News

The State Environmental Commission (SEC) will hold a meeting on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, at 9:00 am.  The meeting will be held in the Tahoe Room, on the second floor of the Bryan Building, at 901 South Stewart Street.

The proposed regulations include:

Permanent Regulation R109-22: Bureau of Administrative Services, Office of Financial Assistance – Defining “Disadvantaged,” Amending the Environmental Review Process, Fees, and General Housekeeping

R109-22 proposes the following changes to Nevada Administrative Code (NAC) 445A.255:

(a)  Define the term “disadvantaged,”

(b)  Streamline the process for funding drinking water systems under emergency situations,

(c)  Amend the environmental review process,

(d)  Add an administrative fee for loans,

(e)  Align state regulations with federal changes and direction, and

(f)   Make a few housekeeping amendments.

The proposed changes are expected to have minimal impact on community water systems and the communities that they serve.  This impact may be greater if the water system does not have an updated or sustainable rate structure in place.

Permanent Regulation R112-22: Bureau of Water Pollution Control – Increasing Permitting Fees

R112-22 proposes to increase the fees required to obtain general, temporary, and five-year permits to authorize discharges to the environment (surface or groundwater). The permits are required for all discharges including private individuals as well as private, industry, and public entities. The fee increases are necessary to ensure that NDEP has adequate staff available for the timely review and approval of permit applications, to ensure adequate technical services are available for our permittees, to ensure timely and necessary compliance and enforcement actions are initiated, and to provide the necessarily administrative assistance to the public. A review of the projected revenue and expenditures generated from the existing fee schedules reveals that sufficient revenue is not generated to cover existing FTE merit increases in upcoming fiscal years. Staffing levels are currently not sufficient to adequately respond to increasing permit applications, technical review requests, and compliance issues throughout the state. These shortfalls in permitting and compliance have been documented in audits conducted by EPA. The program is also working to ensure fiscal sustainability in the event discretionary federal grant fund programs (including those from the Department of Energy) are reduced in future years. These grant programs are not mandated by yearly Congressional appropriations and may be subject to re-programming based on future federal administration priorities and funding limitations.

The proposed regulation is expected to have some impact on the regulated community, as fees will increase. This adverse effect is expected to be offset by the decrease in time required for permit application processing. The proposed regulation is expected to have a beneficial impact on the agency in the form of additional resources. This will be passed on to the regulated community.

Permanent Regulation R155-22: Bureau of Safe Drinking Water – Increasing Plan Review and Permitting Fees

R155-22 proposes to increase the fees for engineering plan reviews and annual operating permits to implement the Safe Drinking Water Act in NAC 445A.6664 and NAC 445A.604, add a new fee for water haulers in NAC 445A.6728, and provide general updates to reference the correct agency in the regulations.

The NDEP last updated its fee schedule for engineering plan review and annual water system permits under R194-03, adopted on January 22, 2004. In the last 18 years, the complexity of the program has grown while fees have remained stagnant. The fees support the drinking water staff and are not commensurate with the increased regulatory workload, inspection travel costs, resource needs, training needs, and staffing levels, necessary to meet regulatory requirements and reasonable review turnarounds.

The program is also working to ensure fiscal sustainability in the event discretionary federal grant fund programs (including those from the Department of Energy) are reduced in future years. These grant programs are not mandated by yearly Congressional appropriations and may be subject to re-programming based on future federal administration priorities and funding limitations.

The proposed regulation is expected to have some impact on the regulated community, as fees will increase. These fees may be passed on to the public and are expected to range from $0.36 to $24.60 annually, which is an increase of $0.14 to $9.60 annually. This adverse effect will be offset by more timely review of projects and regulatory compliance determinations.

Permanent Regulation R114-22: Bureau of Water Quality Planning – Updates to Beryllium Water Quality Standards and Aligning Regulatory Language Regarding “Reporting Limits”

R114-22 NDEP proposes to update the water quality standard for beryllium to the current drinking water standard of 4 ug/L. The proposed standard of 4 ug/L is a more realistic standard than the current standard of 0 ug/L.

