March 2022
Examinations
Currently, all PSI wastewater exam testing centers are open. Each location has its own Covid-19 policy, as described on the PSI website:
https://online.goamp.com/CandidateHome/displayTCList.aspx?pExamID=21568&pClientCode=ABC-MEWW.
If you are scheduled for an exam, please check the website before traveling to the site to make sure the Covid-19 policies are followed. If a candidate cannot meet the requirements of specific locations, they will need to take the exam at another location. The Department will not be making special arrangements for alternative test locations at this time.
Biennial Renewals - March 1, 2022 Deadline for Even-numbered Certifications
If you failed to renew your even-numbered certification by March 1, you have a 6-month grace period to renew but will be charged a late fee of $125, in addition to the $125 renewal fee. Renew online by going to www.JETCC.org.
Training, Conferences, and Virtual Classes
Check out the DEP website for a listing of upcoming training sessions, webinars and on-demand classes, https://www.maine.gov/dep/water/wwoperator.
Free FOG Virtual Training March 8, 10, 15 & 17, 2022
The Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center (PNPPRC) National Fat Oil and Greases (FOG) Abatement Technical Assistance program is offering a free, virtual webinar titled, Helping Small Communities Address Common Maintenance and Management Challenges. The webinar consists of eight, 2-hr sessions on March 8, 10, 15 & 17, 2022 that can be taken together or by individual session.
The training is offered under a grant program to help small, rural communities address FOG issues. The program is directed to pretreatment coordinators, POTW personnel, plumbers, pumper companies, public officials such as city or county commissioners, and any other professional that has an interest in FOG abatement. Webinar topics include:
• What Does FOG Abatement Cost and Why Do We Care?
• Operation & Maintenance Costs
• Data Acquisition & Management
• Program Development: Your Stakeholders and Your Legal Authority
• Effective Pretreatment - Grease Removal Devices
• Inspections and Preferred Pumper Program
Each session is approved for 2 TCHs. Proof of attendance is required to receive credit. To register, go to: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3810879134264894735.
MEWEA Spring Meeting April 1, 2022
MEWEA’s April 1, 2022 Spring Meeting will take place at the Black Bear Inn in Orono. Don't be fooled! Visit www.mewea.org for more details.
TCH Acceptance Criteria
Certified wastewater operators must obtain eighteen (18) Training Contact Hours (TCHs) of DEP-approved wastewater continuing education training during each biennial (two-year) renewal period and provide documentation of completed TCHs to renew their certification Training must be relevant to the operation, maintenance, safety, or management of a wastewater treatment plant.
Training must be presented by established providers including from government agencies, professional associations, technical schools, colleges/universities, and private instructors through classes, workshops, conferences, webinars, and in-house sessions. All training must be at least one-hour in length. The same course, (excepts for safety) cannot be used for successive renewal cycles. TCHs cannot be carried over to the next renewal cycle. Multi-month training is credited for the period that the course ended.
Safety and Treatment Plant Management Training - As an option, up to 6 of the 18 TCHs of required training per renewal cycle may be a combination of safety and/or management topics. Management training must have direct relevance to the operation of the wastewater plant.
Human Resources (HR), utility policy, and general office training are not accepted for Management TCHs. Defensive driving courses are accepted for safety TCHs only if part of an operator’s duties and not solely for commuting purposes.
For courses that are not preapproved, send requests to NEIWPCC-JETCC using the TCH Request form and include course title, agenda, instructor bio, course description and explanation of relevancy to wastewater operation, maintenance, safety, or management.
Refer to the Department’s Wastewater Operator Certification Program website for details on certification renewal requirements: https://www.maine.gov/dep/water/wwoperator/.
Here are some quick links to certification documents found on the DEP website:
Training Contact Hour (TCH) Requirements for Certification Renewal
Approving Online Sessions for Wastewater Training Contact Hours (TCH)
Training Calendar - Updated Monthly
TCH Request Form
Exam Application Form
An Excel spreadsheet that lists approved training providers and on-demand courses can be downloaded from the website.
