ORSANCO Re-Starts Public Hearings On Water Quality Standards

[Flectarn]

https://www.wvxu.org/post/orsanco-re-starts-public-hearings-water-quality-standards

ORSANCO board members held the first of three public hearings this week on revised water quality standards. Last year, the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission considered removing standards. But under intense public pressure, the board dropped that idea and is again hearing public comment.
Executive Director Richard Harrison says the last proposal would have eliminated quality standards. He says about 17 people testified Monday in Pittsburgh. "They liked the fact that standards would potentially be maintained with this proposal. They felt like keeping the standards as they are was something they want to see."
Harrison says public input is important.
"In October a lot of folks were anticipating that this would culminate at that point. But the committee asked for more time. There were thousands of comments, approximately 6,000 comments. So the commission listened to those and in a lot of ways started over."
The next public hearings are Thursday in Evansville, Illinois, and then Monday in Erlanger, Kentucky. That gives a lot of people a chance to be heard. "The Ohio River is nearly a thousand miles long, and there are definitely differences along the river," Harrison says. "There are different priorities. As you get to the lower portions of the river, there's a lot more impact with agriculture. The land use is very different."
The board will vote on standards at a meeting in Covington in June.

This has been quite the on going saga, They were suppose to decide on new standards last summer. Naturaly they wanted to choose the option which removed all the additional standards they provide above and beyond the CWA, against the wishes of even their own techncal staff. Under signifigant public pressure they kicked the decision down the road, trying again in February, where they decided to a moot a different proposal, where this time they would keep the standards, but make it voluntary for states to adopt them. From a conversation I was in with one of the commissioners after the last hearing this is because of states having dissimilar means of incorporating the regulations into their administrative law, west virginia in particular apparently has to go through the legislature to implement anything. Which sucks, but, seems like kind of a cop out in terms of regulating the whole watershed.

so yeah, that's happening.

[video=facebook]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2272905406280581

http://www.orsanco.org/programs/pollution-control-standards/

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: [email protected] 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.