Amend the Water Quality Management Planning Regulation (9 VAC 25-720), within section 120.C, to include total nitrogen and total phosphorus waste load allocations for Lousia County's Zion Crossroads wastewater facility (VPDES Permit No. 0090743). The discharge permit, reissued 3/28/02 (expires 3/28/07), contains flow tiers of 0.10 and 0.70 million gallons per day (MGD). The plant currently operates at 0.10 MGD and the County plans to expand the design flow to the higher tier. The County claims that the expansion to 0.70 MGD will be completed and a Certificate to Operate issued by the first quarter of 2009.

Public-notice receipt of the petition and provide for a 21-day public comment period. Upon close of the public comment period, review any comments received and then make a decision to either initiate a rulemaking or place the petition on the Board's next meeting agenda for their consideration.

Take no action

The petition was denied, based on the following: 1. Louisa County did not pursue the increased WLAs due to a plant expansion under the original rulemaking adopted by the Board in 2005. Further increases should be avoided when possible to aid in meeting and maintaining water quality standards. In addition, the County has the capability to meet its TN WLA by operating available nutrient reduction technology (state of the art treatment, TN = 3.0 mg/l annual average) up to a flow of 0.62 MGD. At a design flow of 0.7 MGD, the County would need to acquire 700 lbs/yr of TN offsets under the Nutrient Credit Exchange Program. The TN offset could also be achieved through reclamation/reuse, thus reducing the surface water discharge. The TP WLA can be achieved at 0.7 MGD design flow through operation at 0.29 mg/l annual average, which is possible using available technology. 2. Louisa County has not provided a reasonable assurance that the CTO for the expanded plant will be secured by 12/31/10. Design documents were not submitted by the date shown on the County's revised schedule (due 3 months ago), and the project does not have an approved Preliminary Engineering Report (the PER is a precursor to design plans and specifications). The Zion Crossroads upgrade/expansion project PER was submitted 9/10/07, revised 2/26/08, commented on by DEQ 3/27/08, and returned to the County 11/13/08. Current review status is "inactive". As a result of the decision to deny the petition, the regulatory action initiated by publication of a NOIRA on February 4, 2009 is being withdrawn.