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Clean Water Act
| Please note that this page refers
to federal requirements. State and local regulations
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Introduction
The Clean Water Act (CWA) is intended to protect the
quality of the nation's surface water resources, including both physical
and biological aspects. It gives EPA the authority to regulate the
discharge of pollutants.
This section discusses three topics covered by CWA
regulations that are of particular relevance for healthcare facilities:
Wastewater regulations
A typical healthcare facility has a wide variety of
wastewater sources, such as:
- lavatories, sinks, and showers
- laboratories
- photo processing labs
- washing machines and dish washers
- boilers
- maintenance shops
The facility will fall under one of two sets of regulations,
depending on where the water goes next. Facilities
that discharge their wastewater to a municipal sewer system are referred
to as indirect dischargers,
while those that discharge directly to streams
or rivers are considered direct dischargers.
Indirect dischargers
The vast majority of healthcare facilities are indirect
discharges. Such facilities are subject to regulations by their local
sewer authority, which are in turn regulated by the CWA (Title
40 CFR Part 403--General Pretreatment Regulations). Typically,
indirect discharges must obtain a permit (called an industrial user
permit), and are required to comply with the specific rules stated
in the permit. CWA regulations expressly prohibit any indirect discharger
from releasing any of the following into the sewer:
- fire
or explosion hazards
- corrosive
discharges (pH < 5.0)
- solid
or viscous pollutants; heat (in amounts that cause the treatment plant
influent to exceed 104oF)
- pollutants
that cause toxic gases, fumes, or vapors
- any
other pollutant (including oil and grease from a cafeteria) that will interfere
with or pass through the municipal treatment plant
Beyond that, the local sewer authority will establish
rules and limits for the facility that take into account local conditions,
and the requirements of the authority's own permit.
Some hospitals, primarily larger ones located in smaller
communities, may be designated by their sewer authority as a significant
industrial user. This designation is usually associated with
manufacturing facilities (40 CFR 403.3), but a sewer authority can apply
the designation if a facility) has a "reasonable potential for adversely
affecting” the operation of the sewage treatment plant. A hospital
designated as a significant industrial user must sample and analyze their
wastewater and submit reports to the sewer authority twice a year (40 CFR
403.12).
In addition to the specific rules discussed above,
the CWA provides municipalities with regulatory flexibility so that they
can meet their specific needs. Many municipalities have chosen to establish
local rules that apply specifically to medical waste discharges. Examples
range from blanket prohibitions on "all medical waste" to more
specific prohibitions regarding items such as recognizable body parts or
radioactive compounds.
Direct dischargers
For hospitals that are direct dischargers, EPA has
established national discharge standards, which are numerical limitations
for certain specific pollutants. These standards are much more difficult
to meet than the limitations for indirect dischargers, which is understandable,
given that the wastewater from direct discharge hospitals flows directly
into a stream or river, without having been treated or monitored by a municipal
system. To meet the direct discharge limitations, a hospital would
have to obtain a permit from their state environmental agency or EPA (depending
on the status of the state agency) and install a complex wastewater treatment
plant. According to the EPA Office of Water, about 34 hospitals in
the U.S. have elected to be direct dischargers.
Stormwater
Stormwater carries away dirt and debris, oil from parking lots, lawn chemicals, pesticides, and other pollutants. To minimize the effect of these pollutants on our waterways, under the authority of the CWA, EPA has promulgated stormwater regulations (40 CFR 122.26 -- Stormwater Discharges).
A Clean Water Act permit is required for stormwater discharges from any construction activity disturbing:
- 1 acre or more of land, or
- Less than 1 acre of land, but that is part of a common plan of development or sale that will ultimately disturb 1 or more acres of land.
Construction activity includes earth-disturbing activities such as clearing, grading, and excavating land and other construction-related activities that could generate pollutants.
In most states, stormwater permits are issued by the state environmental protection agency. Use the Construction Stormwater Locator to find relevant information for your state.
