|
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Wisconsin Salt Wise invite the public to learn more about the impacts of road salt on our drinking water and freshwater ecosystems during Wisconsin Salt Awareness Week, Jan. 23-27, 2023.
Wisconsin Salt Awareness Week will include a series of YouTube livestreams featuring speakers and topics focused on the true cost of salt and how to be a freshwater advocate. Speakers include Sujay Kaushal (University of Maryland), Charlie Paradis (University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee), Allison Couture (University of Wisconsin – Madison), Shannon Haydin (Wisconsin DNR) and Allison Madison (Wisconsin Salt Wise). Register in advance or watch afterward on the WI Salt Wise YouTube Channel.
The DNR works to reduce chlorides at the source through permitting programs for municipalities and industries. These measures include tuning up or replacing water softeners, identifying significant chloride contributors and finding reductions, process efficiencies or improvements and instituting sewer use ordinances.
Additionally, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation works with Wisconsin counties to reduce road salt application using brine and pre-wetting road surfaces, both of which significantly reduce salt use.
For more information on the DNR’s efforts to monitor chlorides and reduce their effects, visit the DNR’s Salt and Storm Water website here.
If you need a reason, as Charlie Berens says, "do it for the walleye."
Semi-annual reporting for the period of July 1, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2022, is due by Jan. 30, 2023. Semi-annual reporting is required of responsible parties for all open remediation sites, including those sites the DNR formerly classified as “conditionally closed” in the Bureau for Remediation and Redevelopment Tracking System (BRRTS) online database. Consultants may submit these reports on behalf of responsible parties.
The DNR sent an email with a unique Report Identification (ID) number to contacts of sites listed in the database during the first week of January 2023. If you did not receive an email, request a Report ID number by submitting the Report ID Request Form. The Report ID number uniquely identifies the activity you can report, the reporting period and verifies the person using the Report ID is authorized to submit the report. If you have any questions, please contact Tim Zeichert at Timothy.Zeichert@wisconsin.gov or 608-219-2240.
State law requires semi-annual reports from people who meet the definition of a responsible party in ch. NR 700, Wis. Adm. Code. Property owners, such as local governments that have an exemption under Wis. Stat. §§ 292.11(9)(e) or 292.23, and lenders that have an exemption under Wis. Stat. § 292.21 for specific properties, are not required to submit a semi-annual report for those exempt properties under state law.
Sites formerly classified by the DNR as “conditionally closed” are open sites that have not been granted case closure and, by definition, have remaining action(s) needed (e.g., properly abandoning monitoring wells or investigative waste needing to be removed). Semi-annual reporting for sites formerly classified as “conditionally closed” should indicate what actions are being taken to complete the remaining actions.
The DNR’s Drinking Water and Groundwater Program is implementing manganese sampling as a monitoring requirement upon new non-transient non-community (NN) system activation. The current monitoring schedule for manganese for NN public water systems is once every 9 years as part of the inorganic compound (IOC) sampling requirement. The last IOC sampling requirement was in 2019; therefore, the manganese sampling requirement will be retroactive for newly activated NN systems back to 2020.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a health advisory for manganese. By initiating this change, potential water quality issues regarding manganese will be identified early, reducing harmful health impacts and proactively protecting our most vulnerable populations – infants under 6 months that attend childcare centers and workers aged 50 and older. This proposed change will also make NN system requirements consistent with community public water systems. This change takes effect on Jan. 1, 2023.
Learn more on the EPA’s health advisory levels for manganese and the DNR’s webpage about manganese and drinking water.
Please direct any comments or questions to Jennifer Peth at Jennifer.Peth@wisconsin.gov or 715-762-1172.
