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1999 SESSION

990776376
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 662
Offered January 21, 1999
Requesting the Department of Environmental Quality to study ways to encourage, promote and regulate the reclamation and reuse of wastewater.
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Patron-- Murphy
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Referred to Committee on Conservation and Natural Resources
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WHEREAS, the Commonwealth is a party to the Chesapeake Bay Agreement which establishes the goal of reducing nutrient loadings to the Chesapeake Bay by forty percent by the year 2000; and

WHEREAS, many local governments and industries are faced with significant costs of upgrading conventional wastewater treatment plants with nutrient removal technology including Biological Nutrient Removal; and

WHEREAS, the land application of treated effluent has been demonstrated to be a cost effective alternative to Biological Nutrient Removal; and

WHEREAS, one of the objectives of the 1987 Chesapeake Bay Agreement is to encourage the land application of treated effluent to reduce pollutant loads in a cost effective manner; and

WHEREAS, the United States Congress established in the Clean Water Act the goal of ending the discharge of pollutants to the waters of the United States by 1985; and

WHEREAS, the recycling of treated effluent for beneficial uses, known as reclamation and reuse, has substantial potential to assist the Commonwealth in meeting the goals of the Chesapeake Bay Agreement; and

WHEREAS, reclaimed water can readily be used for the irrigation of golf courses, athletic fields, forests and farmland as well as for snow making, fire protection and recharge of aquifers; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth suffers periodic droughts producing agricultural stress and regional depletion of ground and surface water that could be alleviated locally by the reclamation and reuse of wastewater; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth recognizes that water is a precious resource and should be managed as efficiently as possible for as many uses as possible; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth lacks a regulatory structure tailored specifically to the reclamation and reuse of wastewater; now therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality be requested to study ways to encourage, promote and regulate the reclamation and reuse of wastewater for such purposes as irrigation of golf courses, athletic fields, forests and farmland as well as for snowmaking, recharge of groundwater and fire protection in the Commonwealth. In carrying out this study, the Department shall examine the regulatory programs for reclamation and reuse of North Carolina, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Illinois and other states it may identify, and review the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Process Design Manual for the Land Application of Municipal Wastewater. The Department shall consider options such as establishing a general permit for reclamation and reuse, modifying the Virginia Pollution Abatement Permit Regulations, and other methods of providing a predictable and certain process that encourages the reclamation and reuse of wastewater while protecting the environment and public health. In conducting this study, the Department shall consult representatives of engineering firms with national experience in the reclamation and reuse of wastewater working in Virginia, representatives of environmental organizations, representatives of agricultural organizations, the Virginia Department of Health, and representatives from Virginia Polytechnic and State University with experience in the reclamation and reuse of wastewater.

All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Department of Environmental Quality in the conduct of this study, upon request.

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality shall complete its work in time to submit its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the 2000 Session of the General Assembly as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents.