The proposed rule would regulate discharges from dental offices in municipalities without mercury PMPs for the first time.
No policy alternatives are available as the Department is required by s. 283.11 (1), Stat., to publish a state rule that complies with and does not exceed the requirements in the corresponding federal rule. The Department’s additional proposed corrective language will clarify that it may issue permits for facilities with facility-specific pretreatment requirements in order to implement those requirements in an EPA-approved manner.
4. Detailed explanation of statutory authority for the rule (including the statutory citation and language):
The Department is required by s. 283.11 (1), Stat., to promulgate by rule pretreatment standards for any category of point sources established by the U.S. EPA and for which that agency has promulgated pretreatment standards for any pollutant. The federal dental office rule (40 CFR 441) contains pretreatment standards for the pollutants contained in dental amalgam wastewater discharged from dental offices. The Department’s corrective language allowing it to issue permits for facilities with facility-specific pretreatment requirements and which discharge to a POTW without an approved program is authorized under s. 283.31. The Department may issue a permit to a point source discharge under s. 283.31 “on condition that such discharges will meet … pretreatment standards.” s. 283.31(3) Wis. Stat. 5. Estimate of amount of time that state employees will spend developing the rule and of other resources necessary to develop the rule:
The Department estimates that up to 400 hours of state employee time will be needed to complete the promulgation of the proposed rule and additional rule language.
6. List with description of all entities that may be affected by the proposed rule:
Facilities where the practice of dentistry is performed, including, but not limited to, institutions, permanent or temporary offices, clinics, home offices, and facilities owned and operated by federal, state or local governments, that discharge wastewater to a publicly owned treatment works (POTW).
The proposed additional rule language would also affect 20 – 40 pretreatment facilities with facility-specific pretreatment requirements.
7. Summary and preliminary comparison with any existing or proposed federal regulation that is intended to address the activities to be regulated by the proposed rule:
As required by s. 283.11 (2), Stat., the new rule shall comply with and not exceed the requirements of the corresponding federal dental rule, 40 CFR 441. The proposed additional rule language would enable the Department to implement facility-specific pretreatment requirements in an EPA-approved manner at facilities with facility-specific pretreatment requirements which are not located in the state’s 27 largest municipalities which are already authorized by ch. NR 211.235 to issue permits containing such requirements. 8. Anticipated economic impact of implementing the rule (note if the rule is likely to have an economic impact on small businesses):
This state rulemaking effort will simply adopt the already-effective federal regulations. The total economic impact of the new rule and additional corrective language is estimated to be approximately $420,000 per year, the majority of which ($400,000) is due to adopting the federal dental rule. Below is a discussion of the expected impacts of the already-effective federal rule.
Many dental offices are small businesses and may incur minor costs as a result of complying with existing federal requirements which this rule incorporates. Small businesses are those which are independently owned and operated and are not dominant in their field, and which employ 25 or fewer full-time employees or which have gross annual sales of less that $5,000,000.
The U.S. EPA estimated in 2016 the annual average cost to purchase, install and maintain one compliant wastewater solids separator over a 10-year period was $800. Wisconsin has approximately 1000 dental offices providing dental services from 3500 licensed dentists.
According to U.S. EPA estimates, approximately 50% of all dental offices in Wisconsin have not yet installed a rule-compliant separator. Nearly all of these offices (approximately 500) are located in municipalities without required mercury pollutant minimization programs as described in item 3 above. Additionally the captured wastewater solids, containing mercury amalgam, may require management under RCRA hazardous waste regulations and may have associated costs.
The above estimated costs (approximately $400,000 per year, cumulatively, for 50% of dental offices over a 10-year period) will likely be incurred from full implementation of the existing federal dental rule. Since the proposed rule will incorporate - without exceeding - existing federal requirements into a state rule, no additional economic impact ($0) is anticipated from implementation of the proposed rule.
The Wisconsin Dental Association has informed its members of the federal dental office rule and promoted amalgam separators for the last seven years.
The proposed additional rule language contains facility-specific cost-saving measures which would reduce environmental compliance costs for those facilities receiving them.
The Department currently regulates 137 pretreatment facilities under NR 211, Wis. Adm. Code and estimates 30% of these may be impacted by the new corrective action, with an annual cost of $500 per facility or $20,000 total, annually.
9. Anticipated number, month and locations of public hearings:
The Department anticipates holding one public hearing in the month of July 2020. The hearing will be held in Madison, WI. The impact of this rule on dental offices is expected to be minor and the federal dental office rule has been well publicized by dental associations.
Contact Person: Robert Liska, (608) 267-7631
