Pennsylvania Available Operators, Responsible Charge & Owner Duties

Pennsylvania water and wastewater systems subject to the Operator Certification Program must have appropriately certified operators available to make required process-control decisions. The system owner has specific responsibilities for employing or designating qualified operators, maintaining operator coverage, reporting operator information to DEP, and providing the resources needed for compliant operation.

The regulations also distinguish between an available operator and an operator in responsible charge. These terms are related but are not interchangeable. Understanding the difference is important for both certification exams and actual system operation.

What Is an Available Operator?

An available operator is an appropriately certified operator designated by the system owner to make process-control decisions for the system.

The operator must hold:

• a certification class equal to or higher than the system classification;
• the treatment subclassifications required for the technologies used at the system.

A person who lacks either the required class or required subclassifications is not an appropriately certified available operator for those process-control responsibilities.

Every Covered System Needs an Available Operator

Owners of regulated drinking water and wastewater systems must designate at least one available operator.

The purpose is to ensure that an appropriately certified person is available whenever a process-control decision is required.

A system cannot rely solely on non-certified personnel, automation, written instructions, or an owner without appropriate operator certification.

Available Does Not Always Mean Onsite

An available operator does not necessarily need to remain physically at the facility 24 hours per day.

DEP states that a certified operator must either be onsite or be available to be contacted when a process-control decision is needed.

The important requirement is that the system has timely access to an appropriately certified operator capable of making the required decision.

Process-Control Decisions

A process-control decision is an action that maintains or changes the quality or quantity of water being treated in a manner that may affect public health or the environment.

Examples may include decisions involving:

• chemical feed changes;
• disinfection adjustments;
• filter operation;
• aeration changes;
• solids wasting;
• flow changes affecting treatment;
• process startup or shutdown decisions;
• other treatment adjustments affecting system performance.

These decisions must be made or properly directed by an appropriately certified operator.

Owner Responsibility for Operator Coverage

The owner is responsible for ensuring that certified-operator coverage is adequate for the system.

This includes:

• employing or otherwise obtaining an appropriately certified operator;
• ensuring that an available operator can be contacted when necessary;
• maintaining coverage during vacations, illness, resignations, or other absences;
• ensuring that operator certifications match the system class and technologies;
• reporting required operator information to DEP.

An owner cannot transfer the legal responsibility for operator coverage simply by assigning plant duties to employees.

Annual Available Operator Reporting

Pennsylvania requires system owners to report their available operators to DEP.

DEP provides an Available Operator Annual Reporting process for this purpose.

The report identifies the appropriately certified operators available for the system and, when applicable, the operator or operators designated as operators in responsible charge.

Owners should verify certification class and subclass information before reporting an operator.

Report Operator Changes Promptly

In addition to annual reporting, Pennsylvania requires owners to notify DEP when available-operator status changes.

Current DEP instructions require reporting within 10 days when an available operator or operator in responsible charge is:

• added;
• lost;
• replaced.

For an operator who is no longer employed by the system, the applicable end date should also be reported.

Owners should not wait until the next annual report when a required operator change occurs during the year.

Post Operator Information at the System

DEP guidance requires certificates of available operators to be posted in a visible location at the system.

When an available operator is not onsite, procedures for contacting that operator should also be available in an obvious location.

This helps employees know who has process-control authority and how to reach the appropriate certified operator when a decision is required.

What Is an Operator in Responsible Charge?

An operator in responsible charge, often abbreviated ORC, is an appropriately certified operator designated for additional responsibilities when the system uses Standard Operating Procedures to help implement process-control decisions.

The ORC must approve those SOPs in writing and provide the required oversight.

The designation does not simply mean the most senior operator, shift supervisor, or plant manager.

Available Operator Versus Operator in Responsible Charge

The distinction is easiest to understand this way:

• Available operator: required to ensure an appropriately certified operator is available to make process-control decisions.
• Operator in responsible charge: designated when the system uses SOPs as a method allowing other operators to implement specified process-control actions under appropriate supervision.

Every regulated system needs appropriate available-operator coverage.

A system does not necessarily need to designate an operator in responsible charge if it does not use SOPs for this purpose.

SOPs Are Optional

Pennsylvania allows the use of Standard Operating Procedures as one method for implementing process-control decisions, but DEP guidance states that SOPs are not mandatory for every system.

An owner may choose not to use this approach.

If SOPs are used for process-control implementation, they must operate within the requirements of the operator certification regulations and must be approved by the operator in responsible charge.

What SOPs Can Do

A properly developed SOP can identify predetermined actions that an operator should take under defined operating conditions.

