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2016 SESSION

16100563D
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 56
Offered January 13, 2016
Prefiled December 30, 2015
Requesting the Secretary of Natural Resources and the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to convene a panel of experts to study the short-term and long-term effects of the storage and land application of sewage sludge and industrial wastes on public health, residential wells, and surface and ground water. Report.
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Patrons-- Ware, Fowler and Kory
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Referred to Committee on Rules
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WHEREAS, in 1994, the General Assembly directed the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) to adopt regulations to ensure that (i) sewage sludge permitted for land application, marketing, or distribution is properly treated or stabilized; (ii) land application, marketing, and distribution of sewage sludge is performed in a manner that will protect public health and the environment; and (iii) the escape, flow, or discharge of sewage sludge into state waters in a manner that would cause pollution of state waters, as those terms are defined in § 62.1-44.3 of the Code of Virginia, will be prevented; and

WHEREAS, in 2007, the General Assembly authorized the transfer of all regulatory oversight of treated sewage sludge, commonly known as biosolids, from VDH to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ); and

WHEREAS, since 2008, biosolids have been land applied in at least 68 localities in the Commonwealth, with at least 54 of those localities receiving biosolids annually; and

WHEREAS, between 2008 and 2014, an average of 222,000 dry tons of biosolids have been spread over an average of 58,000 acres annually; and

WHEREAS, in accordance with House Joint Resolution No. 694 (2007), the Secretary of Natural Resources and the Secretary of Health and Human Resources convened a panel of experts in 2007 to study the impact of land application of biosolids on human health and the environment; and

WHEREAS, the General Assembly posed specific questions to the panel and requested that it consider the typical contaminant concentrations and application rates of biosolids in its study; and

WHEREAS, the panel included stakeholders from a broad range of disciplines, including medicine, higher education, forestry, agronomy, environmental science, ecology, veterinary medicine, and law; and

WHEREAS, the Secretary of Natural Resources and the Secretary of Health and Human Resources published the final report of the panel in 2008; and

WHEREAS, the panel uncovered no evidence or literature verifying a causal link between biosolids and illness but recognized gaps in the science and knowledge surrounding this issue; and

WHEREAS, the panel stated that these gaps could be reduced through highly controlled epidemiological studies relating to health effects of land-applied biosolids and additional efforts to reduce the limitations in quantifying all the chemical and biological constituents in biosolids; and

WHEREAS, the panel stated that there are gaps in the research to characterize the composition, fate, and effects of pharmaceutical and personal care products and other persistent organic compounds in biosolids, as well as in other products and materials and the environment; and

WHEREAS, House Joint Resolution No. 694 also directed the panel to perform a detailed analysis of the chemical and biological composition of biosolids; and

WHEREAS, detailed analysis of the vast number of constituents of biosolids, combined with the specialized analytical methodologies employed to detect and quantify these constituents, involves significant cost; and

WHEREAS, because no funding was available to conduct new analyses, the panel was limited in performing a detailed analysis of the chemical and biological constituents of biosolids; and

WHEREAS, § 62.1-44.3 of the Code of Virginia defines industrial wastes as "liquid or other wastes resulting from any process of industry, manufacture, trade, or business or from the development of any natural resources"; and

WHEREAS, the land application of industrial wastes in Virginia is regulated by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) and DEQ; and

WHEREAS, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services regulates certain industrial wastes as "industrial co-products" in accordance with the Virginia Fertilizer Law (§ 3.2-3600 et seq. of the Code of Virginia) and the Virginia Agricultural Liming Materials Law (§ 3.2-3700 et seq. of the Code of Virginia), which provide for the marketing and distribution of industrial wastes; and

WHEREAS, the land application of industrial wastes that are not regulated by VDACS is regulated by the State Water Control Board and DEQ; and

WHEREAS, industrial wastes from over 35 facilities are land applied in Virginia pursuant to the terms of a Virginia Pollution Abatement or Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued by DEQ; and

WHEREAS, since taking over the regulatory program from VDH, DEQ has conducted over 10,000 inspections of biosolids and industrial wastes land application sites; and

WHEREAS, biosolids and industrial wastes are land applied on less than one percent of the cropland, pastureland, and woodland on Virginia farms; and

WHEREAS, on average, less than 10,000 dry tons of industrial wastes are land applied annually in Virginia, which is less than five percent of the annual amounts of biosolids land applied in Virginia; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Environmental Quality permits include authorization for land application of industrial wastes from a variety of facilities, including chicken and pork processing and packaging plants, apple processing facilities, breweries, concentrated and dried soup stocks manufacturing facilities, confectionary manufacturing facilities, beverage manufacturing plants, snack cake manufacturing facilities, fish processing plants, poultry hatching facilities, meat processing plants, tomato processing plants, wood processing plants, rendering plants, farmers' markets, and municipal potable water treatment plants; and

WHEREAS, the DEQ permit application requires the permit applicant to submit details regarding the design of the industrial wastes treatment works, including the storage facility and land area determination, as well as characterization of the industrial wastes that includes analyses of heavy metals and other constituents; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Environmental Quality examines the specific processes used at the facility generating the industrial wastes to determine whether constituents may represent a threat to human health and the environment; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Environmental Quality requires the permit applicant to provide analyses to determine the capacity of the land application site to assimilate nutrients, metals, and any other pollutants of concern, in order to demonstrate that the activity may be performed safely and protect the environment; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That Secretary of Natural Resources and the Secretary of Health and Human Resources be requested to convene a panel of experts to study the short-term and long-term effects of the storage and land application of sewage sludge and industrial wastes on public health, residential wells, and surface and ground water.

The panel of experts shall develop a methodology for the study design, data collection, and data analysis along with a proposed cost estimate to be reviewed and approved by the Secretary of Natural Resources and the Secretary of Health and Human Services before commencing the study.

Subject to such approval, in conducting its study, the panel shall:

1. Determine the amount of such constituents as pharmaceuticals, metals, pathogens, nutrients, personal care products, prions, bacteria, and any other pollutants that are present in biosolids and industrial wastes that are being applied on land in Virginia and how such contaminants and constituents impact the soil, and surface and well water; and

2. Determine whether current testing and monitoring regulations ensure protection of the public health, safety, and the environment or whether additional regulatory safeguards for land application and storage are necessary;

The Secretary of Natural Resources and the Secretary of Health and Human Resources shall appoint individuals to the panel of experts who by their training, education, or experience are knowledgeable regarding the land application of sewage sludge and industrial waste. The membership of the panel shall include representatives of the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Health, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, the University of Virginia, and Virginia Commonwealth University. The panel of experts shall be co-chaired by a representative of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and a representative of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Technical assistance shall be provided to the panel of experts by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science; the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy's Division of Geology and Mineral Resources' Virginia geological survey; the Virginia Department of Health; and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University's Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences. The United States Geological Survey's Hydrology Regional Contamination Investigation is requested to provide technical assistance, upon the request of the panel of experts. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the panel of experts for this study, upon request.

The panel of experts shall complete its meetings for the first year by November 30, 2016, and for the second year by November 30, 2017, and the Secretary of Natural Resources and the Secretary of Health and Human Resources shall submit to the Governor and the General Assembly an executive summary and report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document for each year. The executive summaries and reports shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports no later than the first day of the next Regular Session of the General Assembly and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.