PUBLIC NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY AND COMMENT PERIOD Notice is hereby given that the City of South Bend Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), located at 3113 Riverside Drive, South Bend, Indiana, is providing for public review and comment a Streamlined Mercury Application and associated Pollutant Minimization Program (PMP) Plan, as required by 327 IAC 5-3.5-5. The South Bend WWTP discharges treated effluent to the St. Joseph River and is submitting the Streamlined Mercury Variance Application to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM). Approval of the variance would provide relief from applicable water quality-based effluent limitations for mercury. As part of the application, the City of South Bend has developed a Mercury Pollutant Minimization Program Plan to identify and reduce mercury from contributing sources and to ultimately reduce mercury discharges from the WWTP. The Plan includes a review of mercury-containing equipment and reagents at the WWTP, an evaluation of potential mercury sources discharged to the public sewer system, and education and outreach activities directed toward the public and toward commercial and industrial facilities with the potential to discharge mercury. The Streamlined Mercury Variance Application and Pollutant Minimization Program Plan are available for public review at the following locations: City Hall, Department of Public Works, 215 S. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Suite 400, South Bend, Indiana; South Bend Wastewater Treatment Plant, 3113 Riverside Drive, South Bend, Indiana; United States Post Office, 424 S. Michigan Street, South Bend, Indiana; and St. Joseph County Public Library –304 S. Michigan St., South Bend, Indiana. Written comments will be accepted for thirty (30) days following the publication of this notice. All comments received will be reviewed and included with the final application submitted to IDEM. Comments should be submitted to Ms. Andrea Alexander, City of South Bend Wastewater Utility, 3113 Riverside Drive, South Bend, Indiana 46628. Publish one (1) time: April 24, 2026 April 24 2026 LSBN0502080