Title
Ordinance - Third and Final Reading of an Ordinance to Amend Ttile IX; Business Regulations of the City of Mansfield Code of Ordinances, as Amended, by Addiing a New Chapter 115. Sewage Sludge Application; Requiring Notice of Applications; Providing That This Ordinance Shall Be Cumulative of All Ordinances; Providing a Severability Clause;Providing a Savings Clause; Providing a Penalty Clause; Providing for Publication; and Providing an Effective Date
Requested Action
Approval of the ordinance.
Recommendation
The Environmental Department staff recommends the approval of these items
Description/History
Staff contacted the TCEQ regional office in regard to other items that may be land applied and which the City may wish to seek authority to regulate through this ordinance. The specific item mentioned during the previous council meeting (drill cuttings) is not regulated by the TCEQ and therefore they had no guidance or reference to State legislation to refer to. Other items that have been approved (coal fly ash, pulp and paper by-products, used cooking oil, and other items) have a low probability of being land applied in the City. A survey of the Railroad Commission website was conducted, but no regulations related to land application were found.
It is staff’s recommendation to maintain the focus of this ordinance to sewage sludge, and not include additional land application products. In the event other products do become a nuisance, a sound basis will exist that could quickly be modified in order to address those issues. Also, given the limited number of applicators of this type of material, there is a high likelihood of achieving compliance with the ordinance.
An updated attachment has been provided showing the buffer of up to 1.5 miles from currently owned property by MISD. The 1.5 mile buffer was determined as being a further distance than from the application site and the entertainment area where the original nuisance complaint existed. When using the currently owned property buffer, the 1.5 mile buffer does effectively preclude land application of sewage sludge. However many of the school owned properties in the southern and western sections of the City have not been developed as yet. And as those areas are developed, the agricultural use is removed and the need for land applied sewage sludge is eliminated.
It is staff’s recommendation to reduce the 1.5 mile buffer back to .5 miles. There is an attachment indicating the areas in green where sludge application would be prohibited once all MISD properties were developed.
Justification
To provide regulations requiring notification to the City prior to sludge applications and to institute other requirements related to sludge application to assist in the beneficial use of the product without causing nuisances to residents and businesses within the City.
Fuding Source
N/A
Prepared By
Howard Redfearn, Environmental Manager, Environmental Services Department