Ongoing Projects |
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Voluntary Compliance Assistance for Local Governments | |||
In 2002, the department received a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to implement a voluntary compliance assistance pilot program for small local governments in South Carolina. On-site compliance assistance site visits were conducted to:
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Environmental issues for which compliance assistance is available include:
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| To assist a local government’s review of its environmental operations, a Site Visit Check List is available. For help with compliance questions, or to schedule a site visit, contact Christine Steagall at the Center for Waste Minimization, (803) 896-8986. |
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Compliance Assistance for Small Municipal Drinking Water Systems | |||
| Small Community Water Systems Compliance Assistance Project Summary | ||||
| Clean and reliable drinking water is one of the primary reasons for good public health. In the 1970's, many small communities in rural SC built water systems to provide safe and reliable drinking water supplies. As the infrastructure ages and as the population of licensed operators retire, small municipalities are faced with significant challenges. Environmental regulations, operation, maintenance, capital improvement costs and the desire of the public for low cost water service are increasing. | ||||
| From SCDHEC's perspective, there can be a revolving door through enforcement when small public community water systems are unable to maintain compliance. Often, there is a dependence on grants for short-term solutions to operation and maintenance and upgrades. In an effort to take a long-term look to provide compliance assistance and break the cycle of enforcement actions and grant dependency, SCDHEC sought and obtained a grant from the Environmental Council of States for a Small Community Compliance Assistance Pilot Project. The grant’s objective was to design a “fenceline” capacity test pursuant to EPA’s Small Local Governments Compliance Assistance Policy. This policy encourages states to determine whether a small local government is more or less likely to come back into compliance with or without the state’s assistance. To make this determination, states are encouraged to develop a “capacity test” that evaluates a small local government’s financial, management, operational, and technical ability to maintain environmental compliance. A “fenceline” capacity test is one that looks at a particular subset of local government operations. SCDHEC contracted with the Low Country Council of Governments to work with municipalities in Hampton and Allendale County to develop a capacity test for small municipal drinking water systems. Force & Associates, a private technical assistance provider with previous work experience with the municipalities participating in the project, was contracted to design the capacity test. | ||||
| A self-test was developed through the efforts of this grant. This test helps small municipal water systems evaluate financial, operational and managerial capacity and resulting regulatory compliance to identify areas where they are struggling. This test was applied to 11 small municipal water systems within Hampton and Allendale Counties. This test can and will be used by any small municipal water system in SC and other states. In the development of the capacity test, meetings were held with decision makers representing most of the small municipalities. Participating municipalities were separately provided the results of their “capacity tests” identifying areas of concern. Collectively the group began discussing how they will face current and future challenges associated with owning and operating water systems. SCDHEC is supportive of this continued local initiative to improve and maintain drinking water quality and compliance. Eight other counties in SC have been identified as facing the same challenges as municipalities in Hampton and Allendale County. The Capacity Test and the subsequent local initiative will provide information to small municipalities on options available to face future challenges in maintaining water quality and public health. |
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| For help with compliance questions or to schedule a site visit, contact Christine Steagall (803) 896-8986 at the Center for Waste Minimization. | ||||
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Compliance Assistance for Wastewater Treatment Systems | |||
| The “Self Operation & Maintenance Evaluation Report” created by DHEC’s Bureau of Water has been simplified and made somewhat more “user-friendly”. This modified survey is being used as a non-regulatory tool for wastewater treatment facilities (WWTFs) to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their programs. By “weighting” responses to managerial and operational questions, a semi-quantitative evaluation of the program’s “environmental health” can be achieved. | ||||
| It is possible for the overall management or operation of a WWTF to be evaluated as “healthy”, but for individual parts to be identified as being in danger of non-compliance. This will help a WWTF to address potential weaknesses before they lead to environmental damage and regulatory violations. The information developed by this survey is not to be used in any regulatory action; however, completing the survey does not assure that the WWTF is in compliance with all the environmental regulations, and does not preclude enforcement actions as a result of inspections performed independently of this survey. | ||||
| Self Assessment Survey | ||||
| For help with compliance questions or to schedule a site visit, contact Christine Steagall (803) 896-8986 at the Center for Waste Minimization. | ||||
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EPA Region 4 Colleges and Universities Compliance Initiative | |||
| In 2002, EPA Region 4 partnered with SC and other States across Region 4 to offer Compliance Assistance Workshops to Colleges and Universities. As a result of those workshops held, 92% reported that they increased their understanding of environmental requirements as a result of the workshops; 69% reported that they improved environmental management practices as a result of the workshops; and 21% reported that they reduced, treated or eliminated pollution as a result of the workshops. | ||||
| In February 2007, Region 4 launched the Colleges and Universities Compliance Incentive Initiative, encouraging voluntary environmental self-audits. Region 4 mailed more than 400 letters to 4-year public and private colleges in the southeastern United States. SC has partnered with EPA on this initiative, as well as other States in the Region. Many colleges and/or universities have signed on to take part in this initiative in SC and across the Region. | ||||
Potential Environmental Problem Areas at Colleges and Universities:
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EPA’s Audit Policy (www.epa.gov/compliance/incentives/auditing/auditpolicy.html) SC’s Environmental Audit Privilege and Voluntary Disclosure |
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For more information about this compliance incentive initiative or if you are participating in this intiative and are unsure about the disclosure requirements of EPA and SC, please contact Wes Hardegree (hardegree.wes@epa.gov), EPA, Region 4 at 404-562-9629 or Rebecca Sproles (sprolemr@dhec.sc.gov), SC DHEC, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assistance at 803-896-8883. |
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