Additionally, the change in language under NAC 445A.1236(1)(c) from “detection limit of a method” to “reporting limit of a method” will align the regulatory language with how laboratories typically report data. Unless requested by a client, most laboratories censor data at the reporting limit (RL), which is typically a quantitation limit. However, a client can request that the laboratory report data censored at the method detection limit (MDL), with appropriate qualifiers for results detected above the MDL, but below the RL.

This notice and the text of the proposed regulations will also be available on the SEC’s website at: https://sec.nv.gov/meetings/sec-regulatory-meeting-december-14-2022. 

There is also the option to participate virtually using the link below.

Join the meeting https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NzNhNzdjNDctOWZiYS00MWFiLTgwMWEtNWIwMTM1MzVmNDMw%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22e4a340e6-b89e-4e68-8eaa-1544d2703980%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22ddd8c148-951a-40a2-8a5f-489f3867594b%22%7d

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Meeting extension: 282 251 722#

Overall, summer was wet in Nevada due to heavy monsoon rains in the Southwest that even fed
thunderstorms in northern Nevada. Rains were spotty, which is common for summer thunderstorms.
Many parts of the state remained wet through September, as well. Tropical cyclone Kay brought rain to
the southern part of the state early in September. An early-season winter-type storm delivered rain and
colder temperatures to northern Nevada. While normal to wet conditions led to some improvements,
particularly for range vegetation, it wasn’t enough to resolve three-year deficits. As of the October 16,
2022, the U.S. Drought Monitor shows almost all of Nevada in Severe (D2) to Extreme (D3) drought,
reflecting the longer-term deficits.
Impacts reported in September and October included:
• As of October 3, 2022, Lake Mead’s storage volume was 28 percent of the lake’s capacity with a
surface elevation of 1,045 feet above mean sea level.
• Ongoing concerns about reduced groundwater levels in portions of southern Nevada.
• Concerns about reduced surface water availability for wildlife and range livestock on public lands.
• Fire restrictions on public lands remain widespread across Nevada.
• Boating access to Lake Mead, Lake Tahoe, and Lahontan Reservoir are limited by low water levels.
• Ongoing drought conditions are or may impact the ability of reporting organizations to carry out
routine operations, such as road maintenance and ecosystem restoration.
• Ongoing water hauling actions for livestock and wildlife throughout the state.

Click below to read the full report.

https://cnrwa.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022-September_October-Nevada-Drought-Impacts-Summary-Report.pdf

Click here to read the full October 18, 2022 – Drought Status Update for California-Nevada

Key Points

• Water Year 2022 started wet with a strong atmospheric river and ended in continued drought due to almost no precipitation during January through March. 
• The past 3 Water Years have been the driest in the California record. Both California and Nevada remain in almost 100% moderate-to-exceptional drought.
• Both evaporative demand and lack of precipitation are drivers of the current drought since it began in October of 2019. Water Year 2022 had much lower evaporative demand than Water Year 2021, which limited the drying of the landscapes and helped mitigate fire risk.
• Drought impacts (e.g., pasture conditions, ecosystem health, water supply, recreation, fire potential) have intensified and expanded given back-to-back dry years. Drought preparedness is key.
• A ‘three-peat’ La Niña winter is forecasted for Water Year 2023, suggesting continued dry conditions in southern regions of California and Nevada. Extended range forecasts indicate the first atmospheric river of the Water Year will hit the west coast in the next 7 days. 

While summer was wet, rains were spotty, which is common for summer thunderstorms. Nonetheless,
drought intensity has waned, and as of the August 16, 2022 US Drought Monitor map, Nevada is free of
D4 – Exceptional Drought for the first time since September 2020.
Impacts reported in July and August included:
• Nevada’s combined Colorado River shortage/Drought Contingency Plan (DCP) Agreement
contribution will be 25,000 acre-feet (AF) for 2023 operations, an increase from 21,000 AF in
2022.
• Ongoing concerns about reduced groundwater levels in portions of southern Nevada.
• Concerns about reduced surface water availability for wildlife and range livestock on public
lands.
• Fire restrictions on public lands are widespread.
• Boating access to Lake Mead, Lake Tahoe, and Lahontan Reservoir are limited by low water
levels.
• Ongoing drought conditions are or may impact the ability of reporting organizations to carry
out routine operations, such as road maintenance and ecosystem restoration.
• Ongoing water hauling actions for livestock and wildlife throughout the state.

Click here to read the full report.