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EPA/WATER | RIN: 2040-AF35 | Publication ID: Spring 2016 |
Title: Effluent Guidelines and Standards for Oil and Gas Extraction Point Source Category | |
Abstract:
Under this action, EPA is finalizing a Clean Water Act (CWA) regulation that would better protect human health and the environment and protect the operational integrity of publicly owned treatment works. The rule, if finalized as proposed, would establish pretreatment standards that would prevent the discharge of pollutants in wastewater from onshore unconventional oil and gas (UOG) extraction facilities to publicly owned treatment works (POTW). UOG extraction wastewater can be generated in large quantities and contains constituents that are potentially harmful to human health and the environment. Because they are not typical of POTW influent wastewater, some UOG extraction wastewater constituents can be discharged, untreated, from the POTW to the receiving stream; can disrupt the operation of the POTW (e.g., by inhibiting biological treatment); can accumulate in biosolids (sewage sludge), limiting their use; and can facilitate the formation of harmful disinfection by-products (DBPs). Based on the information reviewed as part of this rulemaking, this final rule, if finalized as proposed, would reflect current industry practice. While POTW discharge has been used in the past, EPA has not identified any existing onshore UOG facilities that currently discharge wastewater to publicly owned treatment works. Rather, industry disposes of these wastewaters in injection wells, reuses the wastewater to fracture another well, or sends the wastewater off-site to a centralized waste treatment facility. If finalized as proposed, this final rule will fill a gap in existing federal wastewater regulations to ensure that the current practice of not sending wastewater discharges from this sector to POTWs continues into the future. |
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Agency: Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) | Priority: Substantive, Nonsignificant |
RIN Status: Previously published in the Unified Agenda | Agenda Stage of Rulemaking: Final Rule Stage |
Major: No | Unfunded Mandates: No |
CFR Citation: 40 CFR 435 | |
Legal Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq. Clean Water Act |
Legal Deadline:
None |
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Timetable:
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Additional Information: Docket #:EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0334 | |
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: No | Government Levels Affected: None |
Small Entities Affected: No | Federalism: No |
Included in the Regulatory Plan: No | |
RIN Information URL: http://www.epa.gov/eg/unconventional-extraction-oil-and-gas-industry | |
Sectors Affected: 213111 Drilling Oil and Gas Wells; 213112 Support Activities for Oil and Gas Operations | |
RIN Data Printed in the FR: No | |
Agency Contact: Lisa Biddle Environmental Protection Agency Water 4303T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460 Phone:202 566-0350 Email: biddle.lisa@epa.gov Jan Matuszko Environmental Protection Agency Water 4303T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460 Phone:202 566-1035 Fax:202 566-1053 Email: matuszko.jan@epa.gov |