New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Chapter 14A - NEW JERSEY POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM
Subchapter 7 - REQUIREMENTS FOR DISCHARGES TO GROUNDWATER (DGW)
Section 7:14A-7.9 - General requirements for applications for discharge to ground water permit

Universal Citation: NJ Admin Code 7:14A-7.9

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 24, December 18, 2024

(a) In addition to the information required pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:14A-4.3, an applicant for a NJPDES Discharge to Ground Water permit shall submit information to the Department as follows:

1. All dischargers shall submit the information required pursuant to (d) below, except as provided in N.J.A.C. 7:14A-25.9(d)1 for certain stormwater discharges, or when, after consultation with the Department during pre-application conferences, it is determined that the information is not necessary to develop permit conditions for the facility.

(b) Submission of information as required under this section shall not exempt the applicant from compliance with any other permit application requirements which apply to the discharge to ground water site, to any treatment system of which the discharge to ground water site is a component, or to any other existing or proposed discharges at the facility.

(c) Pre-application conferences with the Department concerning the information required pursuant to (d) below are recommended.

(d) The following information shall be submitted in the application for the Discharge to Ground Water permit pursuant to (a) above:

1. Project related information as follows:
i. A description of the facility;

ii. The nature of the establishment; and

iii. The total floor area of all structures on site and their maximum occupancy where necessary to determine the daily volume of discharge;

2. Pollutant characteristics as follows:
i. The origin and daily volume of discharge;

ii. The degree of pretreatment of the discharge;

iii. Characteristics of the quality of the discharge.
(1) Unless otherwise approved by the Department, all analyses or estimates shall include the following parameters at a minimum:
(A) Ammonia nitrogen (NH[3]-N);

(B) Nitrate nitrogen (NO[3]-N);

(C) Total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN);

(D) Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD);

(E) Chemical oxygen demand (COD);

(F) Total dissolved solids (TDS);

(G) Suspended solids (SS);

(H) pH;

(I) Calcium (Ca);

(J) Magnesium (Mg);

(K) Sodium (Na);

(L) Phosphorus (P);

(M) Fecal coliform bacteria;

(N) Grease and oil;

(O) Metals;

(P) Base/neutral compounds;

(Q) Acid extractable compounds;

(R) Volatile organics;

(S) Pesticides; and

(T) Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
(i) Perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA);

(ii) Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA); and

(iii) Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS).

(2) Dependent on the nature of the facility as described in accordance with (d)1 above, base/neutral compounds, acid extractable compounds, volatile organics, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and pesticides shall be analyzed for as required pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:14A-4Appendix A; and

iv. The compatibility of the wastewater with onsite soil conditions and vegetation (if any) shall be substantiated by the applicant;

3. Site related information as follows:
i. The present tax lot and block, municipality and county in which the facility is located or is proposed to be located;

ii. A general plan to scale showing at a minimum the location of the discharge to ground water with respect to the following within one half mile of the boundaries of discharge to ground water site:
(1) Property boundaries;

(2) Roadways;

(3) Existing and proposed land use of discharge to ground water site and surrounding areas;

(4) Adjacent property ownership and all dwellings and buildings of human use or occupancy;

(5) Surface waters, including, but not limited to, perennial and intermittent streams, lakes, ponds and reservoirs; and

(6) Mines (surface and subsurface) and quarries;

iii. Topographic (two foot contour intervals), geologic and soils (USDA) maps of the discharge to ground water site and surrounding area sufficient to define conditions and evaluate probable impacts of the discharge to ground water.

iv. A plot plan to scale showing:
(1) The discharge to ground water area;

(2) Property boundaries;

(3) Roadways;

(4) Pre-treatment facilities;

(5) Storage facilities;

(6) All conveyance and distribution piping;

(7) Any sinkholes, gullies or soil erosional features (natural or man-made) within the discharge to ground water site which divert drainage from or through the facility property;

(8) Existing monitor and piezometer wells;

(9) Water supply wells including the depth of the screened interval and yield;

(10) A wellhead protection area certified by the Department;

(11) Soil borings, test pits and hydraulic conductivity tests;

(12) All wetlands and buffer zones; and

(13) All areas subject to flooding within the five-, 10- and 25-year storm events; and

v. A well inventory of the area within one half mile of the boundaries of the discharge to ground water indicating the depth of all existing domestic, municipal and industrial supplies. Yields of all wells exceeding 100,000 gallons per day or 70 gallons per minute shall be indicated on a location map or key map;

