Current through Bulletin 2024-06, March 15, 2024
9.1
APPLICABILITY.
(1) This section applies to
qualified groups of operators who discharge on or near surface waters of the
State from the application of (1) biological pesticides or (2) chemical
pesticides (hereinafter collectively "pesticides"), when the pesticide
application is for one of the following pesticide use patterns:
(a) Mosquito and Other Insect Pests - to
control public health/nuisance and other insect pests that may be present on or
near standing or flowing surface water. Public health/nuisance and other insect
pests in this use category include but are not limited to mosquitoes and black
flies.
(b) Weed and Algae Control -
to control invasive or other nuisance weeds and algae in water and at water's
edge, including irrigation ditches and/or irrigation canals.
(c) Aquatic Nuisance Animal Control - to
control invasive or other nuisance animals in water and at water's edge.
Aquatic nuisance animals in this use category include, but are not limited to
fish, lampreys, and mollusks.
(d)
Forest Canopy Pest Control - application of a pesticide to a forest canopy to
control the population of a pest species (e.g., insect or pathogen) where to
target the pests effectively a portion of the pesticide unavoidably will be
applied over and deposited to water.
(2) Qualified Operator Groups. Certain types
of entities (operators), engaged in the above pesticide use patterns, will be
required to submit a NOI and obtain coverage under a Pesticide General Permit
(PGP) as detailed below:
Operator Group 1 - All Operators involved with any discharges
to Category 1 (R317-2-12
) waters of the State. All operators involved in the discharge of pesticides on
or near surface waters of State, which have been determined by the Water
Quality Board to be Category 1 waters of the State must submit a NOI to obtain
coverage under the PGP. The NOI must detail each area and watershed where a
discharge is to occur. Only pesticide applications which are made to restore or
maintain water quality or to protect public health or the environment would be
covered under the PGP for discharges on or near Category 1 surface waters of
the State.
Operator Group 2 - All Government or Quasi-Governmental
Agencies or Special Service Districts. All government agency operators
(federal, state, county or local agencies and special service districts)
involved in the discharge of pesticides under the conditions described above,
as a primary purpose or as a significant activity in their operations, must
submit a NOI describing each area and watershed where a discharge is to occur
to obtain PGP coverage regardless of the size of the area to be treated.
Operator Group 3 - Other Operators. Other operators engaged
in the discharge of pesticides for the conditions described above as a primary
purpose or as a significant activity in their operations, like private pest
control companies, water supply or canal companies or other large operators
whose discharges exceed the treatment area thresholds detailed in Table 2 below
must apply for a NOI to obtain coverage under the PGP as detailed in Table 1
below.
Operator Group 4 - Operators involved in a "Declared Pest
Emergency Situation". All operators that otherwise aren't required to obtain a
NOI, but become involved in a "declared pest emergency situation", as defined
below, and will exceed any of the treatment area thresholds in Table 2 must
submit a NOI to obtain PGP coverage as detailed in Table 1 below.
9.2 DEFINITIONS. The following definitions
specifically pertain to aspects of pesticide discharge permitting in the UPDES
program and should be used in conjunction with the definitions shown in
R317-1-1 and
R317-8-1.5.
(1) "Biological Pesticides" (also
called biopesticides) means microbial pesticides, biochemical pesticides and
plant-incorporated protectants (PIP). Microbial pesticide means a microbial
agent intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest,
or intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, or dessicant, that (a) is
a eucaryotic microorganism including, but not limited to, protozoa, algae, and
fungi; (b) is a procaryotic microorganism, including, but not limited to,
Eubacteria and Archaebacteria; or (c) is a parasitically replicating
microscopic element, including but not limited to, viruses (
40 CFR
158.2100(b) ).
(2) "Biochemical pesticide" means a pesticide
that (a) is a naturally-occurring substance or structurally-similar and
functionally identical to a naturally-occurring substance; (b) has a history of
exposure to humans and the environment demonstrating minimal toxicity, or in
the case of a synthetically-derived biochemical pesticide, is equivalent to a
naturally-occurring substance that has such a history; and (c) Has a non-toxic
mode of action to the target pest(s)(
40 CFR
158.2000(a)(1) ).
Plant-incorporated protectant means a pesticidal substance that is intended to
be produced and used in a living plant, or in the production thereof, and the
genetic material necessary for production of such a pesticidal substance. It
also includes any inert ingredient contained in the plant, or production
thereof (
40
CFR 174.3 ).
(3) "Chemical Pesticides" means all
pesticides not otherwise classified as biological pesticides.
(4) "Declared Pest Emergency Situation" means
an event defined by a public declaration by a federal agency, state, or local
government of a pest problem determined to require control through application
of a pesticide beginning less than ten days after identification of the need
for pest control. This public declaration may be based on a; significant risk
to human health; significant economic loss; or significant risk to Endangered
species, Threatened species, Beneficial organisms, or, the
environment.
(5) "NOI" means
"Notice of Intent", the formal document submitted by an operator to the
Division of Water Quality (DWQ) to request coverage under the Pesticide General
Permit.
(6) "Operator" means any
entity involved in the application of a pesticide which may result in a
discharge to waters of the State that meets either or both of the following two
criteria:
(a) The entity has control over the
financing for, or the decision to perform pesticide applications that result in
discharges, including the ability to modify those decisions or;
(b) The entity has day-to-day control of, or
performs activities that are necessary to ensure compliance with the permit
(e.g., they are authorized to direct workers to carry out activities required
by the permit or perform such activities themselves).
