Wyo. Code R. 020-0011-5
Effective Date: 11/21/1997 to 07/31/2012
Rule Type: Superceded Rules & Regulations
Reference Number: 020.0011.5.11211997
PUBLIC WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS, PUBLIC COLLECTION AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS
Section 1. Authority. These regulations are promulgated pursuant to W.S. 35-11-101 through 1207, specifically 302 (a) (iv), which states that no person shall operate a public water or public wastewater treatment plant, public collection, or public distribution system in violation of the requirements contained herein. In accordance with W.S. 35-11-302 (a) (iv), these regulations establish the standards for technical competency for owners and designated individuals who operate public water supplies and wastewater treatment systems.
Section 2. Definitions. The following definitions supplement those definitions contained in Section 35-11-103 of the Wyoming Environmental Quality Act.
(a) “Act” means the Wyoming Environmental Quality Act as amended (W.S. 35-11-101 et. seq.).
(b) “Activated sludge” means a biological wastewater treatment process in which a mixture of wastewater and activated sludge is agitated and aerated and includes extended aeration and oxidation ditch treatment processes.
(c) “Administrator” means the administrator of the Water Quality Division, Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality or his authorized agents.
(d) “Backup operator” is an individual who is designated by the owner to function in the role of the chief operator when the chief operator is absent.
(e) “Chief operator” is the individual who is designated by the owner to have the primary hands-on responsibility for the operation of each plant or system.
(f) “Contact hour” means one hour of administrator approved operator training and education including but not limited to technical seminars, college courses, lectures, workshops, correspondence courses, hands-on-training, and in-house training programs that are related to water and wastewater treatment, collection and distribution.
(g) “Experience” means employment as an operator or employment in other administrator-recognized professions closely related to the water/wastewater operator profession.
(h) “Facility configuration form” means a form sent to facilities for completion that will guide the Water Quality Division in determining the level of classification for the water and wastewater plants and distribution and collection systems.
(i) “Fixed growth” means a biological wastewater treatment process in which the wastewater is treated by contact with biological growth affixed to a media and includes trickling filter, rotating biological contactor, and biological tower treatment processes.
(j) “Hands-on responsibility” means the on-site responsibility for the operational decisions necessary for the proper functioning of plants and systems.
(k) “Municipality” means any city, town, county, district, association, or other public body including state and federal government.
(l) “Non-municipal public water supply” means any public water treatment plant and/or public water distribution system not operated by a municipality.
(m) “Nutrient removal” means a wastewater plant using biological, chemical, or physical/chemical nutrient removal in its process.
(n) “Operator” means, for systems, any individual who is directly involved in the on-site operation, maintenance, and repair of a system, or, for plants, any person who is directly involved in the on-site operation of the plant, but not those whose duties are related only to laboratory, maintenance, or other non-operational functions.
(o) “Owner” means in the case of a town or city, the mayor or his agent; in the case of a county, the chairman of the county commissioners or his agent; in the case of a water and sewer district, board of public utilities, association, or other public body, the president or chairman of the board or his agent; in the case of a non-municipal public water supply, the legal owner.
(p) “Physical/chemical” means a wastewater treatment plant which operates through the addition and removal of chemicals and alteration of physical properties and does not include any biological treatment processes.
(q) “Plant” means water treatment works or wastewater treatment works.
(r) “Public wastewater collection system” means any system of lines, pipes, manholes, lift stations or other facilities operated by a municipality for the purpose of collecting and transporting wastewater.
(s) “Public wastewater treatment plant” means any structure, pond, lagoon or combination thereof, but not including individual septic tanks, operated by a municipality for the purpose of treating wastewater.
(t) “Public water distribution system” means any system of pipes, pumps, wells, storage tanks, or other facilities for the purpose of conveying potable water to a system requiring standards for operators as defined in W.S. 35-11-302 (a) (iv). Such a system shall not include any treatment methods included under Section 6 (a) except disinfection and fluoridation.
(u) “Public water treatment plant” means any structure, equipment, or facility for the purpose of treating or conditioning raw water but not including systems consisting only of well(s), disinfection, and/or fluoridation. The plant must provide finished water to a system requiring standards for operators as defined in W.S. 35-11-302 (a) (iv).
