Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 3, March 1, 2024
(1) Numeric
Criteria: Organisms commonly associated with fecal sources may not exceed the
criteria in subsections (a)-(c) of this section:
(a) Freshwater contact recreation:
(A) A 90-day geometric mean of 126 E. coli
organisms per 100 mL;
(B) No
single sample may exceed 406 E. coli organisms per 100 mL.
(b) Coastal water contact
recreation, as designated in OAR 340-041-0101, 340-041-220, 340-041-230,
340-041-300 and 340-041-0320:
(A) A 90-day
geometric mean of 35 enterococcus organisms per 100 mL;
(B) Not more than ten percent of the samples
may exceed 130 organisms per 100 mL.
(c) Shellfish harvesting, as designated in
340-041-0101, 340-041-220, 340-041-230, 340-041-300 and 340-041-0320:
(A) A fecal coliform median concentration of
14 organisms per 100 mL;
(B) Not
more than ten percent of the samples may exceed 43 organisms per 100 mL.
(2) A
minimum of five samples in a 90-day period is required for calculating the
criteria in sections (1)(a)(A) and (1)(b)(A) and (B) of this rule.
(3) Raw Sewage Prohibition: No sewage may be
discharged into or in any other manner be allowed to enter the waters of the
State, unless such sewage has been treated in a manner the Department approved
or otherwise allowed by these rules.
(4) Animal Waste: Runoff contaminated with
domesticated animal wastes must be minimized and treated to the maximum extent
practicable before it is allowed to enter waters of the State.
(5) Bacterial pollution or other conditions
deleterious to waters used for domestic purposes, livestock watering,
irrigation, bathing, or shellfish propagation, or otherwise injurious to public
health may not be allowed.
(6)
Implementation in NDPES Permits: Upon NPDES permit renewal or issuance, or upon
request for a permit modification by the permittee at an earlier date, bacteria
in effluent discharges associated with fecal sources may not exceed the
following amounts:
(a) In waters designated
for coastal water contact recreation:
(A) A
monthly geometric mean of 35 enterococcus organisms per 100 mL, and
(B) Not more than ten percent of samples in a
month may exceed 130 enterococcus organisms per 100 mL.
(b) In waters designated for freshwater
contact recreation:
(A) A monthly geometric
mean of 126 E. coli organisms per 100 mL; and
(B) No single sample may exceed 406 E. coli
organisms per 100 mL. However,
(C)
No violation will be found for an exceedance if the permittee takes at least
five consecutive re-samples at four-hour intervals beginning as soon as
practicable (preferably within 28 hours) after the original sample was taken
and the geometric mean of the five re-samples is less than or equal to 126
organisms per 100 mL of E. coli. However, if the Department finds that
re-sampling within the timeframe outlined in this section would pose an undue
hardship on a treatment facility, a more convenient schedule may be negotiated
in the permit, provided that the permittee demonstrates that the sampling delay
will result in no increase in the risk to water contact recreation in waters
affected by the discharge;
(c) For sewage treatment plants that are
authorized to use recycled water under OAR 340, division 55, and that also use
a storage pond as a means to dechlorinate their effluent prior to discharge to
public waters, effluent limitations for bacteria may, upon a permittee's
request, be based upon appropriate total coliform limits as OAR
340-055-0012-requires:
(A) Class C
limitations: No two consecutive samples may exceed 240 total coliform per 100
mL.
(B) Class A and Class B
limitations: No single sample may exceed 23 total coliform per 100 mL.
(C) No violation will be found for
an exceedance under this paragraph if the permittee takes at least five
consecutive re-samples at four hour intervals beginning as soon as practicable
(preferably within 28 hours) after the original sample(s) were taken; and in
the case of Class C recycled water, the log mean of the five re-samples is less
than or equal to 23 total coliform per 100 mL, or, in the case of Class A and
Class B recycled water, if the log mean of the five re-samples is less than or
equal to 2.2 total coliform per 100 mL.
