Facility Operator Certification

Sunset Review

The Water and Wastewater Facility Operator Certification Board's oversight and services are scheduled to sunset on Sept. 1, 2020. 

What does that mean? 

A sunset provision automatically repeals all or part of a law unless the legislature acts to extend it. Sunset provisions help to ensure that Colorado has the least restrictive form of oversight that still protects the public. The Department of Regulator Agencies (DORA) is the agency tasked with completing these evaluations.

Before a scheduled repeal, DORA's Office of Policy, Research and Regulatory Reform performs a Sunset Review to evaluate whether a regulation or part of the government is still needed. DORA then makes recommendations to the legislature about whether or not a law should be repealed or extended. Sunset Reviews summarize information and answer questions directly related to the regulation, board, or the services they provide.

Sunset Review questions 

• What is regulated?
• Why is it regulated?
• Who is regulated?
• How is it regulated?
• What does it cost?
• What disciplinary activity is there?

The other important component of a Sunset Review is the Key Recommendations. Recommendations are not limited to whether the regulation or board should be continued or repealed. The review will also include information regarding methodology and major contacts. The review will contain information on the background, legal framework, and program description and administration.

DORA began its review of the board and services in 2018. They collected data from the program and interviewed stakeholders as well as those involved in running the program. DORA also reviewed Colorado laws and rules, local ordinances, related laws and rules in other states, and federal requirements.

Recommendations

DORA’s 2019 Sunset Review of the Water and Wastewater Facility Operators Certification Board report made 5 distinct recommendations. 

• Continue the program through 2031
• Amend the definition of "domestic wastewater treatment facility"
• Revise the definition of "industrial wastewater treatment facilities"
• Create a new fund specific to the fees collected by the board
• Make technical changes to update the law

The addition of a different fund to make fees collected by the board available for exclusive use by the program, does not mean that new fees are being added, and existing fees are not being increased. Technical changes to the law means they recommend minor language changes for consistency with other statutes.

After the review, DORA worked with the Office of Legislative Legal Services to draft a sunset bill to continue the program and make the recommended statutory revisions. The bill was introduced near the start of the 2020 session and passed the House on February 24. Next, it goes to the Senate. Once the bill is passed and signed, the program will be on solid footing through 2031, with updated definitions and the added ability to use existing fees.

More information 

• Office of Policy, Research and Regulatory Reform
• Water and Wastewater Facility Operators Certification Board

Questions? 

Water and Wastewater Facility Operators Certification Board
cdphe.wwfocb@state.co.us. 



➽ Nancy Horan, operator certification board liaison

Funding Opportunity

Water Quality Improvement Fund

Our Grants and Loans unit provides financial resources to public water systems, wastewater permittees, and nonpoint source recipients. One source is the Water Quality Improvement Fund (WQIF), which uses the funds from civil penalties from water quality violations to help communities improve their water quality. 

When awarding WQIF grants, we prioritize small and economically challenged communities that might struggle to fund needed projects.

2019-2020 WQIF grants

In August 2019, we received 12 applications for stormwater and wastewater projects. Ten of these received funding, for a total of $1,080,000. More information is detailed in the  2019-2020 award release. 

Project categories

WQIF grants can be used for many different kinds of projects, but they must fall into one
of three categories:

• Stormwater management training
• Projects that improve water quality and address a water quality violation
• Planning and/or construction of stormwater or wastewater improvement projects

Examples

• The Town of Vona received $24,600 to develop a stormwater master plan, which they need to pursue funding for construction projects to mitigate long standing flooding problems. 
• Pagosa Springs Sanitation General Improvement District received $156,024 for a SCADA monitoring system with automatic power backup, which should prevent the kinds of spills that their old communications system failed to.

Eligibility

Are you eligible to apply for a WQIF grant? You are eligible if your project meets one of the three categories above, AND you are applying as the following:

• Government agency
• Publicly owned water system
• Private not-for-profit public water system
• Not-for-profit watershed group
• Not-for-profit stormwater program administrator
• Not-for-profit training providers
• Private landowner impacted by a water quality violation

When can you apply?

The request for applications typically runs annually during late summer. 2020 grants have been awarded, but subscribe to AquaTalk for notification of the 2021 grant cycle. 

You can find information about past WQIF Requests for applications on the WQIF webpage. There is also an interactive map showing the location of penalties that are put into the fund. 

Questions? 

cdphe_grantsandloans@state.co.us


➽ Randi Johnson-Hufford, grants and loans

Ask Aqua Man

Storage tank inspections - where to start?

Dear Tank,

Those are great questions! Here are some things that will help you prepare. 