An updated Chapter NR 216, Wis. Adm. Code became effective on April 1, 2022. The revised administrative code contains increases to storm water construction site notice of intent application fees that will become effective on Jan. 1, 2023. The current and new fees are listed in the table below.
| Disturbed Acres |
Application Fee Before Jan. 1, 2023 |
Application Fee After Jan. 1, 2023 |
| Less than 2 |
$140 |
$250 |
| 2 to less than 5 |
$140 |
$350 |
| 5 to less than 25 |
$235 |
$550 |
| 25 or more |
$350 |
$800 |
By March 1 of each year, hazardous waste generators and facilities are required by law to submit a report to the DNR outlining hazardous waste generation and treatment activities conducted in the previous year. Entities that are required to report include:
- Small quantity generators (SQG) and large quantity generators (LQG)
- Licensed treatment, storage or disposal facilities (TSD)
- Permanent household hazardous waste and very small quantity generator (VSQG) collection facilities
- Publicly owned wastewater treatment works
Hazardous waste generators that were a SQG or LQG at any time during the calendar year are required to submit an annual report per s. NR 662.041, Wis. Adm. Code. This does not apply to those generators that qualified for the episodic event allowance.
2022 Hazardous Waste Annual Reporting Form
A direct email is sent to facilities identified in the program database as being required to report. The recipient is the person assigned as the preparer and/or signatory. If a facility that needs to report does not receive a direct communication, please contact the appropriate regional environmental program associate to update the facility's reporting status.
To review the reporting instructions, go to the DNR's hazardous waste annual report web page. This page includes instructions on switchboard access, special waste types and generator fees.
- Use the DNR Switchboard to verify report preparer and signatory information for a facility.
- Gather information on all hazardous waste generation at a facility for the calendar year 2022. This includes hazardous waste that remained on-site as of Dec. 31, 2022.
-
New this year! Facility name, owner, operator, and contact information may now be updated directly on the hazardous waste annual report.
The DNR's hazardous waste resources page contains links to current guidance and resources. The guidance documents include information pertaining to the management of hazardous wastes, changes in regulation, clarification of subject matter and template attachments to comply with recordkeeping requirements. The list below highlights both new and updated documents:
- Closed Container Guidance for Hazardous Waste Generators (WA-1342)
- Closure of LQG Hazardous Waste Accumulation Units and LQG Facilities (WA-1892)
- Commercial and Residential Paint Removal and Disposal (WA-173)
- Dry Cleaner Operations (WA-1893)
- Episodic Generation of Hazardous Waste (WA-1872)
- Hazardous Waste Tanks (WA-1894)
- Healthcare Facilities Definitions (WA-1214)
- Healthcare Facilities: Pharmaceutical Wastes and Subchapter P (WA-1902)
- LQG Contingency Plan Requirements (WA-1904)
- Nicotine Wastes: E-cigarettes and Vaping Devices Collected by Schools and Institutions (WA-1899)
- Pharmaceutical Waste: Empty Containers (WA-1256)
- Products Containing Mercury: Restrictions and Exemptions (WA-1861)
- Roadway Vehicle Spills (WA-1923)
The Remediation and Redevelopment Program (RR) has posted the publication Guidance: Voluntary Party Liability Exemption (RR-0141) here. The purpose of this guidance is to provide information about the voluntary party liability exemption (VPLE) which was created by the Wisconsin State Legislature in 1994 when Wisconsin Statues (Wis. Stat.) § 292.15 was enacted to aid in the redevelopment of brownfields properties.
Contact Michael Prager at Michael.Prager@wisconsin.gov with questions on this document.
Additional documents and guidance from the Remediation and Redevelopment Program may be found using the search tools available on the Brownfields publications and forms webpage.
On Dec. 15, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final action to amend the EPA’s Standards and Practices for All Appropriate Inquiries (AAI) Rule. The new rule allows the use of ASTM International Designation E1527–21, Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process, to satisfy AAI requirements. The rule takes effect Monday, Feb. 13, 2023.
AAI is a process of evaluating the environmental conditions and assessing potential liability for contamination at a property and is completed prior to a property transaction. Satisfying AAI is one of the requirements for the innocent landowner, contiguous property owner, or bona fide prospective purchaser limitations on Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) liability.
The amended AAI rule allows parties acquiring properties to use the most up-to-date industry standard practice for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs) to comply with the AAI Rule requirements. It also allows the previous standard practice, ASTM Designation E1527-13, to be used for one year after publication of the rule.
More information about AAI requirements is available on the EPA Brownfields AAI webpage.
|
