NEBRAMail is pleased to report that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reengaged and doing a lot of great work in support of biosolids management programs. There has been a flurry of activity at EPA and new resources being invested in biosolids management issues. Following the November 2018 Office of Inspector General (OIG) report, which was critical of EPA’s biosolids program, and after hearing from stakeholders at the October 2019 Biosolids Convening organized by the Water Environment Federation (WEF), EPA is moving forward on a lot of fronts. Liz Resek, who heads the EPA Biosolids Program out of the Office of Science and Technology in Washington, D.C., has hired additional staff to tackle some long-overdue initiatives and is actively seeking to engage with states, tribes, practitioners, researchers and others to improve biosolids management. Just in the last month, EPA had a meeting to get input on its risk assessment model for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS, or rather two in particular: PFOA and PFOS) in biosolids, as well as a 3-day stakeholders meeting in which NEBRA participated.

On November 12th, EPA hosted a public stakeholders meeting to review its problem formulation and conceptual risk screening and assessment models being considered for PFOA and PFOS. The methodology being developed for these two chemicals will be applied to the rest of the PFAS class with the screening model being used to prioritize the full risk assessments. EPA’s goal is to present the risk assessment model to the Science Advisory Board, hopefully in the first quarter of 2021. EPA is proposing to use a deterministic risk assessment as a screening tool to determine those PFAS chemicals that require further evaluation using a probabilistic risk assessment framework. EPA will base its risk assessment on publicly-available, previously peer-reviewed models for leaching, runoff, erosion, air dispersal, and plant uptake. EPA is also collecting data on PFAS concentrations in biosolids and soils. Elyssa Arnold is the Risk Assessment Lead in EPA’s Biosolids Program and she welcomed comments, questions, data, studies as well as feedback on EPA’s proposed methodology (email: Arnold.Elyssa@epa.gov).

EPA hosted a 3-day stakeholders meeting December 8th through the 10th that included over 150 participants, mainly state and tribal biosolids program managers but also numerous wastewater utilities and all the regional biosolids associations. The meetings were facilitated by Ross Strategic and structured to get the maximum amount of feedback for EPA as it reinvests in its biosolids program.

On the first day of the stakeholders meeting, NEBRA gave a presentation along with EPA’s Office of Research and Development, The Water Research Foundation and W-4170, a research arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as part of a plenary session titled “Upcoming Research Snapshots”. Later in the day, there were presentations by biosolids coordinators for the States of Michigan and Maine highlighting their recent experiences with biosolids and PFAS. The second day was dedicated to breakout sessions on various topics that EPA is looking for input on as well as actions for EPA to work on alongside the biosolids community. The breakout topics included:

• Chemical and Microbial Methods for Meeting Part 503 Requirements

• Considerations for Resource Recovery

• Experiences in Risk Communications

• Thermal Technologies: Incineration, Pyrolysis and Gasification

• Surface Disposal and Storage Approaches, Planning and Challenges

• Continuity and Institutional Knowledge Transfer within Biosolids Programs

• (Non-PFAS!) Current Challenges for State and Tribal Biosolids Programs

A poll conducted at the beginning of the 3-day meeting revealed that the vast majority of participants have been working with biosolids for less than 5 years. On the final day of the meeting, EPA invited some very experienced biosolids practitioners to provide insights from their many years working in the field. Speakers included Kyle Dorsey, Washington Department of Ecology, Lauren Fondahl, EPA Region 9, Greg Kester, California Association of Sanitation Agencies, Cynthia Sans, EPA Region 7, Frederick J. Hegeman, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, John Dunn, EPA Region 7, and Bob Bastian, Retired EPA Senior Environmental Scientist. They were asked to reflect on changes over the years and provide their thoughts on the most impactful development or achievement in biosolids.

EPA will be summarizing the meeting and will publish the notes on their website. EPA is already planning another Stakeholder meeting for the Fall of 2021.