ILLINOIS

POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

July

26,

1983

IN THE MATTER OF:

PROPOSED

AMENDMENT

TO

35

ILL.

ADM.

CODE 602.113(c)

R83—9

TO ALL~ ALGICIDE PERMITS

GREATER

DURATION

PROPOSED RULE.

FIRST NOTICE.

PROPOSED OPINION

AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by N.

J.

Nega):

This matter comes

before the

Board on the proposal filed

on

April

6,

1983 by the

Illinois

Environmental Protection agency

(Agency)

to amend 35

IlL Mm,

Code

602,113(c)

to extend the

maximum allowable

duration

of algicide permits from

1 year to

5

years.

On May

18,

1983,

the Board received a letter from Michael

D.

Curry,

P.E, in support of the proposed regulatory change.

The

first hearing on

the merits was held in Springfield, Illinois on

May 27,

1983 and the second merit hearing was held in Chicago,

Illinois on May 31, 1983.

No members of

the

public were present

at either

hearing.

The Director of the

ILlinois Department of

Energy and Natural

Resources

(DENR)

has

advised the Board that the

DENR has made a

finding that an

economic impact study on the regulatory

proposal

in R83—9 is not necessary

and

has issued a “negative declaration”

of economic impact.

The Economic and Technical Advisory Committee

(ETAC) has concurred

in the

DENR’S

finding.

The public hearing

requirements

of

Section 27

of the

Illinois Environmental Protection

Act

(Act) being satisfied,

the Board will adopt the proposed rule

for first

notice,

As

justification

for its initial proposal

in

P83—9,

the

Agency

indicated

that

the

change

in

permit

duration

would

increase

administrative

efficiency

by

reducing

the

costs

and

paperwork of all

parties

and by eliminating the

repetitive

information

found on each

successive yearly application

without

loss to the

information base needed to

properly protect the

environment.

53~iS7

---

—2—

Algae are aquatic

nonvascular plants

(such as seaweeds,

pond

scums, and stoneworts) with chlorophyll often masked by a brown

or red pigment.

Algicide permits

are issued by the

Agency for

copper sulfate treatment

of waters in specific streams

and

impoundments.

According to

the records of the Agencyts Division

of Public Water Supplies

(DPWS),

there are 81

facilities that

apply for algicide

permits.

Most of the same facilities

apply

year after year;

identical information is repeated

on each yearly

application;

and

the amounts and application rates of copper

sulfate

(which

are determined by the volume,

area,

and depth of

the reservoirs

which have applied algicide, with

some allowance

for

siltation) are practically the same over the years.

(See:

Attachments

I,

Ii,

and

III),

Thus,

if

the

maximum

duration for

algicide permits

is extended from

1 year to

5 years,

the

permittees would not

have

to

fill out redundant applications;

DPWS

would not have

to

devote its limited resources

to processing

such

forms; and water quality would

still

be

protected.

At

the first

merit hearing, Mr. Roger D, Selburg,

P.E,,

Manager of the Permit Section of DPWS,

testified that:

(1)

public water supplies which use surface water reservoirs as

a

source of raw water supply need to control

algae,

plankton,

bacteria, and fungi to avoid

the

clogging of sand filters and the

presence of objectionable tastes

and

odors

in finished waters

used for domestic purposes;

(2) the use of copper sulfate for

controlling algal growths

in water supply reservoirs has been

practiced in Illinois for over

80

years;

(3)

copper

sulfate is

applied by dragging a burlap

sack

containing crystals of copper

sulfate behind a boat

or using a saturated copper

sulfate

solution

applied to the

water

(by either using

a

sprayer or a

venturi

mounted

near the

motor

prop,

with

art

escape path being

left for any

fish in the vicinity

of

the point of

application);

(4) the amount

of copper sulfate required

to

control

algae

depends

on the specific

t~peof

algae

and

the temperature,

alkalinity, and CO,

content of the water;

(5)

copper

sulfate

applied at 1.0 mg/t

(0,26 mg/i as

Cu) has

been

found

generally

effective in controlling

most algae in Illinois

surface waters;

(6) once an effective

copper sulfate dosage has

been ascertained,

the same dosage is

used successfully in

succeeding years;

(7) the

frequency of copper

sulfate application will vary with

each

reservoir,

but is ordinarily

on

a

monthly basis from

April to

November;

(8)

the amount and frequency of copper

sulfate

application usually

doesn~tchange with time;

(9) there have been

no fish kills reported

due to copper sulfate

treatments;

and

(10)

the application of

copper sulfate doesn~tappear to

contribute to

violations of the

water quality standards for

copper in the river

basins of Illinois

(see:

Attachment IV).