(v) 'Service connection' means the individual water service, metered or not, to a building, mobile home, campsite or consumer serviced from a public water distribution system.
(w) 'Small consecutive water distribution system' means a system that purchases water from a public water supply to provide water to 100 or fewer service connections and the system does not include any storage, disinfection, or booster pumps.
(x) 'System' means wastewater collection facilities or water distribution facilities.
(a) The chief operator must hold, at a minimum, certification at the same level as the classification of the plant or system for which he is responsible. Certification must be in the same area as the plant or system for which the operator is responsible.
(b) The backup operator must hold, at a minimum, certification at one level below the classification of the plant or system for which he may be held responsible. In the case of a Class I plant or system, this operator must hold a level I certification. Certification must be in the same area as the plant or system for which the operator is responsible.
(c) Other individuals may operate the plant or system provided they are under the direct supervision of a chief or backup operator.
(d) Operator-in-training is an individual who has passed the level I exam and is working towards meeting the experience and educational requirements for level I. This individual is not a certified operator until the educational/experience requirements of Section 10 have been met.
(e) Owners may designate contract operators to meet the requirements of this section, provided the operator has the appropriate level of certification for the plant or system and they can respond to systems operations and maintenance problems within a reasonable period of time. The owner shall retain verification that the contract operator has made the necessary inspections of repairs, provided maintenance and performed sampling.
(f) Owners or operators of small consecutive water distribution systems may obtain a small systems certification in accordance with Section 10 of these regulations. This certification cannot be used for a chief or backup operator of any other plant or system.
(a) Within 60 days of adoption of these regulations all owners shall provide the administrator with a written list of the chief and backup operators.
(b) Within 60 days of any change of the list referred to in item (a) above, the owners shall inform the administrator of that change in writing.
(c) All system owners shall inform the administrator in writing of any change in the employment of a chief or backup operator, or any alteration of responsibilities within 60 days of such change.
(a) All municipal and non-municipal public water supplies in Wyoming shall be in compliance with the requirements of these regulations within one year of the date of adoption.
(b) If a municipal or non-municipal public water supply is unable to comply with these regulations, the administrator will negotiate a schedule of compliance which shall state action(s) to be taken towards compliance and date(s) by which compliance will be attained.
(c) It shall be the responsibility of the owner to ensure compliance with the requirements of these regulations.
Section 6. Criteria for Classification of Plants and Systems. Plants and systems will be classified by the administrator according to the criteria below; however, the administrator may, after negotiation with the owner, alter the classification of an individual plant or system because of special conditions including the ease or difficulty of operation or extraordinary environmental or public health factors.
(a) All public water treatment plants shall be classified according to the following criteria:
| Size | Points |
|---|---|
| Population served 7,500 or less, or 1 | |
| Population served 7,501 or more 2 | |
| Treatment | |
| Coagulation and/or sedimentation 2 | |
| Filtration other than diatomaceous earth 2 | |
| Diatomaceous earth filtration 3 | |
| Chemical precipitation softening 2 | |
| Calcium/sodium hypochlorite and/or fluoridation 1 | |
| Chlorine gas, ozonation, chlorine dioxide, ultraviolet systems or onsite generation of hypochlorite 2 | |
| Membrane filtration, electrodialysis or reverse osmosis 6 | |
| Ion exchange 2 |
For purposes of plant classification, treatment facilities must be under the supervision of plant personnel.
