Thermal Discharge Compliance

Monday, November 15, 2021
at 12:00 (Noon) Eastern

All facilities discharging heated water to Waters of the State must comply with federal and/or state water quality standards for temperature.  Thermal discharge limits are specified in a facility’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for the discharge outfall.  The point of compliance may be at the actual outfall or at the edge of a specified mixing zone.

If compliance with water quality standards cannot be achieved, the discharger may request a variance under the CWA 316(a) and/or applicable state standards.  Typically, this will require a suite of studies to demonstrate that the water quality standards are more stringent than necessary and that a proposed alternative thermal limit has not caused appreciable harm and will ensure the protection and propagation of a balanced indigenous community on the water body receiving the thermal discharge.  If compliance has not recently been demonstrated through studies, the Director may require new studies be completed to ensure compliance.

A brief summary of the EPA guidance, study requirements, and a case study will be presented.

Presenter: John Dimitry, M.S. PMP, Senior Scientist at ASA Analysis & Communications, Inc.

Registration Deadline: November 12, 2021.

Note: Registration is for one entrant. Any other individuals who would like to join this session are required to complete their own registration forms. The registration fee is set per person, not per connection.

PAEP Members – Webinars are free to members but you will still need to register.

Non-Members – the fee for the webinar is $10 per person.
Registrants will be sent an email, closer to the event date, providing information on how to join the webinar

Public Outreach and Environmental Justice Considerations in Transportation Planning and Project Delivery

Monday, December 6, 2021 at 12:00 (Noon) Eastern

The presentation will briefly examine or present:

• Overview of the Presidential Executive Order #12898(what it is and what it isn’t)
• Consideration of Environmental Justice in Transportation Planning
• Consideration of Environmental Justice in Transportation Project Development
• A brief synopsis of Emerging Issues associated with EJ for Transportation.

Presenters: Federal Highway Administration, PA Division

Jennifer Crobak, AICP, Planning Program Mgr

Jon Crum, Multimodal Safety & environmental Specialist.

Deborah Suciu Smith, Sr. Environmental Protection Specialist.

Registration Deadline: December 3, 2021

Note: Registration is for one entrant. Any other individuals who would like to join this session are required to complete their own registration forms. The registration fee is set per person, not per connection.

PAEP Members – Webinars are free to current members but you will still need to register.

Non-Members – the fee for the webinar is $10 per person.

Registrants will be sent an email, closer to the event date, providing information on how to join the

SUSTAINABILITY 101  

Thursday, February 24, 2022

at 12:00 (Noon) Eastern

“Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. This is the Brundtland Commission’s definition of ‘sustainable development’ in their 1987 Report of the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development, as they sought to consider the “interrelationships between people, resources, environment and development.”

The concepts of sustainability continue to evolve today, over thirty years later, and are increasingly important as we already are experiencing negative impacts due to climate change.  We’ve seen an increase in extreme weather events, increased flooding due to sea level rise, destruction of ecosystems and hotter temperatures.  Based on data and trends, scientists predict the impacts related to climate change could get much worse, unless we take significant action. The potential effects of climate change are far reaching and can be difficult to grasp as we live our day to day lives.

In this webinar, we’ll take a step back and discuss what sustainability is all about, how we got to this point, and why it’s important. We will also focus on what we can do as individuals, companies, and organizations to be more sustainable and combat climate change.

Presenter:    Vlad Odarchenko, Senior Project Manager, Environmental & Sustainability at ACT Engineers, Inc.

Mr. Odarchenko is an environmental scientist with more than 20 years of experience in site investigations, remedial actions and sustainability.  He is currently pursuing accreditation as a Certified Climate Change Professional through the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO), and currently serves as president on PAEP’s Board of Directors.

Registration Deadline: February 22, 2022

Note: Registration is for one entrant. Any other individuals who would like to join this session are required to complete their own registration forms. The registration fee is set per person, not per connection.

PAEP Members – Webinars are free to current members but you will still need to register.

Non-Members – the fee for the webinar is $20 per person.

Registrants will be sent an email, closer to the event date, providing information on how to join the

Entrainment Survival:

Using Science to Defy Misconceptions 

Thursday, April 14, 2022

at 12:00 (Noon) Eastern

Environmental regulations often require that a permittee comply with criteria which may be defined as thresholds that cannot be exceeded or minimum thresholds which must be met. Science is often used to develop these criteria, but there are times when adequate science simply does not exist.    Often in such cases, an extremely conservative approach is taken when establishing the criteria.    One example of this is the regulation of thermal discharges under the Clean Water Act and parallel state regulations.  Originally, without data demonstrating otherwise, regulators assumed that all entrained organisms (zooplankton, fish egg, fish larva) would die during passage through a cooling system, and required dischargers to use technologies such as closed-cycle cooling systems, flow reduction measures, or fine mesh screens at intakes.  If all entrained organisms were fated to die as a result, then any of these would provide some degree of impact reduction.

Since the 1970’s, site-specific studies using an evolving set of sampling gear and techniques have successfully demonstrated that substantial portions of entrained organisms can survive the process.    These studies, several of which will be described, provided regulators with the science to override the default assumption, and allow a more informed selection of the site-specific BTA that reduced overall environmental impacts and compliance costs.  Attendees will learn the importance of site-specific regulatory determinations, and how scientifically-defensible studies can reduce costs and improve environmental outcomes.

Presenter:    Brooks Fost, VP and Senior Scientist, ASA Analysis & Communications, Inc., a certified MBE/WBE

Registration Deadline: April 12, 2022.

Note: Registration is for one entrant. Any other individuals who would like to join this session are required to complete their own registration forms. The registration fee is set per person, not per connection.

PAEP Members – Webinars are free to current members but you will still need to register.

Non-Members – the fee for the webinar is $20 per person.

Registrants will be sent an email, closer to the event date, providing information on how to join the webinar.

“The purpose of the Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Professionals is to promote environmental education, research, planning, assessment, review, and management through the formation and operation of a nonpolitical multidisciplinary professional society.” The content of our webinar series is not developed by PAEP, but by the presenters themselves.

Implementing Sustainability

Thursday, July 28, 2022

at 12:00 (Noon) Eastern

As a follow up to PAEP’s February 2022 Webinar – “Sustainability 101”, this PAEP Webinar series presents “Implementing Sustainability”.  We’ll discuss opportunities to incorporate sustainable principles into various types of projects, how to initiate a sustainability program at the office, and how to think and act sustainably in everything we do.  Join Us!

Presenter:

Presenter: Vlad Odarchenko, Senior Project Manager, Environmental & Sustainability at ACT Engineers, Inc.

Mr. Odarchenko is an environmental scientist with more than 20 years of experience in site investigations, remedial actions and sustainability.  He is currently pursuing accreditation as a Certified Climate Change Professional through the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO), and currently serves as president on PAEP’s Board of Directors.

Registration Deadline: July 22, 2022.

Note: Registration is for one entrant. Any other individuals who would like to join this session are required to complete their own registration forms. The registration fee is set per person, not per connection.

PAEP Members – Webinars are free to current members but you will still need to register.

Non-Members – the fee for the webinar is $20 per person.

Registrants will be sent an email, closer to the event date, providing information on how to join the webinar.

“The purpose of the Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Professionals is to promote environmental education, research, planning, assessment, review, and management through the formation and operation of a nonpolitical multidisciplinary professional society.” The content of our webinar series is not developed by PAEP, but by the presenters themselves.