1. Raw sludges from primary and/or secondary treatment processes require sludge digestion because
a. They are watery, odorous mixtures that require further processing before dewatering
b. They must be freshened to help remove oil by flotation
c. The municipality can make money by mixing with yard waste and composting
d. Disinfection is required before hauling to a landfill
2. Aerobic digestion is essentially
a. An extension of the secondary treatment process where organisms devour organisms during endogenous respiration
b. Anaerobic digestion
c. A heated tank without air
d. A way to produce volatile acids for pH adjustment
3. Methods to thicken sludge include
a. Gravity Thickening
b. Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF)
c. Belt filter and centrifuge thickeners
d. All of the above
4. The process of dewaterable sludge means
a. Organisms or decaying organic material give up moisture
b. The ability of water to separate from sludge and drain
c. De-hydrating coagulants so they will mix better
d. Aerating grit to remove water
5. Methods to dewater sludge include
a. Centrifuge
b. Rotary disc press
c. Belt filter press
d. Inclines screw press
e. All of the above
6. This category of pumps generally used for pumping sludges (over 4% solids) include:
a. Impeller pumps
b. Positive displacement pumps
c. Centrifugal pumps
d. All of the above
7. The purpose of conditioning sludges prior to dewatering is to
a. Burn the sludge up so there is less disposal costs
b. Increase sludge volume so it dewaters better
c. Pretreat sludge to facilitate removal of water in subsequent treatment processes
d. “Age” sludge polymers so they are more effective
8. Polymers added for sludge conditioning
a. Can be positively charge (cationic), negatively charged (anionic) or not charged (non-ionic)
b. Should be added at the highest dosage possible to get the driest sludge
c. Are not needed when using a filter press
d. Should be mixed vigorously to make sure the chemical is dispersed throughout the sludge
9. The chemical feed rate for chemical conditioning
a. Should be measured every hour
b. Only needs to be tested when the filter press or centrifuge is installed
c. Should be as high as possible
d. Should be determined by a jar test
10. Supernatant from a filter press or centrifuge directed to the plant headworks
a. Does not affect plant operations
b. Should be bled into the influent in a controlled manner
c. Contains low BOD levels
d. Is a good source for polymer make-up water for chemical conditioning
11. Lime can be useful in solids management for the following:
a. Adding alkalinity to digesters that have “soured”
b. Chemical conditioning sludge prior to dewatering to help release “bound” water
c. Stabilization of sludge by raising pH, reduce levels of pathogens, control odors, and reduce vector attraction prior to land application
d. All of the above
12. If 1% solids is equivalent to 10,000 mg/L, what is the mg/L concentration of 2.9% solids?
a. 2900 mg/L
b. 2900 ppd
c. 29,000 mg/L
d. Depends on the specific gravity of the solids
The Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center (WaterISAC) was established in 2002 by the U.S. water and wastewater sector’s leading national associations and research foundations, in coordination with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. WaterISAC is the designated information sharing and operations arm of the Water Sector Coordinating Council. WaterISAC is a partner of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) focused on protecting Water and Wastewater Systems Sector utilities from all hazards. Built from the ground up by water sector professionals, WaterISAC is uniquely qualified to understand and support the sector’s needs.
WaterISAC has released an updated cybersecurity fundamentals guide titled 15 Cybersecurity Fundamentals for Water and Wastewater Utilities. The guide includes cybersecurity best practices, grouped into 15 categories, to help sector utilities reduce exploitable weaknesses and attacks. The original guide was published in 20012 and has been downloaded thousands of times. The completely updated guide is available on the CISA website at this address:
https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ncas/current-activity/2019/07/17/waterisac-releases-cybersecurity-fundamentals
The guide contains dozens of best practices, grouped into 15 main categories, that water and wastewater systems can implement to reduce security risks to their IT and OT systems. Each recommendation is accompanied by links to corresponding technical resources, giving you the information and tools you need to take a dive deep into this acutely important issue.
The guide will also be helpful for utilities who are required to prepare risk and resilience assessments required by America’s Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA). The guide covers plans to address mitigation and resilience options, as required by AWIA, as well as information on developing emergency response plans.
The 15 fundamentals covered in the guide include:
1. Perform Asset Inventories
2. Assess Risks
3. Minimize Control System Exposure
4. Enforce User Access Controls
5. Safeguard from Unauthorized Physical Access
6. Install Independent Cyber-Physical Safety Systems
7. Embrace Vulnerability Management
8. Create a Cybersecurity Culture
9. Develop and Enforce Cybersecurity Policies and Procedures
10. Implement Threat Detection and Monitoring
11. Plan for Incidents, Emergencies, and Disasters
12. Tackle Insider Threats
13. Secure the Supply Chain
14. Address All Smart Devices (IoT, IIoT, Mobile, etc.)
15. Participate in Information Sharing and Collaboration Communities
The guide can also be found on the WaterISAC website, https://www.waterisac.org/fundamentals.
The guide can also be found on the WaterISAC website, https://www.waterisac.org/fundamentals.
The Department of Environmental protection wishes to recognize the retirement of John True from state service. John worked for the DEP for over 30 years and most recently managing the State Revolving Fund (SRF) program. Brandy Piers, P.Eng., P.E. has been promoted to be the new Environmental Engineering Services Manager.
In John’s own words, “…I wanted to say farewell to my friends and colleagues (who have) contributed immensely to improving Maine’s environment. We should not forget where we started when the Androscoggin River was one of the most polluted in the country, when color, odor, and foam were a big issue, when many of our towns with municipal sewers did not have treatment plants and discharged directly to waters of the state, when mills spewed toxic chemicals and smoke into the sky, when fish kills were prevalent due to depleted oxygen supplies, when DEP staff had to dodge floating rafts of fur and hides below tanneries on the Sebasticook River to get water samples, and when DEP divers saw the bottom of Belfast Harbor covered with nothing but chicken feet and beaks. You could tell what color the tissue plant was dying their paper that day by the color of the Kennebec River. We’ve come so far but continue to be pressed with new issues.”
John, thank you for your service to the state and the wastewater community!
