Mr. Sisk joined Jacobs in 2017 as a Senior Technologist. Mr. Sisk’s training and experience includes thirty years as an environmental engineer in the Water Quality Branch at the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM). As a former environmental engineer and program manager with an environmental regulatory agency, he is familiar with state and federal water quality regulations, including the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) regulations and surface water quality standards regulations. He has extensive experience planning and conducting water quality studies, developing and applying water quality models, assessing water quality conditions relative to surface water quality criteria, and developing waste load allocations for NPDES permits. Since leaving ADEM in 2014, Mr. Sisk has assisted municipal and industrial clients with NPDES permit applications and compliance, water quality studies, mixing zone analyses, water quality assessment and modeling, and review and comment on total maximum daily loads.

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Ms. Dean joined Jacobs in 2021 after her retirement in 2019 from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM). Before retirement from ADEM, Ms. Dean was Chief of the ADEM Water Division. She began her career as an environmental engineer in the Industrial Section where she was responsible for permitting, compliance and enforcement related activities for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and Pretreatment facilities. Ms. Dean has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from Auburn University and is an Alabama Registered Professional Engineer.

The TMDL development process includes several opportunities for wastewater treatment facility owners / operators to provide input and influence regulatory decisions.  Early involvement in TMDL development is essential to ensuring that the regulatory agency has considered the most accurate and complete information before assigning pollutant allocations to point and nonpoint sources.  Early involvement is also critical to ensuring that there are no surprises at the end of the process when affected NPDES permits are revised.  This presentation provides a guidebook for wastewater utilities to follow so that they can be active participants instead of uninformed spectators when a TMDL may be looming ahead.