Current through Register Vol. 41, No. 3, September 23, 2024
National pretreatment standards included in the regulations
incorporated by reference in 9VAC25-31-30, unless specifically noted otherwise,
shall be in addition to all applicable pretreatment standards and requirements
set forth in this part.
A. Category
determination request.
1. Application
deadline. Within 60 days after the effective date of a pretreatment standard
for a subcategory under which an industrial user may be included, the
industrial user or POTW may request that the Water Management Division Director
or director, as appropriate, provide written certification on whether the
industrial user falls within that particular subcategory. If an existing
industrial user adds or changes a process or operation which may be included in
a subcategory, the existing industrial user must request this certification
prior to commencing discharge from the added or changed processes or operation.
A new source must request this certification prior to commencing discharge.
Where a certification is submitted by a POTW, the POTW shall notify any
affected industrial user of such submission. The industrial user may provide
written comments on the POTW submission to the Water Management Division
Director or director, as appropriate, within 30 days of notification.
2. Contents of application. Each request
shall contain a statement:
a. Describing which
subcategories might be applicable; and
b. Citing evidence and reasons why a
particular subcategory is applicable and why others are not applicable. Any
person signing the application statement submitted pursuant to this section
shall make the following certification:
"I certify under penalty of law that this document and all
attachments were prepared under my direction or supervision in accordance with
a system designed to assure that qualified personnel properly gather and
evaluate the information submitted. Based on my inquiry of the person or
persons who manage the system, or those persons directly responsible for
gathering the information, the information submitted is, to the best of my
knowledge and belief, true, accurate, and complete. I am aware that there are
significant penalties for submitting false information, including the
possibility of fine and imprisonment for knowing violations."
3. Deficient requests. The Water
Management Division Director or director will only act on written requests for
determinations that contain all of the information required. Persons who have
made incomplete submissions will be notified by the Water Management Division
Director or director that their requests are deficient and, unless the time
period is extended, will be given 30 days to correct the deficiency. If the
deficiency is not corrected within 30 days or within an extended period allowed
by the Water Management Division Director or the director, the request for a
determination shall be denied.
4.
Final decision.
a. When the Water Management
Division Director or director receives a submittal he will, after determining
that it contains all of the information required by subdivision 2 of this
subsection, consider the submission, any additional evidence that may have been
requested, and any other available information relevant to the request. The
Water Management Division Director or director will then make a written
determination of the applicable subcategory and state the reasons for the
determination.
b. Where the request
is submitted to the director, the director shall forward the determination
described in this subdivision to the Water Management Division Director who may
make a final determination. If the Water Management Division Director does not
modify the director's decision within 60 days after receipt thereof, or if the
Water Management Division Director waives receipt of the determination, the
director's decision is final.
c.
Where the request is submitted by the industrial user or POTW to the Water
Management Division Director or where the Water Management Division Director
elects to modify the director's decision, the Water Management Division
Director's decision will be final.
d. The director shall send a copy of the
determination to the affected industrial user and the POTW.
5. Requests for public hearing or
legal decision. Within 30 days following the date of receipt of notice of the
final determination as provided for by subdivision A 4 d of this section, the
requester may submit a petition to reconsider or contest the decision to the
regional administrator who shall act on such petition expeditiously and state
the reasons for his determination in writing.
B. Deadline for compliance with categorical
standards. Compliance by existing sources with categorical pretreatment
standards shall be within three years of the date the standard is effective
unless a shorter compliance time is specified in the regulations incorporated
by reference in 9VAC25-31-30. Direct dischargers with VPDES permits modified or
reissued to provide a variance pursuant to § 301(i)(2) of the CWA shall be
required to meet compliance dates set in any applicable categorical
pretreatment standard. Existing sources which become industrial users
subsequent to promulgation of an applicable categorical pretreatment standard
shall be considered existing industrial users except where such sources meet
the definition of a new source as defined in 9VAC25-31-10. New sources shall
install and have in operating condition, and shall "start up" all pollution
control equipment required to meet applicable pretreatment standards before
beginning to discharge. Within the shortest feasible time (not to exceed 90
days), new sources must meet all applicable pretreatment standards.
C.
1.
Concentration and mass limits pollutant discharge limits in categorical
pretreatment standards will be expressed either as concentration or mass
limits. Wherever possible, where concentration limits are specified in
standards, equivalent mass limits will be provided so that local, state or
federal authorities responsible for enforcement may use either concentration or
mass limits. Limits in categorical pretreatment standards shall apply to the
effluent of the process regulated by the standard, or as otherwise specified by
the standard.
2. When the limits in
a categorical pretreatment standard are expressed only in terms of mass of
pollutant per unit of production, the control authority may convert the limits
to equivalent limitations expressed either as mass of pollutant discharged per
day or effluent concentration for purposes of calculating effluent limitations
applicable to individual industrial users.
