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2025-011 Rainbow Valley November 26, 2024 Report No. 2025-011 INFORMAL STAFF REPORT TO MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL SUBJECT: The City of Denton received notice regarding an application for Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) Permit No. WQ0016624001 to authorize the discharge of treated wastewater at a volume not to exceed a daily average flow of 950,000 gallons per day. This permit is required to accommodate a small wastewater reclamation plant for a proposed development in the area. The discharge point of the proposed facility is located off Rainbow Valley Road EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: On November 13,2024,staff met to discuss the impact of the TPDES permit application.Important points discussed during the meeting include: • Once provisional approval is awarded by the Executive Director of TCEQ affected parties have a very short time to protest, 30 days. • Residents of the Whitehawk and Rainbow Valley communities have voiced concerns about the location and proposed discharge point of the facility negatively impacting access to, and water quality of, their community. • This project is located just outside of the City of Denton's Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (CCN). • City of Denton has established Master Plans that envision service in this project and eliminate the need for the proposed facility. Regionalization of wastewater services is also discussed regularly at meetings with developers to avoid multiple small facilities managed by different entities. • Environmental Services & Sustainability Department reviewed the permit application and identified that discharge limits in the permit are high for some pollutants and could pose a risk to the City of Denton watershed. • General development that will likely come with creation of new wastewater plants will cause non-point source pollution. Clear Creek is on the 303d list as concerned for bacteria. The situation could progress to a regulatory requirement with a Total Maximum Daily Load(TMDL) and Implementation Plan. The Total Maximum Daily Load(TMDL) is a scientifically derived target for water quality, and an Implementation Plan (I-Plan) is a plan to reduce pollution and improve water quality. A TMDL could impact the permit limitations associated with Denton's planned Clear Creek wastewater treatment plant. • The City of Denton holds the primary Municipal Storm Sewer System (MS4)Permit in the area.Even if the urban area expands with the 2030 census,TCEQ rules allow newly permitted plants a waiver from stormwater management requirements if their throughput is under 1 MGD. If the new plants do not meet the definition of regulated entity (i.e., qualify for the waiver), stormwater management costs could fall to the cities of Denton and Sanger as regulated entities. • Water Utilities Staff are currently developing a policy and work session presentation to present to City Council on December 17, 2024. November 26, 2024 Report No. 2025-011 • Staff will also include both a staff recommendation and an ordinance to be voted on as an Individual Consideration Item to ensure that a policy is in place before the 30-day protest deadline begins. DISCUSSION: How will the city balance the desire for regionalization of water and wastewater treatment and distribution facilities vs. developers pushing for solutions that are tailored to the needs of their development and nothing further? What environmental impacts will result from multiple smaller wastewater treatment facilities managed by different entities as opposed to larger centralized facilities run by Denton Water Utilities that are sized to accommodate the needs of the entire region?How will the City balance its support of growth in the area with its commitment to protect its watershed? CONCLUSION: As North Central Texas continues to grow rapidly,the use of applications such as this will become more common. It is crucial for the City to establish a policy that allows staff to initiate the protest process as soon as possible. This policy should include a mechanism for keeping the City Council informed about the number of applications in our region, as well as staff evaluations regarding the impact and necessity of a protest. Additionally, the City must ensure that discharges from any new wastewater treatment facilities into Clear Creek,Milam Creek,Hickory Creek, and Pecan Creek do not affect their designated use criteria. Furthermore, these discharges must not have any adverse environmental impact on the watershed or interfere with the City's plans to regionalize wastewater treatment to safeguard the watershed's integrity. ATTACHMENTS: TCEQ Notice STAFF CONTACT: Stephen D. Gay—Water Utilities and Street Operations General Manager, Ext. 8086 Stephen.gay@cityofdenton.com REOUESTOR: Staff initiated. PARTICIPATING DEPARTMENTS: Water Utilities, Environmental Services & Sustainability, City Attorney's Office TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY TE NOTICE OF RECEIPT OF APPLICATION AND INTENT TO OBTAIN WATER QUALITY PERMIT PROPOSED PERMIT NO. WQ0016624001 APPLICATION. Sanger Laguna Azure LLC and James N. Horn, 2101 Cedar Springs Road, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas 75201, have applied to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for proposed Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) Permit No. WQ0016624001 (EPA I.D. No. TX0146609) to authorize the discharge of treated wastewater at a volume not to exceed a daily average flow of 950,000 gallons per day. The domestic wastewater treatment facility will be located approximately 0.77 miles northwest of the intersection of Farm-to-Market Road 2153 and Farm-to-Market Road 2164, near the city of Sanger, in Denton County, Texas 