GLUMRB - Minutes for April 23, 2007 Meeting

1. The meeting was called to order at 1:00 pm by chair Mike Baker.

2. Attendees introduced themselves.

3. Current Officers were confirmed as:

Chair – Ohio – Mike Baker
Vice Chair – Ontario - Ian Parrott
Secretary – Pennsylvania – Dana Aunkst
Treasurer – Illinois – Roger Selburg

4. The agenda was reviewed and approved.

5. The mailing list was reviewed. Rather than take comments, Mike baker asked that all Members review the list and submit any changes to Doug Mandy.

6. The 2006 minutes were reviewed. There were no comments.

Motion by Jill Jonas to approve the 2006 minutes. Second by Gary Flentge. Passed unanimously.

7. Roger Selburg reported that the Board still has $500 in the treasury.

8. Committee Reports:

a. Roy Ney presented the Water Supply Committee Report

The Water Supply Committee met in Madison, Wisconsin on October 17-19, 2006. All members except Ohio and Missouri were present. The majority of the time was spent on section by section review of the proposed modifications to the 2003 edition of the Recommended Standards for Water Works that were made at the previous year’s committee meeting and reviewing comments made by the board regarding our proposed draft copy of the 2007 edition.

The committee received very good comments from Roger Selburg on the draft version of the standards as submitted to the Board in 2006. Each of these comments was discussed and, for the most part, incorporated into the draft copy of the 2007 edition.

In addition, to The Policy Statement on Reverse Osmosis and Nanofiltration and the Policy Statement on Microfiltration and Ultrafiltration have been replaced with an Interim Standard on Membrane Technology.

Roy distributed copies of the 2007 edition of the Recommended Standards for Water Works.

Roger related a concern that the standards should continue to be focussed on design standards and not delve into the policy issues related to operation and maintenance.

Motion by Roger Selburg to approve the 2007 Recommended 10-States Standards for Water Works. Second by Pat Carroll. Passed unanimously.

Joe Demura, Mike Baker, and Roy Ney will work with New York Health Education Services to determine the appropriate mechanism to get the standards published.

On a related note, Roy discussed his participation on the CDC fluoride committee. He does not represent GLUMRB on the committee, but was chosen for his knowledge of the standards. He will continue his participation.

b. The Wastewater Committee Report was presented by Terry Kirschenman.

The annual meeting of the Wastewater Committee was held at Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota on October 3-5, 2006. The meeting location was necessary in part due to the out of state travel restrictions for staff employed at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Seven states and the Province of Ontario were represented at the fall 2006 meeting. Those participating included Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Missouri, Minnesota and the Province of Ontario.

Terry reported on the status of the Committee’s efforts and that since release of the 2004 Recommended Standards for Wastewater Works, no real, negative comments have been received. Michigan adopted the 2004 standards and there was one comment from a commentator in Michigan related to the change in manhole size. Michigan also has taken the initiative to post a copy of the 2004 edition of Ten States Standards on their website.

The wastewater committee is very interested in the results of Ontario’s current effort, as they update their wastewater design standards. Terry indicate that this is an effort that the Board should note. It is a major work effort. Ontario indicated that the results of the effort will be posted as final guidelines very soon, and be open for public comment for thirty days. This will be the last comment period for the public, and upon completion and assuming no significant public opposition, the guidelines should be final in the fall of this year.

Iowa indicated that they are also developing new design standards. No specific deadlines have been established. Iowa is selecting a few chapters to update. They may have draft documents available in June for public review.

Iowa and Minnesota are developing design guidance for small community systems.

Arrangements are being considered for the next update of the wastewater design standards, but as yet, no assignments have been made to states for specific Chapter updates. There was also discussion about the number of Member Representatives who will be retiring over the next few years, and that consideration should be given to succession and longevity of participation in the next update.

Terry suggested that in thinking about the next standards update, the Board should probably consider that the majority of the standards in place have been reviewed very thoroughly, and it may be a good idea to look at new areas. For example, land application (treatment), small systems and technologies and low-pressure collection could be considered.

The Board discussed New York’s participation on the Wastewater Committee. Joe explained the current organizational structure in New York. The Committee would really appreciate New York’s participation, as well as Illinois, as it would be very valuable to the Committee.

Terry related that holding Committee meetings in October seems to be working very well. There are few problems with vacations during that month, and travel costs seem to be reasonable.

Motion by Jill Jonas to approve the Wastewater Committee report. Second by Doris Dumais. Passed unanimously.

1. The discussion of Biololids was tabled due to the absence of Gene Soderbeck. No one else in attendance was familiar with the issue.

c. Individual Sewage Treatment Systems (ISTS)

Gary Flentge presented the Committee report. He indicated that a letter was supposed to have been sent to the Members, inquiring about re-establishing the Committee. There is a need to look at developing standards for small, and private sewage treatment systems. The Committee would review what the states are doing in regard to these types of systems, referred to as hybrids because the wastewater standards do not work well for these facilities.

Open discussion followed. Questions were posed related to participation in the larger, national efforts on on-site system design standards through SORA and NOWRA. Jill Jonas noted that EPA is taking a much more active role in supporting NOWRA through holding workshops and possible development of a national code.

Roger Selburg suggested that by participating in national efforts, states may be giving up their ability to develop their own design standards for these types of systems.

It was suggested that the on-site committee “piggy-back” with the wastewater committee meeting with an overlapping day. The proposed dates were the first week in October, in Minnesota. Members from PA, MO, and NY are to provide a name to Doug Mandy to be the on-site committee representative from their state. A letter will be developed by Terry Kirschenman and Gary Flentge, and forwarded to Doug Mandy for distribution to the Board Members.

d. The pools committee report was given by chair Mike Magnant.

Mike went over the proposed changes to the standards for Swimming Pool Design. He reported that they are basically finished, with the only additional items being the addition of a Table of Contents and a Cover. Then, the document needs to be made ready for publication.

The National Swimming Pool Foundation and the CDC are pushing for design standards.

A question was raised regarding when the standards would become effective, when they are approved or when they are published. Most states would have to take some type of action to have the standards become effective.

Motion by Pat Carroll to approve the Swimming Pools and Bathing Beaches report, subject to corrections in the Table of Contents and adding an appropriate Cover. Second by Roger Selburg. Passed unanimously. (Roger will send a copy of the standard GLUMRB cover to Mike)

9. Other Business

Doug Mandy discussed efforts to establish a website for the 10 states standards. A domain name of – 10statesstandards.com – has been purchased, but it has been difficult working with the Minnesota Department of Health IT staff to link the name to a location. Once this is taken care of, the standards, and other information about GLUMRB will be posted.

Roy indicated he has some background information about GLUMRB and will forward it to Doug for posting on the site. Wisconsin may also have some information.

There were no objections to posting the standards on the site, nor were there objections to posting the information on state websites.

10. Officers for 2008

a. Chair – Ontario – Ian Parrott

b. Vice Chair – Pennsylvania – Dana Aunkst

c. Secretary – Wisconsin – Jill Jonas

d. Treasurer – Illinois – Roger Selburg

11. Certificates of Appreciation

None

12. Other Issues

None

13. Date and Location for 2008 meeting

Chicago, April 21, 2008, Metcalf Federal Building.

14. Meeting adjourned.

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MINUTES

1. The meeting was called to order at 1:00 pm by chair Mike Baker.