The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is promulgating technology-based pretreatment standards under the Clean Water Act to reduce discharges of mercury from dental offices into municipal sewage treatment plants known as publicly owned treatment works (POTWs). This final rule requires dental offices to use amalgam separators and two best management practices recommended by the American Dental Association (ADA). The Virginia Dental Rule Compliance form must be filled out by all dental offices that are subject to the Dental Rule, and submitted to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. This final rule includes a provision to significantly reduce and streamline the oversight and reporting requirements in EPA's General Pretreatment Regulations that would otherwise apply as a result of this rulemaking. EPA expects compliance with this final rule will annually reduce the discharge of mercury by 5.1 tons as well as 5.3 tons of other metals found in waste dental amalgam to POTWs. The final rule is effective on July 14, 2017. The compliance date, meaning the date that existing sources subject to the rule must comply with the standards in this rule, is July 14, 2020.
FAQs from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality - Website