April 2016 Report to Congress on Combined Sewer Overflows to the Great Lakes Basin EPA 833-R-16-006 Report to Congress Combined Sewer Overflows into the Great Lakes Basin U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Wastewater Management This page intentionally left blank. Report to Congress on Combined Sewer Overflows to the Great Lakes Basin Table of Contents List of Figures .......................................................................................................... ii List of Tables........................................................................................................... iii List of Acronyms ...................................................................................................... iv Executive Summary .............................................................................................. ES-1 1 Introduction and Background ................................................................................... 1 1.1 Why Is EPA Preparing this Report to Congress? ................................................................................................. 1 1.2 The Challenges of Combined Sewer Systems and Combined Sewer Overflows .............................................. 1 1.3 What is the “Great Lakes Basin”? ........................................................................................................................ 3 1.4 How Do CSOs Impact the Great Lakes? ............................................................................................................... 5 1.5 The Federal Framework for CSO Control............................................................................................................. 6 1.5.1 CSO Control Policy ...................................................................................................................................... 7 1.5.2 Wet Weather Water Quality Act ............................................................................................................... 7 2 Methodology ...........................................................................................................9 2.1 Data Collection Method........................................................................................................................................ 9 2.2 What Data Were Collected? ................................................................................................................................. 9 3 Results ................................................................................................................. 13 3.1 Distribution of CSO Communities ...................................................................................................................... 13 3.2 LTCP Status of CSO Communities....................................................................................................................... 15 3.3 Post-Construction Compliance Monitoring Program Status of CSO Communities ........................................ 16 3.4 Treated and Untreated CSOs.............................................................................................................................. 18 3.5 Untreated CSO Events in 2014 ........................................................................................................................... 18 3.6 Summary of Untreated CSO Volume Reported in 2014 ................................................................................... 20 3.7 Treated CSO Events in 2014 ............................................................................................................................... 22 3.8 Summary of Treated CSO Volume Reported in 2014 ....................................................................................... 23 3.9 Summary of Individual State Data ..................................................................................................................... 25 3.9.1 New York ................................................................................................................................................... 25 3.9.2 Pennsylvania ............................................................................................................................................. 26 3.9.3 Ohio ........................................................................................................................................................... 27 3.9.4 Michigan.................................................................................................................................................... 28 3.9.5 Indiana....................................................................................................................................................... 30 3.9.6 Illinois ........................................................................................................................................................ 31 3.9.7 Wisconsin .................................................................................................................................................. 32 References .............................................................................................................. 35 Appendix ............................................................................................................... A-1 Glossary ................................................................................................................ G-1 Page | i Report to Congress on Combined Sewer Overflows to the Great Lakes Basin List of Figures Figure ES-1 2014 CSO Volume by State .......................................................................................... ES-5 Figure ES-2 2014 CSO Volume by Great Lake ................................................................................. ES-5 Figure 1-1. Typical Combined Sewer System......................................................................................... 2 Figure 1-2. National Distribution of CSSs..............................................................................................3 Figure 1-3. Drainage Area of the Great Lakes Basin in the United States. ................................................5 Figure 1-4. CSO Communities in the Great Lakes Basin. ....................................................................... 6 Figure 3-1. CSO Communities in the Great Lakes Basin in the U.S. ....................................................... 13 Figure 3-2. CSO Communities in the Great Lakes Basin in New York. ...................................................25 Figure 3-3.CSO Communities in the Great Lakes Basin in Pennsylvania............................................... 26 Figure 3-4. CSO Communities in the Great Lakes Basin in Ohio. ..........................................................27 Figure 3-5. CSO Communities in the Great Lakes Basin in Michigan.................................................... 29 Figure 3-6. CSO Communities in the Great Lakes Basin in Indiana. ......................................................30 Figure 3-7. CSO Communities in the Great Lakes Basin in Illinois. .......................................................32 Figure 3-8. CSO Communities in the Great Lakes Basin in Wisconsin. .................................................. 33 Cover: Fisherman and Great Blue Heron on a pier in Lake Erie. Cover Photo: Posnov/Getty Images Page | ii Report to Congress on Combined Sewer Overflows to the Great Lakes Basin List of Tables Table ES- 1. Summary of LTCP Status and 2014 CSO Events and Volume by State for States in Great Lakes Basin .................................................................................................................................. ES-3 Table ES- 2. Summary of LTCP Status and 2014 CSO Events and Volume by Lake for States in Great Lakes Basin .................................................................................................................................. ES-4 Table 1-1. Drainage Areas and Other Data for the Great Lakes ............................................................... 4 Table 2-1. Data on CSO Permittees ..................................................................................................... 10 Table 2-2. Data on LTCPs .................................................................................................................. 10 Table 2-3. Data on Post-Construction Compliance Monitoring Programs .............................................. 10 Table 2-4. Data on CSOs.....................................................................................................................11 Table 3-1. CSO Communities by State in the Great Lakes Basin in the U.S. ............................................ 14 Table 3-2. CSO Communities by Lake in the Great Lakes Basin ............................................................ 14 Table 3-3. CSO Control Plan Status of Great Lakes Basin CSO Communities by State Based on Available Data .................................................................................................................................. 15 Table 3-4. CSO Control Plan Status of Great Lakes Basin CSO Communities by Lake Based on Available Data .................................................................................................................................. 16 Table 3-5. Post-Construction Compliance Monitoring Program Status of Great Lakes Basin CSO Communities Based on Available Data ..............................................................................................