| Class IV | 8 points or more |
|---|---|
| Class III | 6 or 7 points |
| Class II | 5 points or fewer |
(b) All municipal wastewater treatment plants shall be classified according to the following criteria:
Size Points
Population served 7,500 or less, or 1 Population served 7,501 or more 2
Treatment
Non-aerated stabilization ponds, or 1 Aerated stabilization ponds, or 2 Physical/chemical treatment, or 4 Fixed growth and solids handling, or 5 Activated sludge and solids handling 6 Calcium/sodium hypochlorite and dechlorination 1 Chlorine gas, ozonation, chlorine dioxide, ultraviolet systems or onsite generation of hypochlorite 2
Nutrient removal 2
Receiving Water
Class IV surface water, or 1 Class I, II, or III surface water, or 2 Subsurface disposal and/or land application 2
CLASSIFICATION
Class IV 9 points or more Class III 7 or 8 points Class II 5 or 6 points Class I 4 points or less
(c) All public water distribution systems shall be classified in accordance with the following criteria:
Size Points
Population served 7,500 or less, or 1 Population served 7,501 or more 2
Treatment
Calcium/sodium hypochlorite and/or fluoridation 1 Chlorine gas, ozonation, chlorine dioxide, ultraviolet systems, or onsite generation of hypochlorite 2 Flow Gravity, or 1 Pressure provided by well pumps, or 1 Booster stations 2
For purposes of system classification, flow and treatment systems must be under the supervision of distribution personnel.
Class II 4 points or more
Class I fewer than 4 points
(d) All public wastewater collection systems shall be classified according to the following criteria:
Population served 7,500 or less, or 1
Population served 7,501 or more 2
Lift stations 2
Class II 4 points or more
Class I fewer than 4 points
(a) Within 60 days of receipt of a facility configuration form, the owner shall complete said form and return it to the administrator.
(b) Within 60 days of receipt of a properly completed facility configuration form, the administrator shall classify the plants and/or systems and submit such classifications to the owner.
(a) An operator must receive a score of 70% or greater on the examination which is prepared by the administrator to attain certification.
(b) Scheduled examinations will be given during the first full week of May and the second full week of September each year, and at other times as approved by the administrator.
(c) All applicants will take regularly scheduled written examinations except in cases which the administrator decides represent proper exceptions.
(d) Examination scores will be provided to the applicant in writing within 60 days of the date of the examination. The examination score will be held confidential and shall not be subject to disclosure to any other persons.
(e) The employer of each applicant who passes the examination will be informed 15 days after release of the scores to the applicant.
(f) Graded examinations may be reviewed by the examinee under supervised conditions and at a site approved by the administrator. Additional persons may not aid with the review without the permission of the administrator. Reviews will not be allowed 30 days prior to, or until 30 days after an examination.
(g) Separate examinations will be prepared to cover the basic differences in duties and responsibilities associated with the varying complexities and sizes of water and wastewater treatment plants and collection and distribution systems. A separate examination will be prepared for each plant or system classification described in Section 6, except a single water system examination will be prepared for class I public water distribution systems, and a single wastewater system examination will be prepared to include both class I public wastewater treatment plants and class I public wastewater collection systems. The administrator may appoint an examination certification committee to provide the certification staff with guidance and advice on the content of the examinations.
(h) A certificate will be issued to each certified operator. Upon initial certification and the renewal thereof, the administrator will issue wallet-size cards to each certified operator as proof of current certification.
(a) No later than March 1 and July 15 of each year, the administrator shall establish the exact dates, times and locations for the next examination and shall make available, application forms for persons who wish to take the examinations.
(b) Any person wishing to take an examination must have submitted to the administrator a properly completed application form postmarked no later than August 15 for the September examinations and April 1 for the May examinations.
(c) The administrator shall send notice seven (7) days before the exam date advising applicants of their eligibility to take the requested examinations.
Section 10. Eligibility to Take Examinations. To be authorized to take any level examination, an applicant shall have a high school diploma or GED and meet the requirements given in the following table:
| Experience | Contact Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Small consecutive systems | 6 months and | 14 |
| Level I 6 months | and | 35 |
| Level II | 1 year and | 70 |
| Level III | 2 years total, 1 at Class II or higher facility(s) and | 300 |
| Level IV | 3 years total, 2 at Class III or higher facility(s) | and |
| 400 |
Experience must be earned at the type of plant or system for which certification is desired. Contact hours must be specific to the area for which certification is desired.
(a) Within 60 days of attaining a score of 70% or greater on a certification examination, the administrator shall issue the applicant a certificate designating the level and type of plant/system for which certification has been earned. Such certification shall expire on December 31 of the third full year following the date of certification issuance unless revoked according to the provisions of Section 16 of these regulations.
