The WMP is responsible for the planning of municipal wastewater collection and treatment systems, with emphasis on project implement ability, environmental soundness and cost effectiveness by reviewing the 20-year facility plans required by
401 KAR 5:006 to meet the wastewater planning requirements for regional planning agencies.
401 KAR 5:006 requires a regional planning agency to submit a regional facility plan, if one of the following parameters is triggered:
- “A new wastewater treatment facility is proposed for construction within the planning area,
- An existing regional planning agency proposes to expand the average daily design capacity of an existing wastewater treatment facility by more than thirty (30) percent, or
- The equivalent population served by an existing wastewater collection system or a system with a Kentucky Inter-System Operating Permit is proposed for expansion by more than thirty (30) percent of the population served in the previously approved regional facility plan.”
If none of these parameters has been triggered then an asset inventory report must be completed every ten years.
Facility plans prepared by the municipalities or sewer districts and an engineering consultant meet with the WMP in a preplanning meeting to discuss the elements of the plan, project scope and timing, feasibility, alternatives and conceptual planning. When the plan is received, the plan is reviewed for compliance with regulation 401 KAR 5:006, the wastewater planning requirements for regional planning agencies. The project proponent is responsible for seeking comments from the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife (USFWS), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), Kentucky Heritage Council (KHC), and Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR). The facility plan reviewer then drafts a State Planning and Environmental Assessment Report (SPEAR) and a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) determination, which is sent to the Director of the Kentucky Division of Water for approval. Once approved the SPEAR and FONSI are sent to eClearinghouse for review and placed on the Energy and Environment Cabinet’s Public Notice webpage for a 30-day public comment period. All comments received during the public comment period will be addressed before final approval. On receiving comments from eClearinghouse, the response is included in the final approval package. The final approval includes the FONSI, SPEAR, eClearinghouse response, the municipality’s environmental mitigation commitment letter, and responses to any public comment received during the 30-day public comment period.
The applicant is required to give public notice of the facility plan in the local area and invite public comment. For convenience, municipalities, the public, and consultants may use the
Public Hearing Template [8 KB].