Oregon Administrative Rules
Chapter 340 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Division 12 - ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURE AND CIVIL PENALTIES
Section 340-012-0055 - Water Quality Classification of Violations
Universal Citation: OR Admin Rules 340-012-0055
Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 3, March 1, 2024
(1) Class I:
(a) Causing pollution of waters of the state;
(b) Reducing the water quality of
waters of the state below water quality standards;
(c) Discharging any waste that enters waters
of the state, either without a waste discharge permit or from a discharge point
not authorized by a waste discharge permit;
(d) Operating a discharge source or
conducting a disposal activity without first obtaining an individual permit or
applying for coverage under a general permit for that discharge or disposal
activity;
(e) Failing to comply
with statute, rule, or permit requirements regarding notification of a spill or
upset condition, which results in a non-permitted discharge to public waters;
(f) Failing to take appropriate
action, as required by the municipal wastewater treatment works owner's
DEQ-approved pretreatment-compliance oversight program, against an industrial
discharger to the municipal treatment works who violates any pretreatment
standard or requirement, if the violation impairs or damages the treatment
works, or causes major harm or poses a major risk of harm to public health or
the environment;
(g) Making
unauthorized changes, modifications, or alterations to a facility operating
under a Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF) or National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) permit;
(h) Allowing operation or supervision of a
wastewater treatment and collection system without proper certification, by the
permittee and/or owner;
(i)
Applying biosolids or domestic septage to a parcel of land that does not have
DEQ approval for land application;
(j) Applying biosolids that do not meet the
pollutant, pathogen or one of the vector attraction reduction requirements of
40 CFR 503.33(b)(1) through (10);
(k) Violating a technology-based effluent
limitation, except for removal efficiency, in an NPDES or WPCF permit if:
(A) The discharge level (except for pH and
bacteria) exceeds the limitation by 50 percent or more;
(B) The discharge is outside the permitted pH
range by more than 2 pH units;
(C)
The discharge exceeds a bacteria limit as a result of an inoperative
disinfection system where there is no disinfection; or
(D) The discharge of recycled water exceeds a
bacteria limit by more than five times the limit.
(l) Violating a water quality based effluent
limitation in an NPDES permit;
(m)
Violating a WPCF permit limitation in a designated groundwater management area
if the exceedance is of a parameter for which the groundwater management area
was established;
(n) Failing to
report an effluent limitation exceedance;
(o) Failing to collect monitoring data
required in Schedule B of the permit;
(p) Contracting for operation or operating a
prohibited Underground Injection Control (UIC) system other than a cesspool
that only disposes of human waste;
(q) Operating an Underground Injection
Control (UIC) system that causes a data verifiable violation of federal
drinking water standards in an aquifer used as an underground source of
drinking water; or
(r) Failing to
substantially implement a stormwater plan in accordance with an NPDES permit.
(2) Class II:
(a) Violating a technology-based
effluent limitation, except for removal efficiency, in an NPDES or WPCF permit
if:
(A) The discharge level (except for pH
and bacteria) exceeds the limitation by 20 percent or more, but less than 50
percent, for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), carbonaceous chemical oxygen
demand (CBOD), and total suspended solids (TTS), or by 10 percent or more, but
less than 50 percent, for all other limitations;
(B) The discharge is outside the permitted pH
range by more than 1 pH unit but less than or equal to 2 pH units;
(C) The discharge exceeds a bacteria limit by
a factor of five or more, unless otherwise classified; or
(D) The discharge of recycled water exceeds a
bacteria limit by an amount equal to or less than five times the limit;
(b) Failing to timely
submit a report or plan as required by rule, permit, or license, unless
otherwise classified;
(c) Causing
any wastes to be placed in a location where such wastes are likely to be
carried into waters of the state by any means;
(d) Violating any management, monitoring, or
operational plan established pursuant to a waste discharge permit, unless
otherwise classified;
(e) Failing
to timely submit or implement a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Implementation
Plan, by a Designated Management Agency (DMA), as required by department order;
or
(f) Failing to comply with the
requirements in OAR
340-044-0018(1)
to obtain authorization by rule to construct and operate an underground
injection system.
(3) Class III:
(a) Failing to submit
a complete discharge monitoring report;
(b) Violating a technology-based effluent
limitation, except for removal efficiency, in an NPDES or WPCF permit if:
(A) The discharge (except for pH and
bacteria) exceeds the limitation by less than 20 percent for biochemical oxygen
demand (BOD), carbonaceous chemical oxygen demand (CBOD), and total suspended
solids (TSS), or by less than 10 percent for all other limitations;
(B) The discharge is outside the permitted pH
range by 1 pH unit or less; or
(C)
The discharge (except for recycled water) exceeds a bacteria limit by less than
five times the limit;
(c) Failing to achieve a removal efficiency
established in an NPDES or WPCF permit;
(d) Failing to register an Underground
Injection Control (UIC) system, except for a UIC system prohibited by rule; or
(e) Failing to follow the owner's
DEQ-approved pretreatment program procedures, where such failure did not result
in any harm to the treatment works and was not a threat to the public health or
the environment.
Stat. Auth.: ORS 468.020 & 468B.015
Stats. Implemented: ORS 468.090 - 468.140, 468B.025, 468B.220 & 468B.305
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Oregon may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google
Privacy Policy and
Terms of Service apply.