Hawaii Administrative Rules
Title 11 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Subtitle 1 - GENERAL DEPARTMENTAL PROVISIONS
Chapter 54 - WATER QUALITY STANDARDS
Section 11-54-12 - Intake credits
Current through February, 2024
(a) An intake credit is an NPDES implementation tool that applies to the implementation of water quality standards through NPDES permits only.
(b) As used in this section:
"Background pollutant concentration" means the . water body concentration immediately upstream/upcurrent of a permitted discharge, regardless of whether those pollutants are natural or result from anthropogenic upstream activity.
"Intake pollutant" means the background pollutant concentration that is present in the intake water body, which must be the same water body as the receiving water for the discharge at the time it is withdrawn from such waters.
"Same body of water" means an intake pollutant is considered to be from the 'same body of water" as the discharge if the department finds that the intake pollutant would have reached the vicinity of the outfall point in the receiving water within a reasonable period of time had it not been removed by the permittee. This finding may be deemed established if:
The department may consider other site-specific factors relevant to the transport and fate of the pollutant in deciding whether a pollutant would or would not have reached the vicinity of the outfall point in the receiving water within a reasonable period had it not been removed by the permittee.
(c) The director may, upon request of the discharger, adjust water quality-based effluent limitations or standards to reflect credit for intake pollutants in the discharger's intake water only:
(d) Intake credit is not applicable to any pollutant for which a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and waste load allocation (WLA) have been developed and have been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unless the TMDL and WLA provide for such an intake credit.
(e) The director shall grant credit for water quality-based effluent limits only if:
(f) Effluent limitations must be established so that they comply with all other applicable state and federal laws and regulations including water quality-based requirements and anti-degradation policies.
(g) All requests for the establishment of credit for intake pollutants shall be made on forms furnished by the department and shall be accompanied by:
(h) Credit for intake pollutants shall be specified in the discharger's NPDES permit and shall become effective with the department's issuance of the permit for the specified permittee.
(i) Credit for intake pollutants established under this section apply in the vicinity of the discharge for purposes of establishing permit limits for a specified pollutant for the specified permittee.
(j) All other water quality criteria established under this chapter continue to apply.