Municipal Wastewater Projects Receiving WQIF Funds

Municipal/domestic wastewater projects receiving funding (whole or in part) from the Water Quality Improvement Fund (WQIF) will be subject to full engineering review of the preliminary engineering report, plans, specifications, and design documents, and to inspections of final projects by DEQ.  WQIF funded projects will be reviewed by the remaining DEQ engineering staff.

Preliminary Engineering Reports

Preliminary Engineering Reports (PERs) are submitted to the engineering office and the WQIF funding office.  A general outline for a PER can be found at 9VAC25-790-940 of the Sewage Collection and Treatment Regulations.  Initially, one hard copy of the PER is submitted to the engineering office and one hard copy is submitted to the WQIF funding office.  For final processing, a PDF version must be submitted to DEQ engineering.  Contact Jaimini (Jimmy) Desai, P.E. to determine where to send the engineering set.  Allow 30-60 days for the initial review of the PER and 30-60 days for each subsequent submittal.

Certificate to Construct

Once the PER is approved, the engineering design must be submitted for review.  The submittal must include design calculations, the plans, and the specifications.   Initially one set may be submitted to both the engineering and WQIF office.  Allow 30-60 days for initial comments and for the review of each subsequent submittal.  Once the design is accepted, the following is required to process the project approval:

1. One PDF copy of the plans and specifications
2. Two hard copies of the plans (half size preferred)
3. One hard copy of the specifications
4. Engineer’s certification statement for non-WQIF funded components

DEQ Engineering is not required to review the project components that are not funded by WQIF.  Therefore, an Engineer’s Certification Statement is required to verify compliance with the Sewage Collection and Treatment Regulations for those components.

An option designed primarily for design/build projects is the issuance of a CTC from a Final Engineering Report.  This procedure is outlined in GM07-2011.

In general when submitting projects to DEQ’s Engineering staff, please keep in mind the following tips as you make your submittals:

1. Provide complete packages
2. Provide complete contact information
3. Bring up potentially controversial issues early
4. Use proven technology or have design basis well established
5. Provide background and goal of project
6. Provide separate calculations
7. QA/QC your work

Certificate to Operate

As the project construction approaches completion (but prior to issuance of the Statement of Completion (SOC)), the engineer should contact DEQ Engineering to coordinate a site inspection for the purposes of issuing a Certificate to Operate (CTO).  DEQ can conduct the inspection prior to the SOC assuming that major components are constructed and functional.  Normally DEQ would prefer to conduct the inspection 30-60 days prior to the SOC being issued to allow for coordination of inspections.  If DEQ is not given prior notice, a CTO inspection would be conducted within 30 days of receipt of the SOC.  The Statement of Completion must conform with 9VAC25-790-180.C.

Contact Jaimini (Jimmy) Desai, P.E. for details.