Part 750 (6 NYCRR) (SPDES Permit) - Hearing Report, July 30, 2002
Hearing Report, July 30, 2002
STATE OF NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
625 Broadway
Albany, New York 12233-1550
In the Matter of the Proposed Revisions
-to-
Title 6 of the Official Compilation of
Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York
Parts 652, 654, and 750 through 758 by the Adoption of a new
PART 750, "STATE POLLUTANT DISCHARGE
ELIMINATION SYSTEM (SPDES) PERMITS"
and
The receipt of Public Comment on the proposed
TECHNICAL & OPERATIONAL GUIDANCE SERIES (TOGS) 1.2.2
"ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFIT
PERMIT STRATEGY FOR INDIVIDUAL SPDES PERMITS"
HEARING REPORT
/s/
Richard R. Wissler
Administrative Law Judge
July 30, 2002
PROCEEDINGS
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ("Department" or "DEC") scheduled public hearings as part of the process to revise Title 6 of the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations ("6 NYCRR") of the State of New York by rewriting Parts 652, 654 and 750 through 758 as a single new Part 750 covering procedures for obtaining and operating under a State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) Permit. In addition, the Department convened the aforesaid public hearings to receive public comment on proposed Technical and Operational Guidance Series (TOGS) 1.2.2, embracing modifications to the SPDES permit priority ranking system for Department initiated modifications to SPDES permits. The Department issued a Combined Hearing Notice of the proposed rule making and opportunity for public comment with respect to TOGS 1.2.2 for distribution and for publication as a legal notice. The notice of the proposed rule making was published on March 27, 2002, in the New York State Register; and the combined hearing notice was also published on March 27, 2002, in the Department's Environmental Notice Bulletin. Moreover, the combined notice was published on April 5, 2002, in the following newspapers as shown by their publishers' affidavits: Newsday, the Albany Times Union, the Buffalo News, The Post Standard of Syracuse, the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin, the Democrat & Chronicle of Rochester and the Watertown Daily Times.
Pursuant to a request from the Department's Division of Water, the services of an administrative law judge ("ALJ") from the Office of Hearings and Mediation Services were sought to conduct the required public hearings.
The aforementioned hearings for the receipt of oral and written statements from the public were held on May 13, 2002, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., at the City of Yonkers Grinton I. Will Library, Senator Flynn Room, 1500 Central Park Avenue, Yonkers, New York, with no members of the public in attendance; on May 15, 2002, from 4:00 to 7:30 p.m., at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Public Audience Room 129, 625 Broadway, Albany, New York, with ten members of the public in attendance; and on May 16, 2002, from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the RIT Inn and Conference Center, 5357 W. Henrietta Road, Rochester, New York, with five members of the public in attendance.
The published notice also advised that written statements from the public could be submitted to the Department until 5:00 p.m., May 21, 2002.
These proceedings were held pursuant to Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) Article 3, Title 3; Article 15; Article 17, Titles 3, 5, 7, 8; Article 21; Article 70, Title 1; Article 71, Title 19; New York State Penal Code, Articles 175 and 210; Public Health Law, Section 502; and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251, et seq.).
SUMMARY OF STATEMENTS
At each of the public hearings, the Department was represented by William Mirabile and Angus Eaton, both with the Chemical Systems Section of the Bureau of Water Permits of the Department's Division of Water, in Albany. Mr. Mirabile and Mr. Eaton, who is Chief of the Chemical System, each provided a presentation discussing and explaining the proposed rule changes and TOGS 1.2.2.
No members of the public spoke at either the public hearing of May 13, 2002, in Yonkers, or the public hearing of May 16, 2002, in Rochester.
At the public hearing of May 15, 2002, in Albany, two members of the public provided oral comments. The first speaker, Robert Foster, Legislative Director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, commended the Department for undertaking the instant revision of the SPDES regulations. However, he did express the view that both dry and wet weather sanitary sewer overflows should be prohibited under the proposed regulations, and also suggested changes that might be considered in incident reporting and signage at SPDES outfalls. The second speaker was Steve Brannen of the IBM Corporation in Poughkeepsie, New York. He indicated his support for the Department's efforts in this rule making and discussed various provisions of the proposed regulation, pointing out sections where the language might be revised.
Written Statements Received
Attached as Appendix A is a list of the written statements from the public submitted to the Department in this matter.
APPENDIX A
1. New York City Department of Environmental Protection, by letter dated May 21, 2002.
2. Bath Petroleum Storage, Inc., by letter dated May 20, 2002.
3. Eastman Kodak Comapny, by letter dated May 20, 2002.
4. New York Water Environment Association, Inc., by e-mail dated May 20, 2002.
5. New York Capitol Consultants, Inc., by e-mail dated May 20, 2002.
6. PSEG Service Corporation, by e-mail and overnight mail dated May 20, 2002.
7. Bethlehem Steel Corporation, by letter dated May 15, 2002.
8. General Electric Company, by letter dated May 20, 2002.
9. Citizen's Campaign for the Environment, by fax dated May 21, 2002.
10. New York Business Council, by e-mail dated May 20, 2002.