For example, an SOP might describe:

• how to respond to a specified tank level;
• when to start or stop equipment;
• how to make a defined chemical-feed adjustment;
• how to respond to an alarm;
• when the operator in responsible charge must be contacted.

The procedure should clearly define the conditions, actions, limits, and points at which certified-operator judgment is required.

SOPs Do Not Replace Certified Operators

A system cannot use SOPs as a substitute for having an appropriately certified available operator.

DEP specifically states that an SOP cannot be used by the owner to operate the system instead of maintaining required certified-operator availability.

The certified operator remains responsible for proper operation within the certification framework.

Non-Certified Operators and SOPs

Non-certified employees can perform many system duties and may implement specified actions under an approved SOP when the regulatory requirements are satisfied.

However, they cannot independently make process-control decisions.

The SOP should distinguish between:

• actions the employee is authorized to implement;
• conditions requiring contact with the operator in responsible charge;
• situations requiring a new process-control decision by an appropriately certified operator.

Owner Duties Beyond Hiring a Certified Operator

The owner's responsibility does not end after hiring an appropriately certified operator.

DEP identifies several continuing owner obligations, including:

• ensuring an appropriately certified operator is available at all times when process-control decisions may be required;
• reporting available operators to DEP;
• providing certified operators with applicable permit requirements;
• providing adequate resources for compliant operation;
• meeting applicable laws, regulations, and permit conditions.

A certified operator cannot maintain compliant operation if the owner refuses to provide essential staffing, equipment, maintenance, chemicals, laboratory services, or other necessary resources.

Provide Permit Requirements to Operators

The system owner should provide certified operators with the permit conditions and other operating requirements applicable to the facility.

An operator responsible for compliance needs access to the limits, monitoring obligations, reporting conditions, operating restrictions, and other requirements that govern the system.

Operators should not be expected to make compliant process decisions without access to the regulatory requirements they are responsible for meeting.

Certified Operator Duties

Certified operators also have specific responsibilities.

DEP identifies important duties including:

• making or implementing appropriate process-control decisions;
• directing actions related to process-control decisions;
• maintaining continuing education;
• renewing certification on time;
• reporting known or potential violations to the system owner;
• identifying actions needed to prevent or correct violations;
• providing for suitable system operation and maintenance using available resources;
• approving SOPs in writing when acting as the operator in responsible charge.

Operators Must Report Problems to the Owner

A certified operator has a responsibility to keep the system owner informed of known violations or conditions that may lead to violations.

This can include:

• permit-limit problems;
• equipment failures;
• insufficient treatment capacity;
• chemical-feed failures;
• staffing limitations;
• maintenance deficiencies;
• other conditions threatening compliance.

The operator should also communicate the actions necessary to prevent or eliminate the violation.

The Owner Still Has Legal Responsibilities

An owner cannot avoid regulatory responsibility by claiming that plant operation was delegated to a certified operator.

The owner and certified operator have different but related duties.

The operator is responsible for appropriately carrying out certified-operator functions. The owner is responsible for maintaining compliant system management, operator coverage, resources, reporting, and other owner obligations.

Coverage During Absence

Systems should plan for periods when the primary certified operator is unavailable.

Possible causes include:

• vacation;
• illness;
• training;
• emergency leave;
• resignation;
• termination;
• temporary reassignment.

The system must still maintain appropriately certified available-operator coverage.

Waiting until the primary operator leaves before finding replacement coverage can create a compliance problem.

Multiple Available Operators

A system may designate more than one available operator.

This can provide:

• shift coverage;
• backup coverage;
• additional treatment expertise;
• vacation and emergency coverage.

Each operator relied upon for process-control decisions must hold the appropriate certification for the responsibilities assigned.

Circuit Riders

Smaller systems may use a circuit rider arrangement.

DEP defines a circuit rider as a management arrangement in which a certified operator makes process-control decisions at more than one system under different ownership.

A circuit rider can be an operator in responsible charge for multiple systems when the applicable requirements are met.

These include appropriate certification, the ability to provide adequate supervision, and required management planning or contracts.

Circuit Rider Certification Requirements

A circuit rider must have:

• a certification class equal to or higher than each system served;
• all required treatment subclassifications for each system;
• the practical ability to provide adequate supervision.

One operator cannot legitimately serve an unlimited number of facilities if the workload makes timely process-control supervision impossible.

Work Plans for Circuit Riders

When a circuit rider operates under responsible-charge arrangements, DEP requires applicable management planning.