(b) Whenever a higher level of certification is earned in the same area, the lower level certification is inactivated; except:
(i) A level I certification shall not be inactivated (except in instances of failure to renew) until a higher level of certification is earned in all applicable plant and/or system types; or
(ii) When a higher level of restricted certification is held, a lower level of certification in the same area is not inactivated.
(a) An operator's certification shall be renewed provided the operator obtains seven (7) contact hours for small consecutive systems (in distribution only) and 21 contact hours for levels I through IV during the three (3) year renewal period.
(b) Contact hours earned during the three (3) years previous to the certification expiration date must be specific to the area for which certification is desired.
(c) Within 12 to 18 months prior to the expiration date of an operator's certification, the administrator shall send to the operator a reminder of the renewal requirements.
(d) If an operator fails to meet the requirements of the certification renewal, the operator's employer shall be notified 60 days prior to the certification expiration.
(e) An operator who fails to renew his certification may become recertified only by meeting the provisions of Sections 8, 9, and 10 of these regulations.
(f) Operators who hold multiple certifications may request the administrator to adjust their renewal date for each certification to coincide with one (1) renewal date.
(a) Contact hours shall be earned through successful completion of administrator approved operator training programs including but not limited to technical seminars, college courses, lectures, workshops, correspondence courses, hands-on training and in-house training programs.
(b) Operator attendance is mandatory for the duration of any training session for contact hours to be awarded.
(c) Attendance at the same course in two (2) consecutive renewal periods unless the course content has been significantly changed, or completion of the same correspondence course more than once, will be counted only once for the purpose of earning contact hours.
(d) Any person who desires to obtain contact hours for a training program shall submit to the administrator the documentation necessary to evaluate the program. The administrator shall provide a determination of the number and type(s) of contact hours which will be earned for successfully completing the program as submitted.
(a) Upon receiving a written request from an owner, the administrator may, after making a determination of technical competency, and after considering other relevant factors, issue an operator of a specific plant or system a restricted certification. Such certification shall be limited to that specific plant or system and shall not be transferable to any other plant or system.
(b) When issuing restricted certifications the administrator must find substantial reason as to why it is not reasonable for the owner or the designated operator to meet the requirements of Section 10 and that the designated operator is technically competent to operate the plant or system.
(c) A restricted certification shall expire if the plant or system is significantly modified, but may be reinstated upon evaluation by the administrator.
(d) An operator holding a restricted certification shall be required to meet the renewal requirements described in Section 12.
Section 15. Operator Position Vacancy. In the event that a municipal or non-municipal public water supply loses or terminates an operator with the result that the entity cannot comply with Section 3, that entity shall have 60 days to either achieve compliance or submit a compliance schedule to the administrator for approval. The compliance schedule shall state action(s) to be taken and date(s) by which compliance will be attained.
Section 16. Certification Revocation. When, in the judgment of the administrator, it is deemed to be necessary, the administrator may revoke an operator's certification for a minimum of one (1) year. Appeal of the administrator's decision may be made as specified in the Environmental Quality Act. A copy of the act and appeal procedures will be provided to the operator and the owner.
Section 17. Reinstatement of Certification. If an operator's certification is revoked according to Section 16, that person may, at the discretion of the administrator, be allowed to become recertified by meeting the requirements of Sections 8, 9, and 10.
(a) Operators whose certifications were earned prior to the effective date of these regulations but whose certifications expire after the effective date of these regulations, must renew their certifications according to Section 12 of these regulations, except that for their first renewal under these regulations, such operators need prove only that a minimum of 14 contact hours of operator training were earned for a level I and II operator during the previous three (3) years.
(b) Operators who were certified on the effective date of these regulations need not meet the minimum requirements of Section 10 to renew their certification.
Section 19. Reciprocity. The administrator shall have the authority to grant reciprocity outside of Wyoming on a case-by-case basis. An application must be completed for the area and the level that reciprocity is being sought. The administrator may request a copy of the base exam taken to review for equivalency. Reciprocity is granted on meeting the same requirements for experience and training of these regulations and equivalency of the base exam.