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EPA and state regulatory
agencies have been and will continue to implement the new
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Phase
II rules to control stormwater runoff from smaller municipal
separate storm sewer systems (MS4) in urbanized areas and
smaller construction sites. Many state and local regulatory
agencies, such as those in New Jersey, are also implementing
new stormwater management regulations to provide increased
water quality control, particularly for new developments.
To meet the increasing need for enhanced removal of floatables,
total suspended solids (TSS), and dissolved pollutants, innovative
BMP devices are being developed and marketed by various manufacturers.
Providing uniform design and review standards for the use
of these innovative, unconventional BMP devices is continually
needed to facilitate a level playing field of equity and fairness.
An overview of the process currently in place in New Jersey
for evaluating and certifying manufactured treatment devices
is presented here. A level playing field allows designers
and regulators to have multiple options to select the best
cost-effective BMPs for the specific circumstance. Multiple-approved,
innovative BMPs encourage fairness and healthy competition
among the various vendors and manufacturers. An innovative
BMP device must balance providing enhanced water quality control
against costs and specifying proprietary items, particularly
on state and federally funded public projects.
"Conventional"
BMPs have typically included detention basins, retention basins
or ponds, infiltration basins, and sand filters, to name a
few. With today's fast-changing environmental regulations,
site constraints, construction, and maintenance operations
often now necessitate the use of specialized materials, proprietary
products, and various unique alternatives to satisfy the design
goals while meeting the regulatory permit requirements. Using
"unconventional" or nonstandard items offers innovative approaches
to projects. This can include completely new ideas or significant
changes to existing standard items and specifications.
For the purpose
of discussion here, the innovative or unconventional BMP devices
include "manufactured treatment devices" generally defined
as a prefabricated stormwater treatment structure using settling,
filtration, absorptive/adsorptive materials, vortex separation,
vegetative components, or other appropriate technology to
remove pollutants from stormwater runoff. These types of devices,
commonly referred to by their trade names, include but are
not limited to StormFilter, Vortechs System, BaySaver Separation
System, Stormceptor, and CDS units. These and similar manufactured
treatment devices are designed to capture sediments, metals,
hydrocarbons, floatables, and other pollutants in stormwater
runoff before it is conveyed to a storm sewer system, an additional
stormwater quality treatment measure, or a water body.
In light of the
rapid ongoing environmental and technological changes, and
as manufacturers propose new BMPs, evaluation of the devices
will be required on a continual basis. Designers and regulators
are typically responsible for thoroughly evaluating these
products before they are accepted for use in place of applicable
standards and to ensure that specific needs are met and cost
benefits are realized. However, there are many different designers
and regulatory agencies specifying and approving the use of
many different innovative or nonstandard devices. Some of
these items are used with success; others are not.
It
is important to note that federally funded projects restrict
the use of proprietary products. State agencies, such as the
New Jersey Department of Transportation, also require that
the designer provide justification for a product's use if
it uses a nonstandard detail or specification. The nonstandard
device must be in the best health and safety interest of the
public. If a proprietary device is used that is not an approved
standard item, the designer must try to provide at least three
approved equals. It is often difficult to find three "equal"
items that satisfy the design objective while at the same
time finding items that are also approved for use by the regulatory
agency. If the designer cannot provide three equals, documentation
must be provided, explaining why the product or manufacturer
is necessary for the project.
Sometimes during
construction, the contractor suggests a substitute, and the
designers and owners are left trying to determine if the substitute
is an equal or whether the new device complies with the approved
permits. Typically, there is insufficient time to go back
to the owners or regulatory agencies and get approval or a
revised permit. For federally funded projects, proprietary
items must be approved by the Federal Highway Administration
and meet the requirements of 23 CFR Subpart D 635.411.
Many regulatory
agencies, such as the New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection (NJDEP), do not directly accept the total suspended
solids (TSS) removal rates stated by the manufactures of various
BMPs but essentially approve use of the devices on a case-by-case
basis or after acceptance through a certification and verification
process. A schematic of the issues involved in selecting an
innovative BMP from the design perspective is presented in
Figure 1.
NJDEP has a process
for evaluating and certifying manufactured treatment devices.