This can include:

• a General Work Plan;
• a System Specific Management Plan;
• or an appropriate contract satisfying the regulatory requirements.

These documents establish how supervision and system operation will be managed.

Remote Process-Control Decisions

Chapter 302 allows process-control decisions to be made remotely when the applicable requirements are satisfied.

This is one reason an available operator does not always need to remain physically onsite.

However, remote availability must be meaningful. The operator needs sufficient information and access to make an appropriate decision.

A telephone number for an operator who cannot be reached or cannot evaluate the condition does not provide effective operator availability.

Automation Does Not Eliminate Responsibility

PLC and SCADA systems can automatically implement process actions, but automation does not eliminate certified-operator responsibility.

Automated operations must function within the applicable process-control framework, and operators remain responsible for supervising treatment and responding when conditions require human judgment.

An alarm or automated response may signal the need for a process-control decision by an available operator.

Example: Operator Offsite

A certified wastewater operator leaves the plant after normal working hours. A high-level alarm occurs during the night.

The operator does not necessarily violate the availability requirement simply because the operator is offsite.

The important questions are:

• Can the operator be contacted?
• Does the operator hold the correct class and subclasses?
• Can the operator obtain enough information to make the required decision?
• Can the operator direct the necessary response?

If those conditions cannot be met, the system may not have adequate available-operator coverage.

Example: Non-Certified Employee

A non-certified employee notices that a treatment parameter is outside the normal range.

If an approved SOP clearly directs a predetermined response under those exact conditions, the employee may implement that authorized action when the system's regulatory arrangement permits it.

If the condition falls outside the SOP or requires a new judgment about treatment, the employee must contact the appropriately certified operator for the process-control decision.

Example: Wrong Subclass

A Class A wastewater operator is available by phone, but the operator holds only Fixed-Film Treatment certification while the facility uses activated sludge.

The operator's class is high enough, but the required technology subclass is missing.

That person is not an appropriately certified available operator for activated sludge process-control decisions.

Common Owner and Operator Mistakes

• Assuming that having any certified employee satisfies the available-operator requirement.
• Ignoring treatment subclass requirements.
• Assuming the available operator must physically remain onsite 24 hours per day.
• Failing to provide a reliable method for contacting an offsite available operator.
• Failing to report operator changes to DEP within the required period.
• Waiting for the annual report before reporting the loss of an operator.
• Using an SOP as a substitute for certified-operator availability.
• Allowing a non-certified employee to make independent process-control decisions.
• Assuming every system must designate an operator in responsible charge even when SOPs are not used.
• Designating an ORC who does not hold the necessary certification.
• Failing to provide operators with applicable permit requirements.
• Expecting operators to maintain compliance without adequate resources.
• Using a circuit rider arrangement that does not provide realistic supervision.

A Practical Owner Compliance Checklist

1. Determine the system classification and all treatment subclassifications.
2. Designate at least one appropriately certified available operator.
3. Provide backup coverage when necessary.
4. Ensure operators can be contacted when process-control decisions are required.
5. Post required operator certificates and contact procedures.
6. Report available operators as required by DEP.
7. Report additions, losses, and replacements within the required time.
8. Provide certified operators with applicable permits and regulatory information.
9. Provide resources necessary for compliant operation.
10. If SOPs are used, designate an appropriately certified operator in responsible charge.
11. Ensure the ORC approves applicable SOPs.
12. Review coverage whenever staffing, treatment technology, or system classification changes.

What to Remember for the Exam

• Every regulated system must have an appropriately certified available operator.
• An available operator's class must equal or exceed the system class.
• The available operator must also hold the required treatment subclasses.
• The available operator must make or control required process-control decisions.
• An available operator does not necessarily have to remain onsite 24 hours per day.
• The operator must be available to be contacted when a process-control decision is required.
• Owners must report their available operators to DEP.
• Changes involving available operators or operators in responsible charge must currently be reported to DEP within 10 days.
• Available-operator certificates and contact procedures must be maintained as required at the system.
• An operator in responsible charge has specific responsibilities related to SOPs.
• A system does not necessarily need an ORC if it does not use SOPs for process-control implementation.
• SOPs are optional, but they cannot replace the requirement for an available certified operator.
• Non-certified employees cannot independently make process-control decisions.
• The owner must provide operators with applicable permit requirements and adequate resources for compliant operation.
• Certified operators must report known or potential violations to the owner and identify needed corrective actions.
• Circuit riders may serve multiple systems when certification, supervision, and management-plan requirements are satisfied.
• Remote controls and automation do not eliminate certified-operator responsibility.