(7) "surface waters of the State" means
waterbodies, waterways, streams, lakes or rivers that contain standing or
flowing water at the time of pesticide application.
(8) "Treatment Area" means the entire area,
whether over land or water, where the pesticide application is intended to
provide pesticidal benefits or may have an environmental impact. In some
instances, the treatment area will be larger than the area where pesticides are
actually applied.
9.3
ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS.
(1) All
operators who are included in the use patterns specified in R317-8-9.1, and
discharge to active surface waters of the State as a result of the application
of a pesticide must be covered by a UPDES permit, beginning October 31, 2011,
by submitting a NOI to obtain coverage under the Pesticide General Permit
(PGP). In the event that a discharge occurs prior to submitting a NOI, you must
comply with all other requirements of the PGP immediately. All operators will
automatically be covered under the PGP for the first five-year permit term of
October 31, 2011 to October 30, 2016 if they submit a NOI by February 15, 2012.
To obtain PGP coverage for the second and all succeeding PGP five-year terms,
all operators must submit a NOI prior to the expiration date (October 30) of
the PGP every five years. Each NOI submission will secure permit coverage for
the full five-year term of the PGP.
(2) New, qualified operators, who require PGP
coverage after February 15, 2012 must submit a NOI in accordance with Table 1
below. The NOI will secure PGP coverage for the remainder of the five-year term
of the PGP in effect at that time. For continued PGP coverage during the next
five-year permit cycle, a new NOI must be submitted before the expiration of
the present PGP, as detailed above.
|
Table 1.
Discharge Authorization Date
(a/) |
|
Category |
NOI Submittal
Deadline
|
Discharge Authorization
Date |
|
Operators who know or should have reasonably known,
prior commencement of to commencement of days , that they will exceed an annual
treatment area threshold identified in R317-8-9.3 (4). |
At least 10 days prior to discharge |
No earlier than 10 days after the complete and
commencement of accurate NOI is mailed and postmarked.
|
|
Operators who do not know or would have reasonably
not known until after commencement of discharge,that they will exceed an annual
treatment area threshold identified in R317-8-9.3(4). |
At least 10 days know prior to exceeding an annual
treatment area threshold. |
Original authorization terminates when annual
treatment area threshhold is exceeded. Operator is reauthorized no earlier than
10 days after complete and accurate NOI is mailed and postmarked.
|
|
Operators commencing discharge in response to a
declared pest emergency situation. |
No later than 30 days after commencement of
discharge. |
Immediately, for activities conducted in response
to a declared pest emergency situation. |
|
a/ In the event that a discharge occurs prior to
your submitting a NOI, you must comply with all other requirements of the PGP
immediately. |
(3)
PGP Coverage Termination. PGP coverage may be terminated by non-submission of a
NOI at the end of the present PGP five-year term, or by submission of a signed
Notice of Termination (NOT) form to the DWQ.
(4) Annual Treatment Area Thresholds.
|
Table 2. Annual Treatment Area
Thresholds
|
|
Rule
Section |
Pesticide Use Class |
Annual Threshold |
|
R317-8-9.1(1)(a) |
Mosquitoes and Other Insect Pests |
6,400 acres of Treatment Area |
|
R317-8-9.1(1)(b)
|
Weed and Algae In Water At Water's
Edge |
Control 80 acres of treatment area a/ 100 linear
miles of treatment area at water's edge b/
|
|
R317-8-9.1(1)(c)
|
Aquatic Nuisance In Water At Water's Edge
|
Animal Control 80 acres of treatment area a/ 100
linear miles of treatment area at water's edge b/
|
|
R317-8-9.1(1)(d) |
Forest Canopy Pes Control |
6,400 acres of treatment area |
|
a/ Calculations should include the area of the
applications made to active surface waters of the State at the time of
pesticide application. For calculating annual treatment area totals, count each
pesticide application activity as a separate activity. For example, applying
pesticides twice a year to a ten acre site should be counted as twenty acres of
treatment area. |
|
b/ Calculations should include the linear extent of
the application made at water's edge adjacent to active surface waters of the
State and at the time of pesticide application. For calculating annual
treatment totals, count each pesticide application activity and each side of a
linear water body as a separate activity or area. For example, treating both
sides of a ten mile ditch is equal to twenty miles of water treatment
area. |
(5)
All applicators or operators, whether or not falling into the use categories,
or required to obtain PGP coverage, or whether or not meeting the minimum
annual treatment area thresholds shown in R317-8-9.3(4) must conform to the
Technology Based Effluent limitations in the PGP and to all applicable rules
and regulations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act
(FIFRA). The permittee is expected to familiarize himself with the PGP and
conform to its requirements, if he discharges any pesticides prior to obtaining
a NOI. After February 15, 2012 the permittee is authorized to discharge under
the terms and conditions of the PGP only with submission of a completed
electronic NOI in accordance with Table 1 above.
(6) Based on a review of the NOI or other
information, the DWQ may delay authorization to discharge under the PGP or may
determine that additional technology-based and/or water quality-based effluent
limitations are necessary; or may deny coverage under this PGP and require
submission of an application for an individual UPDES permit in accordance with
this rule. If the Director determines an individual UPDES permit is required,
that permitting process will proceed independently.