76266. The discharge route will be from the plant site to an unnamed tributary, thence to another unnamed tributary, thence to Clear Creek, thence to Elm Fork Trinity River. TCEQ received this application on September 16, 2024. The permit application will be available for viewing and copying at Sanger Public Library, 501 Bolivar Street, Sanger, in Denton County, Texas prior to the date this notice is published in the newspaper. The application, including any updates, and associated notices are available electronically at the following webpage: http s://www.tc e g.texas.gov/p ermitting/was tewater/p ending-permits/tp de s-applic ations. This link to an electronic map of the site or facility's general location is provided as a public courtesy and not part of the application or notice. For the exact location, refer to the application. https://gisweb.tceg.texas.gov/LocationMapper/?marker=-97.1313 88,3 3.34 5&level=18 ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE NOTICE.Alternative language notice in Spanish is available at: http s://www.tceg.texas.gov/permitting/wastewater/pending_13ermits/tpde s-applic ations. El aviso de idioma alternativo en espanol esta disponible en http s://www.tceg.texas.gov/permitting/wastewater/pending_13ermits/tp de s-applic ations. ADDITIONAL NOTICE. TCEQ's Executive Director has determined the application is administratively complete and will conduct a technical review of the application. After technical review of the application is complete, the Executive Director may prepare a draft permit and will issue a preliminary decision on the application. Notice of the Application and Preliminary Decision will be published and mailed to those who are on the county- wide mailing list and to those who are on the mailing list for this application. That notice will contain the deadline for submitting public comments. PUBLIC COMMENT / PUBLIC MEETING. You may submit public comments or request a public meeting on this application. The purpose of a public meeting is to provide the opportunity to submit comments or to ask questions about the application. TCEQ will hold a public meeting if the Executive Director determines that there is a significant degree of public interest in the application or if requested by a local legislator. A public meeting is not a contested case hearing. OPPORTUNITY FOR A CONTESTED CASE HEARING. After the deadline for submitting public comments, the Executive Director will consider all timely comments and prepare a response to all relevant and material, or significant public comments. Unless the application is directly referred for a contested case hearing, the response to comments, and the Executive Director's decision on the application, will be mailed to everyone who submitted public comments and to those persons who are on the mailing list for this application. If comments are received, the mailing will also provide instructions for requesting reconsideration of the Executive Director's decision and for requesting a contested case hearing. A contested case hearing is a legal proceeding similar to a civil trial in state district court. TO REQUEST A CONTESTED CASE HEARING, YOU MUST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING ITEMS IN YOUR REQUEST: your name, address, phone number; applicant's name and proposed permit number; the location and distance of your property/activities relative to the proposed facility; a specific description of how you would be adversely affected by the facility in a way not common to the general public; a list of all disputed issues of fact that you submit during the comment period and, the statement "[I/we] request a contested case hearing." If the request for contested case hearing is filed on behalf of a group or association, the request must designate the group's representative for receiving future correspondence; identify by name and physical address an individual member of the group who would be adversely affected by the proposed facility or activity; provide the information discussed above regarding the affected member's location and distance from the facility or activity; explain how and why the member would be affected; and explain how the interests the group seeks to protect are relevant to the group's purpose. Following the close of all applicable comment and request periods, the Executive Director will forward the application and any requests for reconsideration or for a contested case hearing to the TCEQ Commissioners for their consideration at a scheduled Commission meeting. The Commission may only grant a request for a contested case hearing on issues the requestor submitted in their timely comments that were not subsequently withdrawn. If a hearing is granted, the subject of a hearing will be limited to disputed issues of fact or mixed questions of fact and law relating to relevant and material water quality concerns submitted during the comment period. MAILING LIST. If you submit public comments, a request for a contested case hearing or a reconsideration of the Executive Director's decision, you will be added to the mailing list for this specific application to receive future public notices mailed by the Office of the Chief Clerk. In addition, you may request to be placed on: (1) the permanent mailing list for a specific applicant name and permit number; and/or (2) the mailing list for a specific county. If you wish to be placed on the permanent and/or the county mailing list, clearly specify which list(s) and send your request to TCEQ Office of the Chief Clerk at the address below. INFORMATION AVAILABLE ONLINE. For details about the status of the application, visit the Commissioners' Integrated Database at www.tceg.texas.gov/goto/cid. Search the database using the permit number for this application, which is provided at the top of this notice.