On February 14th, the CWSRF program sent out an email to wastewater municipalities, districts, and engineers, soliciting projects to be funded through the CWSRF program. The solicitation has two purposes. First, we must demonstrate to EPA that the State has a list of potential projects, which supports the need for the CWSRF federal capitalization grant. Second, we need to rank the projects to determine which ones will receive loan principal forgiveness and, if so, how much.
Federal law and appropriations govern how much funding the CWSRF programs receive and may offer, if any, in the form of “additional subsidies” to borrowers. Maine allocates its additional subsidies to borrowers in the form of loan principal forgiveness (PF). Although the federal budget has been passed, states have not yet been notified what their capital grant or additional subsidy amounts will be for 2022. We expect to know those amounts in March.
President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) on Monday, November 15, 2021. This is a big and bold investment in our nation's infrastructure. For the State of Maine’s CWSRF program, we anticipate this supplemental CWSRF funding to be $13.7M for 2022, with an increasing annual amount from this fund through 2026.
We will also incorporate the remaining $8.8M in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that were announced with the enactment of Public Law 2021, Chapter 483 (LD1733) of the 130th Maine Legislature, which was approved by Governor Mills’ The Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan. This will further assist municipalities’ wastewater infrastructure needs throughout the State.
Between the base CWSRF, the BIL Supplemental CWSRF, the ARPA funds, and the CWSRF repayments that come back into the program for reuse, we will have an estimated $80M in available funds, of which an estimated $22.6M will be in the form of principal forgiveness and/or grants. In the past, the base CWSRF and the CWSRF repayments for reuse would only provide an estimated $50M in funds, of which $4.9M was given in the form of principal forgiveness. This is a significant increase in funding for our wastewater community at this time of need.
As in previous years, most of the PF will go to projects that have the most environmental benefit and where the applicant would experience a significant hardship financing the project if additional subsidies were not provided. We intend to offer PF funding, up to $50,000, for the development and implementation of a Fiscal Sustainability Plan (FSP) (think asset management) or the improvement to an existing FSP. This FSP PF funding requires a 100% match from the applicant. We will also offer PF funding, up to $20,000, for the development of a Climate Adaptation Plan (CAP) (no match required).
To the extent funding is available, the FSP and CAP PF amounts can be added to an applicant’s loan for an infrastructure project, or they can simply be a “standalone” loan. As we have done in the previous two years, we plan to continue to offer standalone loans for new FSPs and CAPs to applicants that are not borrowing additional funds for an infrastructure project. To qualify for a standalone FSP loan, the applicant must not have received any previous PF from the Department for the development of an Asset Management Plan or an FSP. The intent of the standalone FSP loans is to source funding outside the CWSRF when borrowing for the 100% applicant match, which simplifies the loan process and avoids any Bond Counsel costs. If the applicant must borrow their match from the CWSRF, special arrangements may be made. However, the applicant will incur costs from the Bond Counsel.
The mailing that was sent requesting applications noted that they must be submitted to Maine.CWSRF.Grants@maine.gov by 5:00 p.m., March 18th, 2022.
For more information or questions , please visit the Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2021 Clean Water State Revolving Fund section of the CWSRF webpage for the announcement letter, application forms, and supporting documents at SRF Loan Fund, Maine Department of Environmental Protection or contact Brandy Piers at Brandy.m.piers@maine.gov.
There are various reasons why a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitted facility may not have data available for one or more required parameters during any given monitoring period. To standardize how these reasons are communicated to regulatory authorities NetDMR provides a list of approved No Data Indicator Codes (NODI Codes) that can be selected during DMR entry to specify the reason no data is available for the applicable monitoring period.
In October of 2021 EPA began the process of inactivating 13 NODI codes in NetDMR. Some codes were combined under new or existing NODI codes, others were considered obsolete and not replaced. Initially the 13 codes were made available only for revising older DMRs where the inactivated NODI codes may have still been appropriate, but in March of 2022 the final inactivation of these 13 NODI codes will take place and the obsolete codes will no longer be available for any purpose.
For a list of the current active and inactive NODI codes follow this link: https://usepa.servicenowservices.com/oeca_icis?id=kb_article_view&sys_kb_id=887e72db1b9889d49513859ce54bcbe6
One question that we’re often asked regarding the use of NODI codes is which NODI code should be used when the data from a commercial laboratory is not reported to the permittee before the DMR due date. Careful planning to submit samples to the laboratory with sufficient time before the end of the monitoring period can reduce the chances of this situation occurring, but we understand that unavoidable delays can occur even with careful planning. If you are in the position of needing to submit your monthly DMR and are waiting for data for one or more parameters, the appropriate NODI code is NODI 3- Special Report Attached. When using NODI 3 you will also need to enter a comment on the DMR explaining why that code was used. Once the data is available you log back into NetDMR and edit the DMR to remove the NODI code and enter the laboratory result.
If you have questions about which NODI code to use based on the current list of codes, please contact your compliance inspector or the NetDMR coordinator at Brett.A.Goodrich@maine.gov or 207-287-9034.
1. a.
2. a.
3. d.
4. b.
5. e.
6. b.
7. c.
8. a.
9. d.
10. b.
11. d.
12. c.
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