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Alabama

Project Title
Compliance Assistance for Alabama Source Water Protection

Applicant
Alabama Department of Environmental Management

Project Contact
Gary L. Ellis, Chief
Pollution Prevention/Ombudsman Unit
P.O. Box 301463
Montgomery, Alabama 36130-1463
Telephone: 334-394-4352
Fax: 334-394-4383
Email: gle@adem.state.al.us

Project recommended for submittal by
Marilyn Elliott
Deputy Director
Alabama Department of Environmental Management

Requested Funding: [REDACTED BY US EPA ]
Total Project Cost: [REDACTED BY US EPA ]

Introduction
The Alabama Department of Environmental Management is proposing to develop and implement a voluntary compliance assistance program to protect drinking water sources from potential contamination, while assisting industries to reduce their environmental liability and avoid regulatory constraints through the implementation of pollution prevention and environmental management systems. Special emphasis will be given to small businesses currently under regulatory thresholds.

Background
The 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act added Section 1453, which required every state to develop and submit a source water assessment program to the U.S. EPA and to complete a drinking water source assessment of every public water system.
Specifically, the amendments required three steps to be taken for each public water system:

Pursuant to this, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management adopted Alabama Administrative Code Rules 335-7-5-.04 Source Water Assessment Program for Groundwater Systems and 335-7-6-.04 Source Water Assessment for Surface Systems. These rules require public drinking water systems to provide a source water assessment which includes delineation of the assessment area, an inventory of contaminant sources, a susceptibility analysis of each contaminant source, contingency planning and public awareness activities. Assessments for existing systems are to be completed no later than February 6, 2003

While Section 1453 of the Safe Drinking Water Act only requires states to complete assessments of public water systems, the 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act also include a number of provisions for the protection of source waters. Guidance from U.S. EPA on state SWAP programs requires states to commit to active protection programs and to describe the linkages between source water assessments and ongoing or future protection efforts.

In furtherance of these protection efforts, ADEM is proposing to develop and implement a voluntary compliance assistance program to address potential threats to drinking water sources through on-site assistance to industry and other regulated entities identified in these areas. The program will be housed in the Pollution Prevention/Ombudsman Unit of ADEM's Office of Education and Outreach. The Office of Education and Outreach is a non-regulatory office within ADEM. Support from the state's Clean Water Partnership Initiative will also be solicited. The compliance assistance efforts will focus on identifying potential sources of contamination and offering on-site assistance as well as informational resources in pollution prevention, storm water management, and environmental management systems through a voluntary approach.

Projection Schedule and Timeframe
Development and implementation of this program is projected to require two to three years and will continue beyond the grant project period under alternate funding sources.

Program Criteria
Target areas: water quality, source water protection, multi-media pollution prevention

Use of incentives as a tool: ADEM does not currently utilize onsite compliance assistance in any of its regulatory programs. Currently regulated entities will have an incentive to participate in the program to avoid permit modifications, and further regulatory constraints through the implementation of pollution prevention and/or environmental management systems. Entities that are currently below regulatory thresholds will have an incentive to participate in order to remain below those thresholds.

This project builds on lessons learned in the development of the Waste Reduction and Technology Transfer Foundation, Alabama's retiree based technical assistance program. Specifically it has been demonstrated through that businesses and industries are reluctant to request on-site assistance from a regulatory office. Housing the proposed program in ADEM's non-regulatory Office of Education and Outreach avoids this potential pitfall. Should this effort prove successful it will open the door for further compliance assistance efforts from the Pollution Prevention/Ombudsman Unit.

Transferring innovation: This program has should affect significant environmental improvement by targeting businesses that have the potential to introduce contaminants into source water but are currently below regulatory thresholds. Additional improvement may result from promoting the use of environmental management systems is those companies.

This program will also step ahead of Source Water Protection Program implementation through this voluntary approach in lieu of any federal or state mandates.

Should this effort prove successful it will open the door for compliance assistance efforts in other ADEM regulatory programs, expanding the use of pollution prevention and environmental management systems as a way to protect and enhance Alabama's environment and could be duplicated by other state programs.

Guaranteeing measures and accountability: The number of facilities requesting on-site assistance will be tracked. Voluntary participants will be encouraged to measure and report on waste reduction achieved through the implementation of recommended waste reduction strategies and environmental management system.

Project Budget: [REDACTED BY US EPA ]

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