Preparing for comprehensive storage tank inspections

Read it

Read and familiarize yourself with the storage tank rule. The Storage Tank Rule is part of Regulation 11, Colorado's Primary Drinking Water Regulations. You can follow the link above, or you can also find Regulation 11 on the Water Quality Control Commission's regulations webpage. (Storage Tank Rule is section 11.28).

Water systems are responsible for inspecting their tanks for sanitary defects and repairing them in a timely manner. Each system is expected to review their storage system infrastructure by performing quarterly periodic inspections along with at least one comprehensive inspection per tank every 5 years, following their written storage tank inspection plan.

Budget for it

This next step is critical. Remember to budget for your comprehensive storage tank inspection. Whether you choose to hire a contractor or complete the inspection yourself, the associated costs can be several thousand dollars or more depending on the tank, and may not be included in your system’s current budget. If you plan ahead, you won’t get caught unprepared for this expense!

The department considers immediate safety concerns to be of utmost importance. Inspecting tanks can be dangerous work. Please do not put yourself or your contractor at risk by planning ahead with respect to safety too.

Follow it

Next, read and adhere to the “Comprehensive inspection checklist instructions” and complete the “Comprehensive inspection checklist” found on our Drinking Water Storage Rule webpage. Read the instructions before you start.

If you hire a contractor to complete the inspection, be prepared to complete the comprehensive inspection checklist yourself based on the contractor's inspection report. The contractor might or might not complete this for you, depending on your agreement. Make sure to identify sanitary defects based on what is in the report.

Repair it

Repair all sanitary defects as quickly as you can, and document the repairs. This not only protects public health, it keeps you in compliance with the rule!

Remember to review the guidance documents for the rule. Drinking Water Policy 10 gives specific examples of storage tank sanitary defects.

Contact us 

Still have questions? Please contact your department inspector or Lead Drinking Water Engineer, Tyson Ingels at tyson.ingels@state.co.us. 


-Aqua Man

Program Manager's Message

2020 PFAS Sampling Project - Update

In my last program manager’s message, I wrote about why we included several PFAS chemicals in a priority list of contaminants that we submitted to the Water Quality Control Commission, which they approved in October. PFAS is short for per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which are a group of chemicals often found in firefighting foam and other products. When PFAS gets into drinking water, it can cause various health impacts that we are working to minimize. 

Today I want to talk about what we’re doing to learn more about the scope of the problem in Colorado. Our PFAS sampling project is a major initiative to learn more about who is at risk from PFAS contamination. This program offers free PFAS testing to public water systems along with help understanding the results and communicating them to customers. This project is being executed from January to June 2020.

Federal Health Advisory

Since 2012, 94 public water systems (mostly serving above 10,000 people) in Colorado have tested for PFAS. Only a few found levels above the federal health advisory (70 ppt), all in the Colorado Springs area. All of those systems acted to eliminate PFAS levels in their drinking water. Through this sampling program, we will reach many more systems. For most, the program will be an opportunity to show their customers that their water is free from PFAS. If systems find that they have PFAS contamination, we will work with them through the challenges to find solutions.

Right now, the department is following the federal health advisory, so if testing shows levels above that, the department will coordinate with the water system to promptly notify the public and identify options to reduce exposure. However, the department is evaluating whether to modify this approach, so our response protocol may change in the future.

Public interest

The sampling project has generated public interest. We’ve heard from state legislators, the media, and local governments wanting to know about public water system participation. To be transparent, we’re maintaining lists of participating and non-participating water systems on our website. Check out the PFAS 2020 Sampling Project dashboard to see who has applied. In Michigan, all but a few public water systems signed up for their voluntary sampling program.

So far, about 400 water systems have signed up. That’s a great start, but we’re hoping to hear from everyone. We learned that our emails regarding the program went into some people’s spam folder, so we are reaching out again with a different email mechanism to inform water systems about this program. If your water system hasn’t signed up yet, do it now using our online PFAS Sampling application form. 

Stay informed

We’ll keep you updated about the sampling plan here, and share what we’ve learned from the results once they come in. If you are interested in staying up-to-date on this project, sign-up for the email list. We will send out updates and reminders regarding applications and other important details.

Please note: We use a third party provider to send stakeholder information and emails from our cdphe.commentswqcd@state.co.us email address. If you are not receiving updates and have checked your spam folder, please consider checking your firewall or cyber security settings. You can also email us and we can troubleshoot with you. 

