Boat Sewage Disposal Rule

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• Boat Sewage Disposal Rule
• Stakeholder Meeting

November 16, 2009 100 PM TCEQ Campus 12100 Park
35 CircleBuilding A, Room 202 Austin, Texas
2
Meeting Goals

• Share information about the proposed rule
• Rulemaking Timeline
• Background
• Scope of rulemaking
• Points for discussion
• Open Discussion

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Rulemaking Timeline
December 1, 2009 Comments from Stakeholder Meeting Due
April 28, 2010 Rule proposed at Commission Agenda
May 14, 2010 Proposed rule published in Texas Register
June 8, 2010 Public Hearing
June 14, 2010 Comment period end date
October 6, 2010 Adoption of rule at Commission Agenda
October 28, 2010 Rule effective date
tentative dates tentative dates
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Overview of the Current Rule

• 30 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 321,
  Subchapter A,
• Boat Sewage Disposal

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30 TAC Ch. 321, Subchapter A

• Requirements related to marine sanitation devices
  (MSD) and pump-out facilities
• Requirements pertaining to the discharge of
  treated and untreated sewage from MSDs into
  waters in the state

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30 TAC Ch. 321, Subchapter A

• Identifies which boats must have MSDs installed
• Contains specifications for MSDs and pump-out
  facilities
• Requires certification of MSDs and pump-out
  facilities, including fees, and renewal of
  certification
• Contains disposal methods for contents of holding
  tanks and pump-out facilities

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30 TAC Ch. 321, Subchapter A

• 30 TAC Ch. 321.2(b) The discharge of sewage
  which has not been treated in accordance with
  federal standards from a boat into waters in the
  state is prohibited.
• 30 TAC Ch. 321.2(c) - No person may discharge
  sewage, treated or untreated, from a boat into or
  adjacent to any designated lake.

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30 TAC Ch. 321.2(a)Designated Lakes

1. Lake Meredith
2. Lake Palestine
3. Lake Possum Kingdom
4. Lake Ray Hubbard
5. Lake Sam Rayburn
6. Lake Somerville
7. Lake Tawakoni
8. Lake Texoma
9. Lake Toledo Bend
10. Lake Travis
11. Lake Waco
12. Lake Whitney
13. Clear Lake

1. Lake Austin
2. Lake Bridgeport
3. Lake Brownwood
4. Lake Cedar Creek
5. Lake Conroe
6. Eagle Mountain Lake
7. Lake Granbury
8. Lake Grapevine
9. Lake Houston
10. Lake Lewisville
11. Lake Livingston
12. Lake Lyndon B. Johnson

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Why Rulemaking?

• To implement changes as set forth in Senate Bill
  2445

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Senate Bill 2445

• Passed during the 81st Legislative Session
• Sponsored by Representative Tracy King
• Authored by Senator Carlos Uresti
• Effective September 1, 2009
• Amended Texas Water Code 26.044 and 26.045 and
  Texas Parks and Wildlife Code 31.129

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Senate Bill 2445

• Added new definition for surface water in the
  state
• All lakes, bays, ponds, impounding reservoirs,
  springs, rivers, streams, creeks, estuaries,
  marshes, inlets, canals, the Gulf of Mexico out
  to three nautical miles into the Gulf, and all
  other bodies of surface water, natural or
  artificial, inland or coastal, fresh or salt,
  navigable or nonnavigable, and including the bed
  and banks of all watercourses and bodies of
  surface water, that are wholly or partially
  inside or bordering the state or inside the
  jurisdiction of the state, except waters beyond
  three nautical miles of any shore in the state.

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Senate Bill 2445
Redefined the term boat Any vessel or other
watercraft, whether moved by oars, paddles,
sails, or other power mechanism, inboard or
outboard, or any other vessel or structure
floating on surface water in the state, whether
or not capable of self-locomotion, including but
not limited to cabin cruisers, houseboats,
barges, marinas, and similar floating objects.
The term does not include a vessel subject to
inspection under 46 U.S.C. Section 3301.
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Vessels Subject to Inspection Under 46 U.S.C.
Section 3301

1. freight vessels
2. nautical school vessels
3. offshore supply vessels
4. passenger vessels
5. sailing school vessels
6. seagoing barges
7. seagoing motor vessels
8. small passenger vessels

1. steam vessels
2. tank vessels
3. fish processing vessels
4. fish tender vessels
5. Great Lakes barges
6. oil spill response vessels
7. towing vessels

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Senate Bill 2445

• New definition for boat pump-out station
• Any private or public shoreside, mobile, or
  floating installation either independent of or
  in addition to an organized waste collection,
  treatment, and disposal system used to receive
  boat sewage.
• New definition for shoreside, mobile or floating
  installation
• Marinas and other installations servicing
  boats on surface water in the state.

