Bill Penny
Bill Penny

Bill Penny is a Member in the Nashville office of Stites & Harbison. He is a member of the firm's Environmental, Natural Resources and Energy Service Group as well as the Green Industry Practice Group. Bill has more than 25 years experience in environmental law. You can contact him at william.penny@stites.com or by phone at 615-782-2308.

Martin Corinne
Corinne Martin

Corinne Martin is an Associate in the Nashville office of Stites & Harbison. She is a member of the Environmental, Natural Resources & Energy Service Group, the Green Industry Practice Group, and the Business Litigation Service Group. cmartin@stites.com or by phone at 615-782-2218.

water

TDEC Sets New Public Hearings Based on Revisions to the Triennial Review Rules

12.28.11 11:05 AM
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TDEC announced today that it will be hold two public hearings on February 23, 2012  to accept additional comments to the proposed triennial review rules in light of changes the Division recommended at the November Water Quality Control Board meeting.  The live hearings will be on the 17th Floor Conference Room, L & C Tower at 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. Central Time.  Click  here for the notice in full.  Click here  for the redline version of the changes from the original.  The notice provides opportunity for teleconference at locations across the state for the public hearings. The Division went out out on public notice for the triennial review rules late in 2009.  Yet it was not until November 2011, some two years later that the Division made its recommendations. The triennial review must be conducted every three years, so it appears the process will start all over again next year.

The reason for the new public hearings is related to some last minute changes TDEC made to the rules that went out on public notice two years ago.  These changes appear primarily related to resolving  issues raised in In a Chancery Court decision issued October 17, 2011, Pickard v. Water Quality Control Board, No.09-228-III described in our October 17, 2011 posting on this blog.  A number of NGO's and others expressed concern at the abrupt revisions to the rules.   In addition, TDEC changed some of the procedural aspects of the antidegradation process for Exceptional Waters, from the original proposal, by eliminating the public meeting but including it with the public hearing for the actual permit.  TDEC also retracted its recommendation to adopt the 1996 recommended selenium  national criterion for fish and aquatic life and recommended staying with the existing 1987 criterion.  The 1996 revision was not supported by industry or NGO's (for different reasons).  Industry recommended that the Board adopt the 2004/2008 draft National Criterion to account for the different ionized states of selenium and the influence of sulfates on the selenate form.

Comments will be taken at the public hearing on February 23, 2012 but TDEC will accept comments through March 6, 2012.

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