In 1972 Congress passed the Clean Water Act. Part of the Clean Water Act requires the Narragansett Bay Commission (NBC) to have a Pretreatment Program to control the release heavy metals, cyanide, and other toxic pollutants into the sewer system. The NBC Pretreatment Program permits, monitors and regulates a variety of industries in order to protect NBC treatment facilities and Narragansett Bay from the discharge of harmful pollutants. The NBC Pretreatment Program is important because wastewater treatment facilities (WWTF) use biological organisms to treat sanitary sewage and are not designed to remove heavy metals, cyanide and other toxic pollutants from wastewater. Discharging certain substances into the sewer system can have negative effects such as:
• interfere with the operation of the WWTF by upsetting the biological process and killing the microorganisms needed for proper treatment
• jeopardize the health and safety of the public and NBC personnel
• clog sewer lines
• contaminates the treatment plant biosolids, or sludge, prohibiting its reuse
• being extremely dangerous if dumped in high concentrations
• mix with other chemicals to form toxic gases
Learn about Discharge Limitations!
To date, this program has had a major positive impact on the quality of wastewater treatment and discharges from the Field’s Point and Bucklin Point WWTFs and has dramatically reduced the amount of metals and toxics being dumped into the sewer system and ultimately into Narragansett Bay. Since the NBC took control of the Field’s Point and Bucklin Point facilities, the metals and cyanide loadings to both plants have significantly decreased. Because of these great metals and cyanide reductions, the Providence and Seekonk Rivers have been removed from the EPA 303(d) list of impaired waters for toxic pollutants.
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Pretreatment Forms
Pretreatment forms are designed to satisfy the Narragansett Bay Commission Rules & Regulations as well as applicable state and federal laws. If you have a question about which forms are appropriate for you, please consult your permit or contact the NBC at (401) 461-8848 x490 or pretreat@narrabay.com.
Pretreatment Permit Applications
To apply for a pretreatment permit, fill out the appropriate form from the list below and mail or hand deliver to the NBC’s Pretreatment Section at 2 Ernest Street in Providence. If you have a question about which application is appropriate for you, please contact the NBC at (401) 461-8848 x490 or pretreat@narrabay.com.
Click here to view Permit Applications
Significant Non-Compliance
Federal general pretreatment program regulations require the Narragansett Bay Commission to publish annually a list of all industrial users that violate any of the NBC Significant Non-Compliance Criteria. Please note, the NBC does not want to publish the name of any firm, but we may have no choice. Firms published in the paper are billed by the NBC for reimbursement of the cost of this Public Notice. Only you can ensure that the name of your firm is not published for being in Significant Non-Compliance with NBC and EPA regulations.
The EPA requires that the NBC must review each user file every three (3) months for Significant Non-Compliance (SNC) criteria A and B, evaluating the user’s previous six (6) month compliance status. If an industrial user exceeds the compliance percentages specified in the SNC_Criteria_A or B, even for just one (1) quarterly evaluation period, the user is in SNC and must be listed in the newspaper. This SNC data evaluation method clearly shows how important it is for an industrial user to sample early and often during each quarterly data review period, especially for any parameters for which your firm may periodically experience excursions above the discharge limits. Sampling early and often in each quarterly review period will ensure that you are not listed as a violator for criteria A and B.
The NBC reviews each user file annually to determine the user’s compliance status with EPA criteria C through H. Based upon the review, if an industrial user is found to be in SNC for any of these criteria, then the user must be listed in the newspaper. Click here to see SNC ads.
