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Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Priority:
Clean Water Act: Sanitary Sewer Overflows
Planning Topics
Strategy Summary || Online Resources
The Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) national priority strategy aims to achieve maximum compliance with environmental regulations in order to protect human health and the environment. Properly designed, operated, and maintained sanitary sewer systems are meant to collect and transport sewage to a publicly owned treatment works (POTW). However, releases of raw sewage from municipal sanitary sewers can occur. When this occurs, sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) often pose a substantial risk to public health and the environment. The main pollutants in raw sewage from SSOs are bacteria, pathogens, nutrients, untreated industrial wastes, toxic pollutants, such as oil and pesticides, and wastewater solids and debris. These pollutants can lead to diseases that range in severity from mild gastroenteritis to life-threatening ailments, such as cholera and infectious hepatitis.
SSOs have a variety of causes, including severe weather, improper system design, equipment failures, poor management, operation and maintenance, and vandalism. Empirical data indicate a significant non-compliance problem in sanitary sewer systems with overflows; the SSO strategy is intended to address the problem through the use of compliance assistance, compliance incentives and, in some cases, enforcement actions.
Strategy Summary
For each of the national priority areas, EPA has developed a strategy designed to achieve specific outcomes. The Clean Water Act: Sanitary Sewer Overflow Strategy Summary of 2008 - 2010 (PDF) (2pp, 30K,About PDF) contains a description of the environmental problem or noncompliance problem; why the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance is addressing the problem; how the problem will be addressed; and, highlights the progress made by the Clean Water Act: Sanitary Sewer Overflow Strategy Summary of 2005-2007 (PDF) (4pp, 35.8K,About PDF) .
Online Resources
EPA has identified over 400 links to online compliance and enforcement resources that may be helpful in implementing these performance-based strategies. These links can be accessed through the Compliance Assurance Resources Compendium for Fiscal Year 2008 - 2010 National Enforcement and Compliance Priorities (PDF) (60pp, 775K,About PDF), current as of February 2008, is also available.
EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) maintains a focused list of links to its policy, guidance and other relevant documents Compliance and Enforcement Resources
The National Environmental Compliance Assistance Clearinghouse is an interactive Web site that links to thousands of compliance assistance resources on specific topics and by geographic locations. Users may add their own links, including links to contact Web pages for the Clearinghouse Expert Directory. The following EPA and non-EPA sources resources are on the Clearinghouse:
Compliance Assistance Resources provides links to information related to this priority on how to comply with environmental laws
Compliance Monitoring Resources provides links to information related to this priority on how EPA and the regulated community monitor compliance with environmental laws
Enforcement Resources provides links to information related to this priority on how EPA and the regulated community monitor compliance with environmental laws