The 2021 annual Sewage Sludge/Biosolids Annual Reports are due by February 22, 2022, this year.  These reports are required to be submitted electronically in accordance with the ational Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Electronic Reporting Rule (40 CFR Part 127). These annual reports, NETBIO, are available to the public as part of the EPA’s Central Data Exchange (CDX).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is hosting two online training sessions to assist treatment facility operators with using the electronic reporting system.  The sessions will be held:

Wednesday, Jan 12, 2020, 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM EST
Wednesday, Jan 26, 2020, 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM EST

To join a training, please register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/rt/638747406215915533.

The EPA training session is highly recommended if you have never attended or have never used the electronic reporting system.  There are numerous common errors that can occur and be posted online without much quality assurance or quality control of the data.  For example, Mickey Nowak, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Water Environment Association (MAWEA), has pointed out some major data quality issues with the 2020 data for Massachusetts which he obtained through a data download from EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) system.  Nowak is encouraging all wastewater treatment facilities to take this training to help ensure accurate data reporting.  “If the data entered by the treatment facilities is inaccurate or not in the proper units or entered into the wrong field, it greatly minimizes the ability to use the information to help manage the looming biosolids disposal problem in Massachusetts and this region.”