to the authority contained in Article VI of the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Compact, and by direction of the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission, three public hearings will be held by the Commission:

Hearing in Pittsburgh, April 1, 2019, 6:00 pm-8:00 pm (Eastern Time)
DoubleTree by Hilton Pittsburgh – Green Tree, Duquesne meeting room
500 Mansfield Avenue
Pittsburgh PA 15205

Hearing in Evansville, April 4, 2019, 6:00 pm-8:00 pm (Central Time)
Tropicana Evansville, Walnut B meeting room
421 NW Riverside Drive
Evansville, IN 47708

Hearing in Cincinnati, April 8, 2019, 6:00 pm-8:00pm (Eastern Time)
Holiday Inn Cincinnati Airport, Kenton meeting room
1717 Airport Exchange Boulevard
Erlanger, KY 41018

The hearings will be conducted from 6:00 pm local time until completed. The record of the hearing shall remain open and written testimony accepted beginning March 1st and extending until midnight (Eastern Time) on April 15, 2019.

The purpose of said hearings is to receive comments, including data and scientific justifications or other supporting rationales, concerning the Commission’s proposed action described as follows:

The proposed 2019 Revision is based upon a multi-year comprehensive assessment of ORSANCO’s evolving function and role in partnership with its member states and the multitude of state and federal water quality protection activities collectively and cooperatively administered to protect the Ohio River. The proposed 2019 Revision maintains ORSANCO’s Pollution Control Standards for the Ohio River to protect the uses delineated in ORSANCO’s Compact while providing needed flexibility for member states to utilize the Pollution Control Standards or their own rigorously developed and United States Environmental Protection Agency approved water quality criteria for Ohio River discharge permits.

Webinars

In order to facilitate comments, ORSANCO will host two webinars to present an overview of the review it conducted and the proposed 2019 Revision. These webinars have been scheduled for March 12, 2019 at 10:00 am (Eastern Time), and March 14, 2019 at 6:00 pm (Eastern Time).

For complete webinar directions, please visit: https://www.orsanco.org/webinar-directions/

Click here for the Public Webinar presentation.

Click here to view the March 12th, 2019 Pollution Control Standards webinar.

Click here to view the March 14th, 2019 Pollution Control Standards webinar.

Instructions for Submitting Comments (must be received by April 15, 2019)

All parties interested in submitting comments may do so by mail or email. Mailed comments should be addressed to ORSANCO, 5735 Kellogg Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45230, Attn: PCS Comments. Emailed comments should be sent to: PCS@orsanco.org  Emailed comments must be sent by the original submitter. Third party emails will not be accepted in order to protect data systems integrity. Comments must be included in the body of the email. Email attachments will not be accepted in order to protect data systems integrity. Please contact ORSANCO directly at 513-231-7719 for instructions on submitting technical and scientific information or data since email attachments cannot be accepted. Your name and mailing address must accompany all correspondence.

Proposed Revised Standards

Click here for Proposed Revisions to Pollution Control Standards – Marked-up Version.

Click here for Proposed Revisions to Pollution Control Standards – Clean Version.

Summary of Comments from March 1 to April 15 Public Review of the Pollution Control Standards

Click here to view the compilation of public comments.

Click here to view the transcript of the April 1st, 2019 public hearing in Pittsburgh.

Click here to view the transcript of the April 4th, 2019 public hearing in Evansville.

Click here to view the transcript of the April 8th, 2019 public hearing in Cincinnati.