Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) A permittee shall,
at all times, maintain in good working order and operate the treatment works and
facilities which are installed or used by the permittee to achieve compliance with
the terms and conditions of the discharge permit. Proper operation and maintenance,
includes, at a minimum:
1. Effective performance
based upon treatment levels for which the treatment works was designed;
2. Adequate funding;
3. Effective management;
4. Adequate operator staffing and
training;
5. Regularly scheduled
inspection and maintenance programs; and
6. Adequate laboratory and process controls
including appropriate quality assurance procedures as described in 40 CFR Part 136
and applicable State laws and rules.
(b) Any permittee who operates a treatment works
shall satisfy the licensing requirements of the "Water Supply and Wastewater
Operators Licensing Act,"
58:11-64 et seq., and promulgated
pursuant thereto. This subsection requires the operation of back-up or auxiliary
facilities or similar systems when necessary to achieve compliance with the
conditions of the NJPDES permit or where required by applicable law or
regulation.
(c) All permittees shall
submit written verification to the Department that an operation and maintenance
manual for the treatment works, including related appurtenances and collection
system, has been or will be completed by the effective date or a compliance date
included in a new or renewed NJPDES permit issued subsequent to May 5, 1997. A
permittee does not need to submit the operation and maintenance manual to the
Department, unless specifically directed to do so. When the Department directs a
permittee to submit the operation and maintenance manual, the Department shall state
the reasons for requiring the submittal in a letter requesting the submittal. In the
case of a NJPDES permit for stormwater discharges or separate storm sewers which
expressly exempts permittees from this provision, the exemption shall apply only to
the discharge authorized by the permit. Any affected permittee shall comply with the
following operation and maintenance manual requirements:
1. The operation and maintenance manual shall be
made available for inspection upon request by an authorized representative of the
Department.
2. The operation and
maintenance manual shall be amended within 30 days after a change in the treatment
works design, construction, operations or maintenance which substantially changes
the treatment works operations and maintenance procedures.
3. An operation and maintenance manual shall
describe, at a minimum, the following:
i. Operator
and staff responsibilities;
ii. Staff
guidance for emergency situations;
iii.
Identification of NJPDES permit requirements and the obligation to meet these
requirements;
iv. Operating procedures
including a detailed description of each major treatment unit/process with
relationship to related units, safe operating procedure for normal operation,
including common operating problems, safe operating procedures for operating during
emergency conditions, and any fail-safe features;
v. A program of regularly scheduled inspection and
maintenance;
vi. An emergency plan in
accordance with (d) below;
vii. A plan
for monitoring system process controls;
viii. A list of names and telephone numbers of
facility personnel to be contacted in the event of emergency;
ix. A sampling and/or water quality monitoring
plan, if applicable to the facility;
x.
A schedule of meter readings, tests, and chemical use, if applicable to the
facility; and
xi. An inventory of
equipment and supplies necessary to operate and maintain the system.
(d) An emergency plan shall
be included as part of the operation and maintenance manual, except for those
operations issued permits under N.J.A.C. 7:14A-20.
1. When a person has prepared an emergency plan
required by regulations other than this chapter, such plans or plan and any
amendments necessary to meet the requirements of this section will satisfy the
requirements of this section provided the plan is labeled to identify the
requirements listed in this section.
2.
An emergency plan shall be amended whenever:
i.
There is a modification, including expansion, of the treatment works; or
ii. Any other conditions related to the plan have
changed.
3. The emergency
plan shall be designed to ensure effective operation of the treatment works under
emergency conditions, and shall consist, at a minimum, of the following elements:
i. A vulnerability analysis which shall estimate
the degree to which the treatment works would be adversely affected by each type of
emergency situation which could reasonably be expected to occur, including but not
limited to those emergencies caused by natural disaster, civil disorder, strike,
sabotage, faulty maintenance, negligent operation or accident;
(1) The vulnerability analysis shall include, but
is not limited to, an estimate of the effects of such an emergency upon the
following:
(A) Power supply;
(B) Communication;
(C) Equipment;
(D) Supplies;
(E) Personnel;
(F) Security; and
(G) Emergency procedures to be followed.
ii. An evaluation of the
possible adverse effects on public health and the environment due to such an
emergency; and
iii. An emergency
operation plan for ensuring, to the maximum extent possible, uninterrupted treatment
works operation and a manual of procedures for the implementation of such plan,
including procedures for the notification of any appropriate regulatory agency,
affected water supply purveyors, and any other municipal authority or agency. The
plan and manual shall address each of the emergency situations described in the
vulnerability analysis.
4.
The Department shall not individually review and approve an emergency plan as part
of the permit issuance process. The Department's decision not to review and approve
an emergency plan shall not exempt a person from liability for violations arising
from an emergency situation. A person shall take all necessary actions to mitigate
the damage to the waters of the State arising from an emergency situation. Such
actions shall not be limited by the emergency operating plan and the operation and
maintenance manual.
5. Failure to have
on file any part of the operation and maintenance manual in compliance with (c)
above and failure to implement the emergency plan pursuant to this subsection shall
each constitute a violation of this chapter.
6. In emergency situations, a permittee shall
implement the requirements of the emergency plan to the fullest extent possible. In
addition, any conditions of the emergency plan that the permittee can implement
prior to an emergency situation to reduce the potential for an emergency situation,
shall be implemented.
(e) A
municipality or sewerage authority who is not a permittee (for example, does not
have a direct surface or groundwater discharge) but who owns and operates a
treatment works used only for the collection or transportation of domestic sewage is
not required to prepare an operations and maintenance manual. However, the
municipality or sewerage authority shall be responsible for the proper operation and
maintenance of that treatment works. The criteria for proper operations and
maintenance and an emergency plan pursuant to (a) and (d) above, may be used as a
guideline and implemented as applicable.