4. Soils and geologic evaluation as follows:
i. A sufficient number of borings shall be made of the disposal site to characterize and verify the subsurface conditions beneath the site with respect to the types of material, uniformity, depth to bedrock, and ground water elevations. When, in the judgment of the Department, the number of borings is not sufficient to adequately describe the geologic formations and ground water flow patterns below the disposal site, in regard to potential contaminant migration paths, supplemental borings or geophysical methods will be required;

ii. Data obtained from borings shall be collected by standard undisturbed soil sampling techniques for engineering properties, and split spoon sampling or standard penetration tests for classification. Samples shall be collected and classified continuously for the first 20 feet of boring and at five foot intervals thereafter;

iii. All borings shall extend to a minimum depth of 20 feet unless specified by the Department. The Department shall require deeper borings in areas in which 20 feet is not sufficient to describe the geologic formations and ground water flow patterns in regard to the potential contaminant migration paths;

iv. Logs shall be submitted for each boring, regarding rock and soil conditions encountered. Each log shall include a soil or rock description in accordance with recognized standard methods (USDA, Unified or Burmeister Soil Classification System; Rock Quality Description System), depth of individual soil or rock strata, water levels encountered, blow counts, depth of soil tests and dates. All depths described within the boring logs shall be correlated to New Jersey Geodetic Control Survey Datum;

v. A sufficient number of test pits necessary to characterize all soil series within the discharge to ground water site shall be excavated. Each test pit log shall describe each recognizable soil horizon or substratum for depth and thickness, soil color using the Munsell System of Classification (including abundance, size and contrast of mottling where present), soil texture using the USDA Soil Textural Classification System, an estimation of the volume of coarse fragment (where present), soil structural class and soil consistency;

vi. A determination of depths to seasonal high water table specifying the methodology used to make the determination; and

vii. A description of the physiographic region and geologic formation(s) into which pollutants are discharged. Site specific geology including, but not limited to, bedrock outcrop, strike and dip of sedimentary formations and foliation trend and dip angles of igneous and metamorphic rocks, faults, joint and fracture trends in bedrock including dip angles, trend direction of solution channels in karst topography, saprolite development, clay lenses or fragipans, perched water tables or any other geologic features which may impede the treatment and/or disposal of pollutants shall be described;

5. Hydrogeologic evaluation as follows:
i. A determination of ambient or background ground water quality shall be required for the parameters listed in (d)2iii(1) above. The well used to characterize background water quality shall be located where unaffected, or if not possible where least impacted, by the discharge. Data shall be provided to show that background water quality wells are located in the same hydrologic units as the wells subsequently used to monitor the impact of the discharge;

ii. A representative determination of background ground water quality shall be made for all parameters specified in (d)2iii(1) above. A minimum of five samples shall be collected over a time period which is representative of spatial or seasonal variations in quality. The arithmetic mean and variance shall be determined for each respective parameter concentration by pooling the measurements in samples;

iii. Ground water samples shall be collected within 18 months before the date of receipt by the Department of the application for a permit under this section from well(s) located hydraulically upgradient from the discharge to ground water;

iv. A sufficient number of tests shall be performed in order to characterize onsite hydrogeologic characteristics, including, but not limited to, horizontal hydraulic conductivity, ground water flow velocity and hydraulic gradient. Where, in the judgment of the Department, the information submitted is insufficient to adequately evaluate the hydrogeologic characteristics of the site, supplemental tests or methods may be required; and

v. Ground water contour maps shall be submitted depicting both initial piezometric conditions and ground water flow conditions resulting from the growth and/or decay of ground water mound(s) induced by the discharge to ground water. For facilities which have surface impoundments, the ground water contour map for the facility would not need to depict ground water recharge characteristics associated with surface impoundments. Ground water elevations shall be based upon synoptic well data collected within 18 months of the date of receipt by the Department of an application for a permit under this section; and

6. Engineering information as follows:
i. Engineering plans and specifications for the entire project, describing the proposed treatment process(es) and facilities, storage facilities (if necessary), conveyance systems, disposal facilities, equipment specifications, capacities and all related engineering and operational data;

ii. Description of the method by which compliance with Ground Water Quality Standards are to be achieved; and

iii. A calculation of the surface run-off across the discharge to ground water site prepared using a 25-year storm, with estimates of the effect of such run-off on wastewater treatment, storage, disposal, and on erosion, flooding and related details.

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