The TSS removal rate is the common parameter that is reviewed
and certified. Other pollutants, such as nutrients, metals,
hydrocarbons, and bacteria, can be included in the verification/certification
process if the data support their removal efficiencies. In
addition to the certified pollutant removal rate, the basic
design parameters for a manufactured treatment device depend
on the techniques it employs to remove particulate and dissolved
pollutants from runoff.
In New Jersey,
the evaluation and certification is performed by the NJDEP
Division of Science, Research & Technology (DSRT) in coordination
with the New Jersey Corporation for Advanced Technology (NJCAT).
NJDEP Division
of Science, Research & Technology
DSRT is responsible
for certifying final pollutant removal rates for all manufactured
treatment devices. This final certification process must be
based upon one of the following:
- Verification
of the device's pollutant removal rates by NJCAT in accordance
with the New Jersey Energy and Environmental Technology
Verification Program (NJSA 13:D-134 et seq.). This verification
must be conducted in accordance with the protocol "Stormwater
Best Management Practices Demonstration Tier II Protocol
for Interstate Reciprocity" as developed under the Environmental
Council of States (ECOS) and Technology Acceptance and Reciprocity
Partnership (TARP). This stormwater protocol ensures that
technologies are evaluated in a uniform manner ensuring
minimum standards for quality assurance and quality control.
In addition, the protocol establishes an interstate reciprocity
pathway for technology and regulatory acceptance. ECOS states
are California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New
Jersey.
- Verification
of the device's pollutant removal rates by another TARP
state or another state or government agency that is recognized
by New Jersey through a formal reciprocity agreement, provided
that such verification is conducted in accordance with the
protocol "Stormwater Best Management Practices Demonstration
Tier II Protocol for Interstate Reciprocity."
- Verification
of the device's pollutant removal rates by other third-party
testing
organizations (for
example, NSF), provided that such verification is conducted
in accordance with the protocol "Stormwater Best Management
Practices Demonstration Tier II Protocol for Interstate Reciprocity."
Other testing protocols
may be considered if they are determined by NJDEP to be equivalent
to the Tier II Protocol.
New Jersey Corporation
for Advanced Technology
NJCAT is a not-for-profit
corporation established to promote, in New Jersey, the retention
and growth of technology-based businesses in emerging fields,
such as environmental and energy technologies. NJCAT provides
innovators with the regulatory, commercial, technological,
and financial assistance required to successfully bring their
ideas to market. Specifically, NJCAT functions to
- advance policy
strategies and regulatory mechanisms to promote technology
commercialization;
- identify, evaluate,
and recommend specific technologies for which the regulatory
and commercialization process should be facilitated;
- facilitate funding
and commercial relationships/alliances to bring new technologies
to market and new business to the state; and
- assist in the
identification of markets and applications for commercialized
technologies.
The technology
verification program specifically encourages collaboration
between vendors and users of technology. Through this program,
teams of academic and business professionals are formed to
implement a comprehensive evaluation of vendor-specific performance
claims.
It should be noted
that the pollutant removal rates for a manufactured treatment
device might be granted conditional interim certification
by NJDEP provided that the manufacturer submits an interim
verification report through NJCAT and further agrees to apply
for and complete the final certification process that typically
includes full field testing and evaluation. All conditional
interim certifications are effective only for a limited time
period, as determined on a case-by-case basis by NJDEP. In
addition, NJDEP has typically attached certain conditions
for use of BMPs that have interim certifications, such as
that they only be used as part of a treatment train or where
it is proven that no other conventional water quality features
can be incorporated into the design. It is important to note
that devices may be "NJCAT verified" but not receive certification
from NJDEP. Approval or conditional certification from NJDEP
appears to be based on what documentation is submitted to
NJCAT for evaluation.
As outlined above,
NJDEP has a procedure in place for evaluations and certifications
of manufactured treatment devices. However, at this writing,
only a few innovative BMP devices have received verification
from NJCAT. It is my understanding that to date only one BMP
device has received conditional interim certification from
NJDEP.
The continuing
development and evaluation of testing methods and standards
and approval of multiple innovative BMPs will facilitate a
level playing field of equity and fairness and will clarify
selection options for designers and regulatory reviewers while
protecting the environment and improving water quality treatment
and control.
Thomas
R. Decker, P.E., M.S.C.E., is a senior associate in theHighways/Public
Works Department of Edwards and Kelcey Inc. in Morristown,
NJ.
SW
July/August 2004
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