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Commission hears update on draft EPA NPDES permit that would impose new CSO bacterial limits
Summary
Commission staff reported the EPA issued a second draft NPDES permit that would impose coliform/enterococci limits on combined sewer overflows; staff said the limits could require billions in infrastructure work and the commission has received an extended comment period.
Commission staff provided an update on Feb. 26 about a draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that would impose new fecal coliform/enterococci limits on combined sewer overflows (CSOs).
Paul Furlan said the EPA first issued a draft permit in early 2024 and the commission submitted extensive, technical comments, including an integrated plan and supporting documentation. After a period of little activity, the EPA issued a second draft earlier in 2025. Furlan said the second draft replaced earlier wet-weather CSO exemptions with numeric coliform and enterococci limits on a number of CSO outfalls, applying the limits without separate wet- or dry-weather exemptions.
"These limits would be dry weather, wet weather, doesn't make a difference," Furlan said. He added the practical effect of those limits would be to require the city to eliminate or control CSOs to meet the numeric standards — an undertaking that, staff estimates, could cost on the order of $1.5 billion to $2 billion to fully implement.
Furlan told the commission the EPA granted a public-comment extension to 60 days and the commission is preparing refined comments with its legal and engineering teams (CDM Smith and others). He said the scientific basis cited by EPA in the draft relied in part on an older study of Mount Hope Bay and that the permit language differs from previous water-quality-based CSO provisions. Furlan said he had spoken with about 30 other wastewater utilities around the country and several are reviewing the draft because the proposed approach is unusual.
Commissioners asked whether MassDEP (the state environmental agency) supported the EPA changes. Furlan said MassDEP had issued a related water-quality permit earlier and that agency has not taken NPDES primacy for Massachusetts (NPDES primacy remains with EPA in the state); he said the commission had appealed the state-issued water-quality permit and that some state permit language paralleled EPA's draft. The commission will continue to work with legal and engineering counsel on formal comments during the extended public-comment period.
No vote was required; the report was informational. Furlan said the commission's comment package will be supplemented and filed within the extended deadline.