Oil storage tanks
If a hospital uses or stores oil it may be subject
to the Spill Prevention Control Countermeasure (SPCC) rule. Hospitals
that have a total aboveground oil storage capacity exceeding 1,320 gallons
or an underground storage capacity exceeding 42,000 gallons are subject to
spill prevention control and countermeasure (SPCC) plan requirements (see
guidance documents under More Resources). Healthcare facilities meeting
these criteria must prepare and implement a SPCC plan to prevent any discharge
of oil into navigable waters.
Aboveground or Underground Oil Storage Containers
EPA's Oil Program web site,
provides information about EPA's program for preventing, preparing for, and
responding to oil spills that occur in and around inland waters of the United
States. If a hospital uses or stores oil it may be subject to the Spill Prevention
Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule. Hospitals with an above ground
oil storage capacity of greater than 1,320 gallons, or total completely buried
oil storage capacity greater than 42,000 gallons must prepare and implement
a SPCC plan to prevent any discharge of oil into or upon navigable waters of
the United States or adjoining shorelines.
The Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule was originally promulgated on December 11, 1973 and was revised on July 17, 2002. In December 2006, EPA issued an amendment to address a number of issues raised by its 2002 rule, including those pertaining to facilities with smaller oil storage capacities. On December 5, 2008, EPA amended the SPCC rule again to provide clarity, tailor requirements to particular industry sectors, and streamline certain requirements while maintaining protection of human health and the environment (73 FR 74236). On November 5, 2009, EPA promulgated revisions to the December 2008 amendments (11/5/2009 Revisions). An EPA fact sheet identifies the latest changes. This rule is effective January 14, 2010. On June 19, 2009, EPA published in the Federal Register a SPCC compliance date extension for all facilities until November 10, 2010. Facilities must amend or prepare, and implement SPCC Plans by the compliance date in accordance with revisions to the SPCC rule promulgated since 2002.
In the amendments, EPA streamlined and tailored the SPCC requirements for a subset of qualified facilities. The owner or operator of a qualified facility has the option to self-certify his SPCC Plan and comply with other streamlined requirements. This final rule designates a subset of qualified facilities (“Tier I qualified facilities”) as those that meet the current qualified facilities eligibility criteria and that have no oil storage containers with an individual aboveground storage capacity greater than 5,000 U.S. gallons. A Tier I qualified facility has the option to complete a self-certified SPCC Plan template instead of a full SPCC Plan. By completing the SPCC Plan template, an owner or operator of a Tier I qualified facility will certify that the facility complies with a set of streamlined SPCC rule requirements. All other qualified facilities are designated “Tier II qualified facilities.”
Who is subject to the SPCC rule?
The SPCC rule applies to owners or operators of non-transportation-related facilities that:
- Drill, produce, store, process, refine, transfer, distribute, use, or consume oil or oil products; and
- Could reasonably be expected to discharge oil to U.S. navigable waters or adjoining shorelines.
Facilities are subject to the rule if they meet at least one of the following capacity thresholds:
- Aboveground oil storage capacity greater than 1,320 U.S. gallons, [Containers with a storage capacity less than 55 U.S. gallons of oil.], or
- Completely buried oil storage capacity greater than 42,000 U.S. gallons.
CWA common areas for inspections
Typical records a state or EPA inspector may ask to
review during a CWA inspection include:
- Industrial
user (IU) permit for discharges to the local municipality (indirect discharge)
- Wastewater
monitoring data or other forms of records required by the IU permit
- Spill
Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan
- Construction
stormwater permits (Phase I or Phase II) for any construction activity
greater than 1 acre
- Phase
II stormwater permits under the NPDES program for public hospitals
- NPDES
general permit for discharging directly to a water body (direct discharge)
More Resources
EPA’s
Stormwater Program.
EPA's oil spill
program web site.
EPA’s Office
of Water.
Title
40 CFR Part 403--General Pretreatment Regulations For Existing And New
Sources Of Pollution.
40
CFR 122.26 Stormwater Discharges
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