1.1 Dual Regulatory Structure: WTFOCB, WPCSOCC & NC DEQ

1.1 Dual Regulatory Structure: WTFOCB, WPCSOCC & NC DEQ

[!IMPORTANT] Core structural concept: North Carolina does not maintain a single consolidated environmental operator licensing board. Drinking water treatment, distribution, and cross-connection control are certified by one body; wastewater treatment, collection, and non-discharge systems are certified by a completely different body. Both are housed administratively in the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NC DEQ), but each has its own enabling statute, its own rules, its own exams, and its own fee schedule.

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The Water Treatment Facility Operators Board of Certification

Statutory name and authority. G.S. 90A-21(a) establishes, within the Department of Environmental Quality, the Water Treatment Facility Operators Board of Certification — referred to by NC DEQ as the Water Treatment Facility Operators Certification Board (WTFOCB) and in the rules simply as "the Board." Its enabling law is G.S. Chapter 90A, Article 2 (§§ 90A-20 through 90A-32), and its rules are codified at 15A NCAC 18D.

Membership (G.S. 90A-21(a)). The Board is composed of eight members appointed by the Governor:

Members appointed on or after July 1, 1981 serve no more than two consecutive three-year terms (the DEQ member is exempt from that cap). The Board elects a chairman annually, a majority is a quorum, and under 15A NCAC 18D .0103 the Board must meet at least twice each year to examine applications.

What the Board does and does not do. The Board classifies water treatment, distribution, and cross-connection control facilities (G.S. 90A-22; 18D .0203 and .0205), sets grades of certification (G.S. 90A-23), sets education and experience requirements and administers exams (G.S. 90A-24), issues and renews certificates (G.S. 90A-25, 90A-25.1), and may reprimand, suspend, or revoke a certificate under G.S. 90A-26. It does not set maximum contaminant levels, monitoring frequencies, or construction standards — those are adopted by the Commission for Public Health in 15A NCAC 18C and enforced by the DEQ Public Water Supply (PWS) Section.

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The Water Pollution Control System Operators Certification Commission

Statutory authority. The WPCSOCC is created by G.S. 143B-300, which locates it in DEQ and directs it to adopt rules for certifying water pollution control system operators as provided by G.S. Chapter 90A, Article 3. Its rules are codified at 15A NCAC 08G. Certificates are issued by the Division of Water Resources under authority delegated by the Commission.

Membership (G.S. 143B-301). The Commission has 11 members:

• Two members from the animal agriculture industry, appointed by the Commissioner of Agriculture.
• Nine members appointed by the Secretary of Environmental Quality with the approval of the Environmental Management Commission: two municipal water pollution control operators/superintendents; one manager of a municipality over 10,000 population; one manager of a municipality under 10,000; one private-industry employee responsible for industrial wastewater treatment or pretreatment; one four-year college or university faculty member in a wastewater field; one DEQ employee working in water pollution control, who serves as Chairman; one employee of a commercial water pollution control system operating firm; and one municipal collection system operator.

Terms are three years, staggered so three expire each June 30; the Commission elects a Vice-Chairman; a majority is a quorum.

Scope. Under 15A NCAC 08G .0101 the rules exist to protect public health, conserve the State's water resources as assigned by the Environmental Management Commission, protect the public investment in water pollution control systems, classify those systems, and establish examination and certification procedures. Certification types include biological, collection systems, physical/chemical, land application of residuals, surface irrigation, subsurface, and animal waste (Part 2 of Article 3).

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Who writes which rulebook

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Statutory definitions operators are tested on

Public water system (G.S. 130A-313(10); G.S. 90A-20.1(4)). A system for the provision to the public of piped water for human consumption that has at least 15 service connections or regularly serves an average of at least 25 individuals daily at least 60 days out of the year. Federal and state rules subdivide these into community, non-transient non-community (serves at least 25 of the same people over six months per year, e.g., schools and factories), and transient non-community systems (rest stops, campgrounds).

Water treatment facility (G.S. 90A-20.1(6)). Any facility used or available for use in the collection, treatment, testing, storage, pumping, or distribution of water for a public water system — which is why distribution operators are certified under the same article (G.S. 90A-32).

Water pollution control system (G.S. 90A-46(6); 15A NCAC 08G .0102(31)). A system for the collection, treatment, or disposal of waste for which a permit is required under rules adopted by either the Environmental Management Commission or the Commission for Public Health, classified under G.S. 90A-37.

Operator in Responsible Charge (G.S. 90A-20.1(3) and G.S. 90A-46(5)). The person designated by the owner as the operator of record with primary responsibility for the operation of the facility or system.

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Common exam traps

[!WARNING] Trap 1 — 18D versus 18C. 18D governs operators (grades, exams, renewal, ORC limits). 18C governs the system (design review, MCLs, monitoring, minimum pressure, cross-connection control, oversight visit frequency).

[!WARNING] Trap 2 — one board for everything. A utility director running both a water plant and a wastewater plant must hold two separate credentials issued by two separate bodies. There is no combined North Carolina water and wastewater operator license.

[!WARNING] Trap 3 — who appoints the WPCSOCC. Two members come from the Commissioner of Agriculture; the other nine come from the Secretary of DEQ with EMC approval. The Governor appoints the WTFOCB, not the Commission.

[!WARNING] Trap 4 — effluent limits. Total nitrogen, ammonia, and BOD limits in an NPDES permit come from the Environmental Management Commission's standards implemented by DWR permit writers. The WPCSOCC only certifies the people who operate the plant.