(7) Sewer Overflows in winter: Domestic waste
collection and treatment facilities are prohibited from discharging raw sewage
to waters of the State during the period of November 1 through May 21, except
during a storm event greater than the one-in-five-year, 24-hour duration storm.
However, the following exceptions apply:
(a)
The Commission may on a case-by-case basis approve a bacteria control
management plan to be prepared by the permittee, for a basin or specified
geographic area which describes hydrologic conditions under which the numeric
bacteria criteria would be waived. These plans will identify the specific
hydrologic conditions and the public notification and education processes that
will be followed to inform the public about an event and the plan, describe the
water quality assessment conducted to determine bacteria sources and loads
associated with the specified hydrologic conditions, and describe the bacteria
control program that is being implemented in the basin or specified geographic
area for the identified sources.
(b) Facilities with separate sanitary and
storm sewers existing on January 10, 1996, and that currently experience
sanitary sewer overflows due to inflow and infiltration problems, must submit
an acceptable plan to the Department at the first permit renewal, which
describes actions the facility will take to assure compliance with the
discharge prohibition by January 1, 2010. Where discharges occur to a receiving
stream with sensitive beneficial uses, the Department may negotiate a more
aggressive schedule for discharge elimination.
(c) On a case-by-case basis, the Department
may define the beginning of winter as October 15, if the permittee so requests
and demonstrates to the Department's satisfaction that the risk to beneficial
uses, including water contact recreation, will not be increased due to the date
change.
(8) Sewer
Overflows in summer: Domestic waste collection and treatment facilities are
prohibited from discharging raw sewage to waters of the State during the period
of May 22 through October 31, except during a storm event greater than the
one-in-ten-year, 24-hour duration storm. The following exceptions apply:
(a) For facilities with combined sanitary and
storm sewers, the Commission may on a case-by-case basis approve a bacteria
control management plan such as that described in subsection (6)(a) of this
rule.
(b) On a case-by-case basis,
the Department may define the beginning of summer as June 1 if the permittee so
requests and demonstrates to the Department's satisfaction that the risk to
beneficial uses, including water contact recreation, will not be increased due
to the date change.
(c) For
discharge sources whose permit identifies the beginning of summer as any date
from May 22 through May 31: If the permittee demonstrates to the Department's
satisfaction that an exceedance occurred between May 21 and June 1 because of a
sewer overflow, and that no increase in risk to beneficial uses, including
water contact recreation, occurred because of the exceedance, no violation may
be triggered, if the storm associated with the overflow was greater than the
one-in-five-year, 24-hour duration storm.
(9) Storm Sewers Systems Subject to Municipal
NPDES Stormwater Permits: Best management practices must be implemented for
permitted storm sewers to control bacteria to the maximum extent practicable.
In addition, a collection-system evaluation must be performed prior to permit
issuance or renewal so that illicit and cross connections are identified. Such
connections must be removed upon identification. A collection system evaluation
is not required where the Department determines that illicit and cross
connections are unlikely to exist.
(10) Storm Sewers Systems Not Subject to
Municipal NPDES Stormwater Permits: A collection system evaluation must be
performed of non-permitted storm sewers by January 1, 2005, unless the
Department determines that an evaluation is not necessary because illicit and
cross connections are unlikely to exist. Illicit and cross-connections must be
removed upon identification.
(11)
In water bodies the Department identifies as water-quality limited for
bacteria, and in accordance with priorities the Department establishes, the
Department may require those sources that the Department determines to be
contributing to the problem to develop and implement a bacteria management
plan. The Department may determine that a plan is not necessary for a
particular stream segment or segments within a water-quality limited basin
based on the contribution of the segment(s) to the problem. The bacteria
management plans will identify the technologies, best management practices and
measures and approaches to be implemented by point and nonpoint sources to
limit bacterial contamination. For point sources, their National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System permit is their bacteria management plan. For
nonpoint sources, designated management agencies will develop the bacteria
management plan that will identify the appropriate best management practices or
measures and approaches.
Stat. Auth.: ORS
468.020,
468B.030,
468B.035 & 468B.048
Stats. Implemented: ORS
468B.030,
468B.035 &
468B.048