The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission is now reviewing the pollution control standards for the Ohio River and its tributaries and is now accepting public comments as part of that process through February 24.

The standards designate specific uses for the Ohio River, and establish guidelines to ensure that the river is capable of supporting these uses. To keep pace with current issues, ORSANCO strives to review the standards at least every three years.

This review of the Pollution Control Standards differs from past reviews in that it asks your input on whether ORSANCO should continue to maintain, administer, and periodically update the current Pollution Control Standards, or should eliminate the Pollution Control Standards and withdraw from the process of maintaining and updating such standards.

An Ad Hoc Committee on Water Quality Standards Implementation has developed and evaluated five (5) alternatives regarding the continuation, modification, or elimination of the ORSANCO Pollution Control Standards and future involvement by ORSANCO in the standard-setting process.

That Committee advanced those five alternatives to the ORSANCO advisory committees, each of which has provided written comments on the alternatives.

A majority of the Ad Hoc Committee members, and a majority of current ORSANCO Commission members, favor an expanded version of Alternative 2, which would eliminate Chapters 3 and 4 of the Pollution Control Standards on water criteria and mixing zones, and eliminate portions of Chapter 5.

That preference is not unanimous among the Commissioners, and a minority report accompanying the expanded discussion of Alternative 2 is contained in the package of materials for your review.

The package for your review includes the five (5) alternatives, with an expanded discussion of the alternative favored by a majority of the Commission members and a minority report, as well as the written comments of the ORSANCO advisory committees.

The Commission wishes to stress that no final decision has been made with respect to the future of the Pollution Control Standards or ORSANCO’s maintenance of Pollution Control Standards.

Now that the Ad Hoc Committee has presented the alternatives, and a majority of the Commission has indicated a preliminary preference and has sought and received the comments of the advisory committees, it is your turn to give the Commission your comments, your suggestions, and your feedback on the future of ORSANCO’s Pollution Control Standards.

Copies Of Proposals

Here are links to the proposals under review--

-- Click Here for the five alternatives under consideration.

-- Click Here for the Expanded Alternative #2, which is preferred by a majority of ad hoc committee members, and a Minority Report describing the position of a minority of ad hoc committee members.

-- Click Here for a summary of comments on the alternatives by ORSANCO’s advisory committees and Technical Committee.

-- Click Here for a mock-up of revised standards, for illustrative purposes, as they might look based on Alternative #2 (marked up version).

-- Click Here for a mock-up of revised standards, for illustrative purposes, as they might look based on Alternative #2 (clean version)

2 Webinars

ORSANCO is holding two webinars to provide an overview of the alternatives and the specific issues and alternatives considered during the review.

The webinars will be held January 24 at 3:00 p.m. and January 31 at 6:00 p.m. EST.  Click Here for instructions on how to participate in the webinars.

Public Hearing

ORSANCO will also be scheduling a public hearing on the standards revision.  Click Here to watch for more information on the schedule.

Submitting Comments

All parties interested in submitting comments may do so by mail or email. Mailed comments should be addressed to ORSANCO, 5735 Kellogg Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45230, Attn: PCS Comments.

Emailed comments should be sent to: PCS@orsanco.org.  Emailed comments must be sent by the original submitter. Third party emails will not be accepted in order to protect data systems integrity. Comments must be included in the body of the email. Email attachments will not be accepted in order to protect data systems integrity.

Please contact ORSANCO directly at 513-231-7719 for instructions on submitting technical and scientific information or data since email attachments cannot be accepted. Your name and mailing address must accompany all correspondence.

For more information, visit ORSANCO’s Pollution Control Standards webpage.

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