Current through September 18, 2024
Authority: IC 13-14-8; IC 13-15-1-2; IC 13-15-2-1; IC 13-18-3
Affected: IC 13-18
Sec. 2.
(a)
Technology-based treatment requirements under sections 301(b) and 306 of the
CWA represent the minimum level of control that must be imposed in an NPDES
permit issued under section 402 of the CWA for an existing source and a new
source, respectively. Compliance with these technology-based treatment
requirements is required within the times prescribed in section 301(b)(2) of
the CWA and
40 CFR
123.3(a)(2). Notwithstanding
these minimum technology-based requirements, more stringent treatment
requirements may be imposed under section 301(b)(1)(C), 302, or 307(a)(2) of
the CWA.
(b) Technology-based
treatment requirements may be imposed through one (1) of the following methods:
(1) Application of EPA-promulgated effluent
limitations developed under section 304 or 306 of the CWA to discharges by
category or subcategory. These effluent limitations are not applicable to the
extent that they have been remanded or withdrawn. However, in the case of a
court remand, determinations underlying effluent limitations shall be binding
in permit issuance proceedings where those determinations are not required to
be reexamined by a court remanding the regulations. In addition, dischargers
may seek fundamentally different factors variances from these effluent
limitations under 327 IAC 5-6. If a fundamentally different factors variance is
approved by EPA under 40 CFR 125, Subpart D, the resulting effluent limitations
are technology-based treatment requirements for purposes of this
article.
(2) On a case-by-case
basis under section 402(a)(1) of the CWA, to the extent that EPA-promulgated
effluent limitations are unavailable. Standards of performance for new sources
cannot be developed on an ad hoc basis under section 402(a)(1) of the CWA. By
statutory definition, a source is a new source only if standards of performance
applicable to such source have been promulgated by EPA. The commissioner shall
apply the appropriate factors listed in section 304 of the CWA and shall
consider the following:
(A) The appropriate
technology for the category or class of point sources of which the applicant is
a member, based upon all available information (including EPA draft or proposed
development documents or guidance).
(B) Any unique factors relating to the
applicant.
(3) Through a
combination of the methods in subdivisions (1) and (2). Where promulgated
effluent limitations guidelines only apply to certain aspects of the
discharger's operation, or to certain pollutants, other aspects or activities
are subject to regulation on a case-by-case basis in order to carry out the
provisions of the CWA.
(c) Technology-based treatment requirements
are applied prior to or at the point of discharge.
(d) Technology-based treatment requirements
cannot be satisfied through the use of nontreatment techniques such as flow
augmentation and instream mechanical aerators. However, these techniques may be
considered as a method of achieving water quality standards on a case-by-case
basis when:
(1) the technology-based treatment
requirements applicable to the discharge are not sufficient to achieve the
promulgated water quality standards;
(2) the discharger agrees to waive any
opportunity to request a variance under section 301(c) or 301(g) of the CWA;
and
(3) the discharger demonstrates
that such a technique is the preferred environmental and economic method to
achieve the standards after consideration of alternatives such as advanced
waste treatment, recycle and reuse, land disposal, changes in operating
methods, and other available methods.
(e) Technology-based effluent limitations
shall be established under this rule for solids, sludges, filter backwash, and
other pollutants removed in the course of treatment or control of wastewaters
in the same manner as for other pollutants if such pollutants are proposed to
be discharged.
(f) Other provisions
of this rule notwithstanding, the commissioner may do the following:
(1) Set a permit limit for conventional
pollutants at a level more stringent than the best conventional pollution
control technology (BCT), or a limit for a nonconventional pollutant which
shall not be subject to modification under section 301(c) or 301(g) of the CWA,
where:
(A) effluent limitations guidelines
specify the pollutant as an indicator for a toxic pollutant; or
(B)
(i) the
limitation reflects BAT level control of discharges of one (1) or more toxic
pollutants which are present in the waste stream, and a specific BAT limitation
upon the toxic pollutants is not feasible for economic or technical
reasons;
(ii) the permit identifies
which toxic pollutants are intended to be controlled by use of the limitation;
and
(iii) the fact sheet required
by
327 IAC 5-3-8 sets
forth the basis for the limitation, including a finding that compliance with
the limitation will result in BAT level control of the toxic pollutant
discharges identified in item (ii), and a finding that it would be economically
or technically infeasible to directly limit the toxic
pollutants.
(2)
Set a permit limit for a conventional pollutant at a level more stringent that
sic., than BCT when any of the following occur:
(A) Effluent limitations guidelines specify
the pollutant as an indicator for a hazardous substance.
(B) The following are established:
(i) The limitation reflects BAT level control
of discharges (or an appropriate level determined under section 301(c) or
301(g) of the CWA) of one (1) or more hazardous substances which are present in
the waste stream, and a specific BAT (or other appropriate) limitation upon the
hazardous substances is not feasible for economic or technical
reasons.
(ii) The permit identifies
which hazardous substances are intended to be controlled by use of the
limitation.
(iii) The fact sheet
sets forth the basis for the limitation, including a finding that compliance
with the limitations will result in BAT level (or appropriate level) control of
the hazardous substances discharges identified in item (ii), and a finding that
it would be economically or technically infeasible to directly limit the
hazardous substances.
(C)
Hazardous substances which are also toxic pollutants are subject to subdivision
(1).
(3) Not set a more
stringent limit under subdivision (1) or (2) if the method of treatment
required to comply with the limit differs from that which would be required if
the toxic pollutants or hazardous substances controlled by the limit were
limited directly.
(g)
Toxic pollutants identified under subsection (f)(1) remain subject to the
requirements of
327 IAC
5-2-9, concerning notification of increased discharges
of toxic pollutants above levels reported in the application form.
(h) In setting case-by-case limitations
pursuant to subsection (b), the permit writer must consider the following
factors:
(1) The following are requirements
for BPT:
(A) The total cost of application of
technology in relation to the effluent reduction benefits to be achieved from
such application.
(B) The age of
equipment and facilities involved.
(C) The process employed.
(D) The engineering aspects of the
application of various types of control techniques.
(E) Process changes.
(F) Nonwater quality environmental impact,
including energy requirements.
(2) The following are requirements for BCT:
(A) The reasonableness of the relationship
between the costs of attaining a reduction in effluent and the effluent
reduction benefits derived.
(B) The
comparison of the cost and level of reduction of such pollutants from the
discharge from publicly owned treatment works to the cost and level of
reduction of such pollutants from a class or category of industrial
sources.
(C) The age of equipment
and facilities involved.
(D) The
process employed.
(E) The
engineering aspects of the application of various types of control
techniques.
(F) Process
changes.
(G) Nonwater quality
environmental impact, including energy requirements.
(3) The following are requirements for BAT:
(A) The age of equipment and facilities
involved.
(B) The process
employed.
(C) The engineering
aspects of the application of various types of control techniques.
(D) Process changes.
(E) The cost of achieving such effluent
reduction.
(F) Nonwater quality
environmental impact, including energy requirements.