➽ Ron Falco, safe drinking water program manager and Ian Dickson, communications and special projects

Facility Operator Certification

Facility Classification Project Update

In November 2018, the Water and Wastewater Facility Operators Certification Board updated the facility classification criteria in Regulation 100 after an extensive, state-wide stakeholder process. These revisions are important because classifying treatment facilities and distribution/collection systems establishes the minimum certification level for operators who act as the certified operator(s) in responsible charge (ORC). The 2018 updates focused on the complexity of facility operations and alignment with the operator certification testing.

All facilities are subject to classification according to the board’s adopted criteria, but many facility classifications will remain unchanged, and there is a delayed implementation period for existing facilities. However, if the classification for your facility will be changing, you will need to upgrade to the new level to remain as the ORC. Here’s our best estimate for how many facilities and operators will be affected.

New Facility Classification Impacts

• About 20% of facilities are expected to get a different classification.
• About 4% of ORCs are expected to need a higher certification to remain ORC.

Two-step Classification for Distribution and Collection

In 2000, the board considered population to be a good surrogate for system complexity. For example, they believed that a system with more people could be expected to have more flow, bigger and longer pipes, etc. The board did include some criteria for increasing classification of low population systems based on complexity, but the criteria were subjective and never used.

In 2018, the board adopted stakeholders’ ideas for objective lists of complexities. Distribution and collection classification is now a two-step process. Like before, step 1 considers population. Step 2 is a review of possible complexities. If a low-population system has one or more of the listed complexities, the classification may increase:

• Distribution system complexities include pressure zones, entry points, chloramines, etc. A pressure zone must serve at least 15 service connections to be counted as a zone for classification purposes.
• Collection system complexities include elements like larger lift stations.

When do new classifications apply?

• Beginning on March 1, 2019, new or substantially modified facilities were to be classified using the updated criteria during design review. 
• During design review, the engineering section will evaluate any water or wastewater treatment facility that has submitted changes to the division for classification changes that would apply upon completion of construction.
• For existing facilities, the new criteria will apply beginning on March 1, 2021. Distribution and collection systems will not change until March 1, 2021 unless system population has increased to the next classification level.
• Delaying implementation for existing facilities until March 1, 2021 gives time to understand the impacts and plan appropriately.

How can I know the future facility classification?

Please review facility classification sections in Regulation 100. Sections 100.4 to 100.9 are the primary facility classification sections. Exemptions are included in section 100.1.5.

To assist owners/operators, we estimated probable classifications for 2021 based on database information and sent emails to facilities with expected classification changes. There are several things to know about the emails:

• The information in the emails is an estimate and may not be fully accurate either because of incorrect treatment codes in the database or quirks in the automated sifting of database information. 
• If you received an email and agree with the probable classification based on your own review of the updated Regulation 100 criteria, no response is needed. 
• If you received an email and disagree with the probable classification based on your own review of the updated Regulation 100 criteria, the email included a link to a Google form to provide feedback. 
• We will review responses to the Google form and contact facilities that responded along with any others where additional information suggests a discrepancy between the estimate and the classification. 

Where do I get information about certification testing?

The board has improved the operator testing program to provide more testing opportunities each year and in more locations. Certification testing is provided by the board’s contractor, Colorado Certified Water Professionals (CCWP). Examination information and CCWP operator portal tutorials are available on the CCWP program webapge.

What should we do if an ORC needs a higher certification?

We estimate that about 4% of current ORCs will need a higher certification. Operators are encouraged to study and test for the higher certification before March 2021. If a facility's classification is increasing and the ORC needs to get a higher certification to remain ORC, there are a few situations where an existing ORC can remain as ORC for a while before testing for the new certification level. These situations are described in section 100.10.8 (a)-(c). The division will be developing an application for requesting site-specific ORC status, which must be requested by Dec. 31, 2020.

Online Resources

Regulation 100 Facility Classification

Tables of all current and probable 2021 classifications
Note: Tables may take several minutes to load, and the search functions at the top of tables are also very slow. An alternative, once the original table is loaded, is to just scroll down or use the page advance at the bottom of the tables. 
Note: “O” means treatment ORC is not required. “0” means distribution or collection ORC is not required. 

Water and Wastewater Facility Operators Certification Board

Regulation 100 is available on the board's webpage. We encourage you to review the updated Regulation 100.  

Questions? 

Drinking water, distribution 
Tyson Ingels | tyson.ingels@state.co.us
Lead Drinking Water Engineer 

Domestic wastewater, collection, reclaimed water, industrial wastewater
David Kurz | david.kurz@state.co.us 
Lead Wastewater Engineer

➽ Tyson Ingels, lead drinking water engineer, and David Kurz, lead wastewater engineer