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Senate Bill 2445

• Renewal of certifications for pump-out stations
  changed from annual to biennial.
• The current boat pump-out certifications expire
  on December 31, 2009.
• The TCEQ will begin issuing certifications on a
  biennial renewal schedule this year. These
  certifications will expire on December 31, 2011.

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Scope of Rulemaking

• Revise definition of boat
• Add definitions for
• surface water in the state
• boat pump-out station
• shoreside, mobile, or floating installation
• Change the frequency for renewal of pump-out
  station certifications from annual to biennial
  (fee amount remains the same)

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Why Rulemaking?

• To revise other areas of the current rule to be
  consistent with federal regulations

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Federal No Discharge Zones

• EPA regulations include waterbodies that are no
  discharge zones (NDZ) by their geographical
  nature
• In freshwater lakes, freshwater reservoirs or
  other freshwater impoundments whose inlets or
  outlets are such as to prevent the ingress or
  egress by vessel traffic subject to this
  regulation, or in rivers not capable of
  navigation by interstate vessel traffic subject
  to this regulation, marine sanitation
  devices...installed on all vessels shall be
  designed and operated to prevent the overboard
  discharge of sewage, treated or untreated, or of
  any waste derived from sewage.

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Federal No Discharge Zones

• For those waterbodies that meet the federal
  definition based on their geographical nature,
  states are not required to seek an NDZ
  designation through EPA.
• Other waterbodies, such as coastal waters and
  estuaries, can be designated as a federal NDZ
  through a petition process to EPA.

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Scope of Rulemaking

• All freshwater lakes, freshwater reservoirs or
  other freshwater impoundments whose
  inlets/outlets prevent the ingress/egress of
  vessel traffic subject to the regulations will
  become NDZs
• All rivers that do not support interstate vessel
  traffic will become NDZs
• Clear Lake will remain an NDZ

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Marine Sanitation Device Specifications

• Current TCEQ rules include specifications for
  approved MSDs. However, federal laws regarding
  MSDs preempts state regulation of the design,
  manufacture, or installation or use of any MSD.
• Exception - States may regulate the design,
  manufacture, or installation or use of a MSD on a
  houseboat, if the regulations are more stringent
  than federal standards.

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Types of Marine Sanitation Devices
Sewage Treatment Device Vessel Length Standard
Type I- Flow-through device (maceration and disinfection) equal to or less than 65 feet in length The effluent produced must not have a fecal coliform bacteria count greater than 1000 per 100 milliliters and have no visible floating solids.
Type II- Flow-through device (maceration and disinfection) greater than 65 feet in length The effluent produced must not have a fecal coliform bacteria count greater than 200 per 100 milliliters and suspended solids not greater than 150 milligrams per liter.
Type III- Holding tank any length This MSD is designed to prevent the overboard discharge of treated or untreated sewage.
Information from EPA website http//www.epa.gov/o
wow/oceans/regulatory/vessel_sewage/vsdmsd.html
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Specifications for Approved MSDs

• When operating a vessel on a federal NDZ, the
  operator must secure each Type I or Type II MSD
  in a manner that prevents discharge of treated or
  untreated sewage

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Methods for Securing Type I Type II MSDs

1. Closing the seacock and removing the handle
2. Padlocking the seacock in the closed position
3. Using a non-releasable wire-tie to hold the
   seacock in the closed position or
4. Locking the door to the space enclosing the
   toilets with a padlock or door handle key lock.

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Scope of Rulemaking

• Remove specifications of MSDs for all boats
  except houseboats, by adopting U.S. Coast Guard
  regulations by reference.
• Specifications for pump-out facilities will
  remain the same.

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Other Revisions

• Redefine houseboat. Current definition
• Any boat fitted for use as a dwelling or for
  leisurely cruising, including any barge.
• Defined in 33 U.S.C. 1322
• A vessel which, for a period of time
  determined by the State in which the vessel is
  located, is used primarily as a residence and
  is not used primarily as a means of
  transportation.

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Other Revisions

• Electronic Certification System
• Mandatory or optional?
• ePay system currently set up for this program
  (fee payable online with credit card)
• TCEQ would still mail out stickers to boat owners
  and pump-out station owners

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• Boat Sewage Disposal Rule

Questions??
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Discussion Points

• Certification for MSDs on boats that are located
  on coastal waters
• To what types of boats in the coastal area would
  the certification be applicable if the
  requirement encompasses all state waters?

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Discussion Points

• Should Type III MSDs continue to be required on
  all houseboats? This would extend the
  requirement to houseboats on all freshwater lakes
  and reservoirs (not just the current 25
  designated waterbodies).
• What type of financial impacts will result from
  the rule changes?

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Contact Information

• Rule Team Project Manager
• Lynley Doyen
• 512-239-1364
• ldoyen_at_tceq.state.tx.us
• Rule Website http//www.tceq.state.tx.us/complian
  ce/field_ops/stakeholders/boatsewagedisposal.html