Current through Register Vol. 55, No. 26, June 28, 2025
(a) The
following are not considered new and expanding mass loadings of TDS and are
exempt from the treatment requirements in this section:
(1) Maximum daily discharge loads of TDS or
specific conductivity levels that were authorized by the Department prior to
August 21, 2010. These discharge loads will be considered existing mass
loadings by the Department.
(i) Relocation or
combination of existing discharge points of existing mass loadings of TDS do
not constitute a new or expanding mass loading unless total mass loadings are
increased.
(ii) Existing publicly
owned treatment works (POTW) as defined in §
92.1 (relating to definitions) and
industrial waste treatment facilities authorized prior to August 21, 2010,
under permits authorizing the acceptance, treatment and discharge of TDS do not
constitute a new or expanding mass loading unless total mass loadings accepted,
treated and discharged are to be increased. Only the net increase in TDS mass
loadings from these facilities will be considered a new and expanding mass
loading of TDS.
(2)
Facilities treating postmining pollutional discharges from abandoned mine
sites. For purposes of this section, abandoned mine sites include all lands and
water eligible for reclamation or drainage abatement or treatment expenditures
under section 402(g)(4) or section 404 of the Surface Mining Control and
Reclamation Act of 1977 (30
U.S.C.A. §§
1232(g)(4) and
1234).
(3) Surface mining activities with
preexisting discharges subject to Chapter 87, Subchapter F or Chapter 88,
Subchapter G (relating to surface coal mines: minimum requirements for remining
areas with pollutional discharges; and anthracite surface mining activities and
anthracite bank removal and reclamation activities: minimum requirements for
remining areas with pollutional discharges) and preexisting discharges subject
to Chapter 90, Subchapter F (relating to coal refuse disposal activities on
areas with preexisting pollutional discharges).
(4) Discharges from active surface coal
mining operations with an open pit dimension of less than 450,000 square feet
exposed at any time.
(5) Discharges
from erosion and sediment control facilities used at surface mining activities
as defined in §
86.1 (relating to
definitions).
(6) Existing mine
drainage directed to a mine pool where the mine pool is being treated in
accordance with applicable requirements in Chapters 91-96.
(7) New and expanding discharge loadings of
TDS equal to or less than 5,000 pounds per day, measured as an average daily
discharge over the course of a calendar year, otherwise known as the annual
average daily load.
(8) Discharges
of wastewater produced from industrial subcategories with applicable effluent
limit guidelines for TDS, chlorides or sulfates established as best available
technology economically achievable (BAT), best conventional pollutant control
technology (BCT) or new source standards of performance, by the administrator
of the EPA under sections 303(b) and 306 of the Federal Act (33 U.S.C.A. §§
1314(b) and
1316).
(b) Operations with wastewater resulting from
fracturing, production, field exploration, drilling or completion of natural
gas wells shall comply with the following requirements:
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (3),
there may be no discharge of wastewater into waters of this Commonwealth from
any source associated with fracturing, production, field exploration, drilling
or well completion of natural gas wells.
(2) A wastewater source reduction strategy
shall be developed by the well operator by August 22, 2011, and submitted to
the Department upon request. The source reduction strategy must identify the
methods and procedures the operator shall use to maximize the recycling and
reuse of flow back or production fluid either to fracture other natural gas
wells, or for other beneficial uses approved under Chapter 287 (relating to
residual waste management-general provisions). The strategy shall be updated
annually and include, at a minimum, the following information:
(i) A complete characterization of the
operator's wastewater stream including chemical analyses, TDS concentrations
and monthly generation rate of flowback and production fluid at each natural
gas well.
(ii) A description and
evaluation of potential wastewater source reduction options through recycling,
reuse or other beneficial uses.
(iii) The rationale for selecting the source
reduction methods to be employed by the operator.
(iv) Quantification of the flowback and
production fluid generated by each well which is recycled or reused either to
fracture other natural gas wells or for other approved beneficial
uses.
(3) New and
expanding treated discharges of wastewater resulting from fracturing,
production, field exploration, drilling or well completion of natural gas wells
may be authorized by the Department under Chapter 92 (relating to National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permitting, monitoring and compliance)
provided that the following requirements are met:
(i) Discharges may be authorized only from
centralized waste treatment facilities (CWT), as defined in
40 CFR
437.2(c) (relating to
general definitions).
(ii)
Discharges may not be authorized from a POTW, as defined in §
92.1, unless treatment at a CWT
meeting all of the requirements of this chapter precedes treatment by the
POTW.
(iii) The discharge may not
contain more than 500 mg/L of TDS as a monthly average.
(iv) The discharge may not contain more than
250 mg/L of total chlorides as a monthly average.
(v) The discharge may not contain more than
10 mg/L of total barium as a monthly average.
(vi) The discharge may not contain more than
10 mg/L of total strontium as a monthly average.
(vii) The discharge complies with the
performance standards in 40
CFR 437.45(b) (relating to
new source performance standards (NSPS)).
(4) Deep well injection of wastewater
resulting from fracturing, production, field exploration, drilling or well
completion of natural gas wells shall comply with §
78.18 (relating to disposal and
enhanced recovery well permits).
(c) New and expanding mass loadings of TDS
not addressed in subsections (a) and (b) may not contain more than 2,000 mg/L
of TDS as a monthly average, unless a variance is approved by the Department
under this section. For purposes of this subsection, any net increase in
existing TDS loadings authorized after August 21, 2010, will be considered a
new and expanding mass loading of TDS.
(d) A request for a variance to subsection
(c) shall be submitted to the Department and be accompanied by the following
information:
(1) An analysis of the
applicant's existing discharge loads of TDS, and the projected new discharge
loads associated with the proposed new and expanding mass loadings of
TDS.
(2) An analysis of the
applicant's existing treatment facilities and the ability of those facilities
to meet the requirement in subsection (c).
(3) An analysis of upgrades necessary to
bring the applicant's existing facility into compliance with subsection (c) and
the estimated costs associated with the upgrades.
(4) An analysis of the receiving stream's
water quality for TDS at, or upstream from, the proposed point of
discharge.
(e) A request
for a variance to subsection (c) will be subject to the public notice
requirements for permit applications in §
92.61 (relating to public notice
of permit application and public hearing).
(f) A variance to subsection (c) may be
approved by the Department only under the following conditions:
(1) A watershed analysis conducted by the
Department determines that a variance will not result in a reduction of
available assimilative capacity for TDS to less than 25% of the total available
assimilative capacity at the next downstream point of water quality standards
compliance. Available assimilative capacity will be calculated using design
flow conditions under §
96.4(g) (relating
to TMDLs and WQBELs).
(2) The
resulting instream concentration of TDS at the point of discharge from the new
or expanding loading will not violate water quality standards in Chapter 93
(relating to water quality standards).
(g) Coal-fired electric steam generating
units subject to effluent limitations in 40 CFR Part 423 (relating to steam
electric power generating point source category), including TDS effluent
limitations created by the EPA rulemaking on effluent limitations scheduled for
completion by March 2014 (Docket No. EPA-HQ-OW-2009-0819), must comply with
subsection (c) by December 31, 2018, unless exempted by subsection
(a).
The provisions of this § 95.10 issued under
sections 5 and 402 of The Clean Streams Law (35 P.S. §§
691.5 and
691.402); and section 1920-A
of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P.S. §
510-20), unless otherwise
noted.
This section cited in 25 Pa. Code §
78a.69 (relating to water
management plans).
