ICIS-NPDES Expanded Steering Committee Meeting EPA Opening Remarks

1. ICIS-NPDES Expanded Steering Committee MeetingEPA Opening Remarks Mike Stahl, Office of Compliance, US EPA December 11-12, 2006 Washington, DC

2. Outline • Progress of the expanded Steering Committee, particularly since the June 8-9, 2006 meeting. • Key meeting objectives for EPA

3. Expanded Steering Committee • Formed in December 2005 at request of ECOS (June 2005 Letter). • PCS Steering Committee was expanded to preserve institutional knowledge of work done to date on developing an ICIS-NPDES Policy Statement. • Expands and enhances input from States. • Provides a group of States for EPA to consult on ICIS-NPDES Policy Statement issues.

4. Major Activities of the Expanded Steering Committee • February 13-14, 2006 Meeting • EPA White Paper, March 22, 2006 • State’s White Paper, May 3, 2006 • June 8-9, 2006 Meeting • These action items have been completed since the June meeting: Form a Data Collection and Resource Group  Form a Matrix Group  Raise to ENLC need to extend Exchange Network grants for batch states  Resource and Matrix Groups report out to full Expanded Steering Committee prior to ECOS/ASIWPCA Annual meetings  Present Expanded Steering Committee progress and ECOS and ASIWPCA August meetings.

5. Data Collection and Resource Group • Charge: Develop a consistent, reproducible model for estimating the resources of collecting and entering the Required ICIS-NPDES Data Elements (RIDE.) • Held weekly calls from June 28- August 9, 2006 • Summary of Activities • Model for Estimating Data Entry Resources • Initial estimate - on average a State will need between 2 ~ 4 FTE to enter the RIDE data into ICIS-NPDES • Data Collection • Piloted a spreadsheet with several states to determine the status of collection for the RIDE inspection elements • Unanimously recommended to the full Expanded Steering Committee on August 10, 2006 that this exercise be done for the full RIDE list • Resources for Batch States • The Workgroup drafted language regarding the difficulty in assessing resources for batch States at that time given the status of ICIS-NPDES development for those states

6. Matrix Group • Charge: Develop a proposed approach for transitioning the NPDES management information provided to USEPA from where states are today (almost WENDB) to RIDE. • Weekly Calls from June 28 to August 9, 2006 • Developed EPA and State Issue Lists • Formulated a Matrix differentiating a phase-in of RIDE based on permit type and priority facilities.

7. Joint Resource/Matrix Group • September 13, 2006 - Combined groups after ECOS and ASIWPCA meetings to address follow-up items: • ASIWPCA survey of states on RIDE data collection • EPA review of RIDE list • Continued refinement and merging of issue lists • Clarification on States’ Alternative Approaches • These products provide the basis for the discussions and proposals at this meeting.

8. Where are we now and what still needs to be done? • The Resource and Matrix Groups are to be commended for their efforts, collaboration and progress in the past 6 months. • The discussion and work done over the past year by the Expanded Steering Committee allows EPA to begin putting proposals forward at this meeting and making determinations on the feasibility of some of the State proposals. • EPA’s original schedule for issuing the ICIS-NPDES Policy Statement was September 30, 2006. • ICIS-NPDES now has 21 States, 9 territories and 2 tribes directly using the system without updated policy for the new system.

9. Where are we now and what still needs to be done? continued • EPA wants to conclude this meeting having a path forward for issuing a Policy Statement for ICIS-NPDES in FY2007. • EPA management in the Expanded Steering Committee is very much committed to trying to address the state concerns about burden and thus is willing to make some changes to the draft December 2005 ICIS-NPDES Policy Statement. • The proposals presented on Tuesday will reflect EPA’s good faith effort to address the states’ burden concerns.