Proposed Sewage Pollution Right to Know Regulations Announced

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation sent this bulletin on 06/18/2015 11:51 AM EDT

News update from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
You are subscribed to receive updates from DEC. Links to receive help or to change your preferences are provided below. Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

Proposed Sewage Pollution Right to Know Regulations Announced

NYS DEC has announced that it will be accepting public comments from June 17 - July 31 on the Sewage Pollution Right to Know regulations.  Also, DEC will hold four public information sessions offering information on the law, regulations and how to enroll for NY-Alert (a free notification system) to receive sewage discharge alerts.

The proposed regulations have been filed with the NYS Department of State and have been published in the Environmental Notice Bulletin (ENB).  The regulations will be published in the State Register on June 17 followed by a 45-day comment period ending July 31.

Under the new law, publicly owned treatment works as well as publicly owned sewer systems (POSSs) are required to notify DEC within two hours of a sewage discharge.  The proposed rule would extend direct regulatory oversight to POSSs, which are not currently regulated through DEC's SPDES program.

DEC partnered with the NYS Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services to enhance the electronic NY-Alert notification system so that reporting is free of charge to municipalities and the broadcasting of sewage spill alerts is rapidly available.  NY-Alert is used by New York State agencies and municipalities for public safety messaging.  Through the NY-Alert system, municipalities will make the information available to the general public and neighboring municipalities. 

For instructions on how to receive alerts about sewage spills through NY-Alert, visit DEC's YouTube video.