Pictured from left: WQD Administrator Jennifer Zygmunt, Brad Kniss, Katherine McCrea, Kevin Campbell, and DEQ Director Todd Parfitt.
By Kimberly Mazza
CHEYENNE – The Water Quality Division Wyoming Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WYPDES) Compliance and Enforcement Team was named the 2022 Team of the Year on June 5, 2023, for the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
The WYPDES Compliance and Enforcement Team includes the following employees: Jim Eisenhauer, Eric Moore, Katherine McCrea, Jessica Barnes, Kevin Campbell, Jon Deutscher, Brad Kniss, Tori Nye, and Whitney Lang.
“This year’s Team Award winners have worked diligently through outreach and education efforts to reduce the Significant Non-compliance Rate (SNC) for permitted facilities across our state,” said DEQ Director Todd Parfitt.
“Wyoming now has one of the lower rates throughout the United States because of their efforts. The team’s accomplishments reflect the great staff within the agency and their care for Wyoming’s water. We are all grateful for the tremendous efforts and accomplishments of the WYPDES Compliance and Enforcement Group.”
Each year, Parfitt and his seven division administrators host an employee recognition reception to recognize the exemplary efforts of each division’s Public Servant of the Year nominees and to thank long-term employees for their years of service to the State of Wyoming.
The WYPDES Compliance and Enforcement Team is honored as the 2022 Team of the Year because the nominated teams are recognized for the high level of work that they maintained throughout the previous calendar year.
Parfitt also addresses staff at the reception to update them on important work taking place within the agency and any events that may affect employees’ work.
The WYPDES Compliance and Enforcement Team earned the recognition through their work on a multi-year effort focused on an EPA initiative to reduce the SNC rate for permitted facilities across the United States.
The SNC rate is determined by how many permittees are either failing to submit discharge monitoring reports, submitting incomplete data, or have recurring effluent violations.
At the beginning of the EPA initiative, Wyoming had a high SNC rate. Through various trainings, group discussions, and additional effort through outreach, either in person or by email, the WYPDES Compliance and Enforcement team achieved an SNC rate lower than the national average in 2021.
In 2022, the team continued to provide training and support to permittees to further reduce the rate or at least maintain the lowered rate. The team reached the lowest rate since starting their efforts to reduce the SNC rate.
Jennifer Zygmunt, DEQ’s Water Quality Division Administrator, said, “This team went above and beyond their normal work duties to learn a new reporting system and assist permittees with that new system. The team proactively worked with permittees, particularly Wyoming’s small communities, to help them achieve compliance through outreach, training, and many one-on-one conversations.”
“Their hard work and commitment are the reasons for Wyoming’s lower SNC rate,” she added.
Agency administrators also recognized Craig McOmie as DEQ’s 2022 Public Servant of the Year.
Other DEQ teams who were nominated for Team of the Year are:
Administration Division: Cheyenne and Casper Office Remodel Team
Air Quality Division: Safety Team
Solid and Hazardous Waste Division: STP Compliance Section
Water Quality Division: Watershed Protection Monitoring Program