Citation:

Field*, R, M Borst*, M. Stinson*, C Y. Fan*, J Perdek*, D Sullivan*, AND T P. O'Connor**. RISK MANAGEMENT RESEARCH PLAN FOR WET WEATHER FLOWS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/R-96/140 (NTIS 98-147093), 1996.

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This plan was prepared by the National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL) of EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) to guide the risk management aspects of the urban wet weather flow (WWF) research for the next five years. There are three types of urban WWF discharges: combined-sewer overflow (CS), stormwater and sanitary-sewer overflow (SSO); all are untreated discharges that occur during storm-flow events. WWFs have proven to generate a substantial amount of chemical, physical and biological stress to receiving waters. Control of WWF pollution is one of the top cleanup priority areas for the Agency. Problem constituents in WWF include visible matter, pathogenic microorganisms, oxygen-demanding materials, suspended solids, nutrients and toxicants. National cost estimates have developed that address the cost to control contamination from the three sources of WWF. The project costs for CSO pollution abatement are in excess of $40 to $50 billion. SSO pollution control is also estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars. Stormwater management costs will even be higher than the combined costs of CSO and SSO abatement. Municipalities are finding it difficult to meet these high costs, so low-cost alternatives are a priority research area. This research plan has two parts: strategic research directions and specific projects. There are five research areas: characterization and problem assessment, watershed management, toxic substances impacts and control, control technologies and infrastructure improvement. Active and proposed projects supporting each research are included. Funding levels are shown in Part II and in Appendix B.

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