(R.

4—15),

Mr. Selburg

also

stated

that,

prior

to

the

adoption of the

algicide permit

program in R73—13 on

January

3,

1975,

53~

188

---

—3—

was necessary for each public water supply that wanted to treat

its reservoirs with copper sulfate to individually apply to the

Board for a variance,

Thus,

the initial duration of

1 year in

the algicide permit system was developed to parallel

the common

variance time period,

(R.

10-11).

In 1975,

it was expected that

algicide application would probably only be a year-to-year project

and there would be

no

need to continue algicide application over

a multi—year time frame,

but subsequent experience in this

developing program

has demonstrated otherwise,

Once an

effective

copper

sulfate

dosage

is

determined, the

amount and frequency of copper sulfate

application usually doesn~t

change with time~

If new types of problem algae

develop, Agency

laboratory personnel and water pollution biologists

from various

state agencies

often

have

the requisite expertise and experience

to help public

water supply officials ascertain the

appropriate

copper

sulfate dosages to properly

protect the aquatic environment.

If

a public water

supply needs

to significantly modify its reservoir

treatment,

it must

first apply to the Agency for a

new

permit.

To handle the potential situation of a public water supply official

inadvertently failing to properly renew an algicide permit after

5 years, the DPWS has now developed a “reminder” system in which

a letter of notification and new application form will be sent

well in advance of the permit expiration date to each public

water supply holding an algicide permit.

At the first merit hearing, there was testimony indicating

that public water supplies should seek permit modification if

there is any major change, either in the operation of the public

water supply or

in

algae growth,

which affects the

use of copper

sulfate as outlined

in the aigicide permit.

(R.

13;

R,

22—23).

The Board has noted that

there is

currently no rule which mandates

such permit modification

and

thus has

amended

Section 602.110

to clarify

this

situation.

In evaluating this

regulatory

proposal, the Board notes

that

the identical

level of

environmental

protection will be provided

with the

5

year

algicide

permit as

it

is

with the

1 year permit,

while substantial savings of time,

effort,

costs,

and reduced

paperwork will be accorded

both the

permittees and the Agency.

Thus, the Board

finds that

the Agency~sproposal

to extend

the maximum duration of algicide permits from 1 year to

5 years

is an environmentally acceptable method to increase administrative

efficiency by reducing

the

costs and paperwork burdens on all

53-189

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—4—

ORDER

Section 602.110

Algicide Permits App e~4e~ø

a)

All applications for algicide permits shall contain:

~

1)

the name and certificate number of the certified

operator supervising the application of the algicide,

1~+

2)

a statement describing the extent of the algae

problem, history of any past algae problems,

and

algicide treatments,

arid a description of any fish

kills which have resulted from treatments in the

past;

and

e*

3)

adequate information to support exceeding the limits

as stated in 35

Ill. Adm, Code 302:

Water Quality

Standards,

b)

After any algicide permit is issued,

and before the

permit expires by its stated terms,

if there is any

major change either in the operation of the public

water supply, or in algae growth,

which affects the

use of copper sulfate as outlined in the permit,

the

public water supply shall submit an application for

modification of its permit.

This application shall

contain all of the information required by this sub-

section

(b)

and subsection

(a) above.

(Source:

Amended at

6

Ill.

Reg.

11497,

effective

September

14, 1982.)

Section 602.113

Duration

a)

Construction permits

-

of the Agency.

for each permit renewal,

b)

Operation Permits

-

Operation Permits shall be valid

until revoked unless otherwise stated in the permit.

c)

Algicide Permits

—

Algicide permits shall be valid

53~19O

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—5—

IT IS SO ORDERED.

I, Christan L.

Moffett,

Clerk of the Illinois Pollution

Control Board, hereby c~tifythat the above Opinion and Order was

adopted on the ___________day of

_________________

1983

by a vote of

_______________.

2 ~

Christan L. Moffett, G~erk

/

illinois Pollution Control Board