Texas Register, Volume 45, Number 16, Pages 2459-2596, April 17, 2020 Page: 2,543
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Class A, AB, or B pathogen and vector attraction reduction
requirements) and "biosolids" (which is sewage sludge that
has been treated to meet Class A, AB, or B pathogen and
vector attraction reduction requirements). Due to these adopted
changes, the commission also adopts to replace "annual whole
sludge application rate" with "annual whole application rate,"
and "water treatment sludge" with "water treatment residuals."
These adopted changes are consistent with accepted industry
terminology. These changes are not addressed in this Sec-
tion-by-Section Discussion.
312.1, Purpose
The commission adopts amended 312.1 to include "biosolids"
and "water treatment residuals" due to their applicability to the
purpose of the rules. The commission removes the following
sentence, "The standards applicable to the disposal of water
treatment sludge are included" since water treatment residuals
was combined with the list of other materials previously listed
in the section. At adoption, the commission amends 312.1 to
change "record keeping" to "recordkeeping" to be consistent with
this change throughout Chapter 312.
312.2, Applicability
The commission adopts amended 312.2 to include biosolids
and water treatment residuals to the applicability of Chapter 312.
312.3, Exclusions
Throughout 312.3, the commission adopts the replacement of
"does not establish requirements for" with "does not authorize"
to provide clarification on activities that are not authorized under
Chapter 312.
The commission adopts to amend 312.3(e) to add an amended
through date for the reference to 40 Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR) Part 261 to conform to changes in the federal regulations
promulgated in the November 28, 2016, issue of the Federal
Register (81 FR 85732), the May 30, 2018, issue of the Federal
Register (83 FR 24664), and the February 22, 2019, issue of the
Federal Register (84 FR 5816).
The commission adopts amended 312.3(f) to include water
treatment residuals to be consistent with longstanding TCEQ
practice.
The commission adopts amended 312.3(h) to separate the sub-
section into two subsections and re-letter the subsequent sub-
sections in order to improve readability. This separates the ex-
clusions related to storage and staging from the exclusions re-
lated to processing, use, or disposal. The commission adopts
"grit trap waste" to include the waste in the list of wastes that are
not authorized for processing, use, or disposal under Chapter
312.
The commission adopts amended re-lettered 312.3(m) to
replace "grease and grit trap waste" with "grease trap waste"
and "grit trap waste" to distinguish them as two separate types
of waste. The commission also adopts a statement to clarify that
Chapter 312 does not authorize land application of the listed
wastes, whether processed or unprocessed, that have been
commingled with biosolids, sewage sludge, domestic septage,
or water treatment residuals.
At adoption, the commission adds the following language:
"unless the grease trap waste is added at a fats, oil, and grease
receiving facility as part of an anaerobic digestion process."
The clarification regarding fats, oil, and grease (FOG) addition
to an anaerobic digestion process is added in response to astakeholder's comment. FOG addition to an anaerobic digestion
process and subsequent treatment within the wastewater treat-
ment system aligns with TCEQ's definition of "Sewage sludge"
authorized for land application under Chapter 312.
The commission adopts amended re-lettered 312.3(n) to add
"biosolids or domestic septage" to clarify that Chapter 312 does
not allow for the registration of processing operations, thus re-
quiring a permit for such activity.
The commission adopts 312.3(o) to state that Chapter 312 does
not authorize sewage sludge, biosolids, or domestic septage
processing operations unless the processing occurs at a treat-
ment works. After the effective date of this rulemaking, any
sewage sludge, biosolids, or domestic septage processing oper-
ations that are not located at a treatment works will be required to
seek authorization under 30 TAC Chapter 330 (Municipal Solid
Waste) or Chapter 332 (Composting), and a processing autho-
rization under Chapter 330 or Chapter 332 may be authorized
in accordance with Chapter 312 for the final use and disposal.
The commission also adopts a savings clause to allow any pro-
cessing permit that was issued prior to the effective date of this
rulemaking, to continue under the rule requirements as they ex-
isted prior to the effective date of this rulemaking. This sav-
ings clause applies to renewals, minor amendments, and major
amendments to those processing permits.
312.4, Required Authorizations or Notifications
The commission adopts amended 312.4(a) to include
"biosolids, or water treatment residuals in a monofill" to clarify
the type of water treatment residuals disposal that requires a
permit. This type of authorization has always been required for
water treatment residual disposed of in a monofill. The com-
mission's phrase "in a monofill" only applies to water treatment
residuals, not sewage sludge or biosolids.
The commission deletes 312.4(a)(1), because all Class B land
application registrations have expired or transitioned to a permit.
Therefore, this requirement is no longer needed. Subsequent
paragraphs are renumbered accordingly.
The commission adopts amended 312.4(b)(1) to clarify that
Class A or Class AB biosolids should not meet metal limits, but
instead not exceed the metal limits. The commission is also in-
cluding the word "meets" when describing the pathogen reduc-
tion and vector attraction reduction requirements, as biosolids
are required to meet these requirements.
The commission adopts amended 312.4(b)(4) to change the
due date for Class A and Class AB biosolids annual reports from
September 1st to September 30th and to include the reporting
period. The adopted due date is consistent with the due date
of the Class B biosolids annual report and will allow Class A
and Class AB biosolids notification holders time to submit their
reports since the reporting period ends on August 31st.
The commission adopts amended 312.4(c)(1) to remove the
effective date of September 1, 2003, because all Class B regis-
trations have expired or transitioned to a permit. Therefore, this
date is no longer needed.
312.6, Additional or More Stringent Requirements
The commission adoptsCamended 312.6 to include biosolids,
domestic septage, and water treatment residuals to be consis-
tent with longstanding TCEQ practice. The commission amends
the phrase "public health" to "human health" to clarify that the re-
quirements should be protective of all people. The commissionADOPTED RULES April 17, 2020 45 TexReg 2543
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Texas. Secretary of State. Texas Register, Volume 45, Number 16, Pages 2459-2596, April 17, 2020, periodical, April 17, 2020; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1289739/m1/85/?rotate=90: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.