3. A control authority calculating equivalent
mass-per-day limitations under subdivision 2 of this subsection shall calculate
such limitations by multiplying the limits in the standard by the industrial
user's average rate of production. This average rate of production shall be
based not upon the designed production capacity but rather upon a reasonable
measure of the industrial user's actual long-term daily production, such as the
average daily production during a representative year. For new sources, actual
production shall be estimated using projected production.
4. A control authority calculating equivalent
concentration limitations under subdivision 2 of this subsection shall
calculate such limitations by dividing the mass limitations derived under
subdivision 3 of this subsection by the average daily flow rate of the
industrial user's regulated process wastewater. This average daily flow rate
shall be based upon a reasonable measure of the industrial user's actual
long-term average flow rate, such as the average daily flow rate during the
representative year.
5. When the
limits in a categorical pretreatment standard are expressed only in terms of
pollutant concentrations, an industrial user may request that the control
authority convert the limits to equivalent mass limits. The determination to
convert concentration limits to mass limits is within the discretion of the
control authority. The control authority may establish equivalent mass limits
only if the industrial user meets all the following conditions in subdivisions
5 a (1) through (5) of this subsection as follows.
a. To be eligible for equivalent mass limits,
the industrial user must:
(1) Employ, or
demonstrate that it will employ, water conservation methods and technologies
that substantially reduce water use during the term of its control
mechanism;
(2) Currently use
control and treatment technologies adequate to achieve compliance with the
applicable categorical pretreatment standard, and not have used dilution as a
substitute for treatment;
(3)
Provide sufficient information to establish the facility's actual average daily
flow rate for all wastestreams, based on data from a continuous effluent flow
monitoring device, as well as the facility's long-term average production rate.
Both the actual average daily flow rate and the long-term average production
rate must be representative of current operating conditions;
(4) Not have daily flow rates, production
levels, or pollutant levels that vary so significantly that equivalent mass
limits are not appropriate to control the discharge; and
(5) Have consistently complied with all
applicable categorical pretreatment standards during the period prior to the
industrial user's request for equivalent mass limits.
b. An industrial user subject to equivalent
mass limits must:
(1) Maintain and effectively
operate control and treatment technologies adequate to achieve compliance with
the equivalent mass limits;
(2)
Continue to record the facility's flow rates through the use of a continuous
effluent flow monitoring device;
(3) Continue to record the facility's
production rates and notify the control authority whenever production rates are
expected to vary by more than 20% from its baseline production rates determined
in subdivision 5 a (3) of this subsection. Upon notification of a revised
production rate, the Control Authority must reassess the equivalent mass limit
and revise the limit as necessary to reflect changed conditions at the
facility; and
(4) Continue to
employ the same or comparable water conservation methods and technologies as
those implemented pursuant to subdivision 5 a (1) of this subsection so long as
it discharges under an equivalent mass limit.
c. A control authority that chooses to
establish equivalent mass limits:
(1) Must
calculate the equivalent mass limit by multiplying the actual average daily
flow rate of the regulated process(es) of the industrial user by the
concentration-based daily maximum and monthly average standard for the
applicable categorical pretreatment standard and the appropriate unit
conversion factor;
(2) Upon
notification of a revised production rate, must reassess the equivalent mass
limit and recalculate the limit as necessary to reflect changed conditions at
the facility; and
(3) May retain
the same equivalent mass limit in subsequent control mechanism terms if the
industrial user's actual average daily flow rate was reduced solely as a result
of the implementation of water conservation methods and technologies, and the
actual average daily flow rates used in the original calculation of the
equivalent mass limit were not based on the use of dilution as a substitute for
treatment pursuant to subdivision 5 d of this subsection. The industrial user
must also be in compliance with 9VAC25-31-890 (regarding the prohibition of
bypass).
d. The control
authority may not express limits in terms of mass for pollutants such as pH,
temperature, radiation, or other pollutants which cannot appropriately be
expressed as mass.
6.
The control authority may convert the mass limits of the categorical
pretreatment standards at 40 CFR Parts 414, 419, and 455 to concentration
limits for purposes of calculating limitations applicable to individual
industrial users under the following conditions: when converting such limits to
concentration limits, the control authority must use the concentrations listed
in the applicable subparts of 40 CFR Parts 414, 419, and 455 and document that
dilution is not being substituted for treatment as prohibited by subsection D
of this section.
7. Equivalent
limitations calculated in accordance with subdivisions 3 4, 5 and 6 of this
subsection are deemed pretreatment standards for the purposes of § 307(d)
of the CWA and this part. The control authority must document how the
equivalent limits were derived and make this information publicly available.
Once incorporated into its control mechanism, the individual user must comply
with the equivalent limitations in lieu of the promulgated categorical
standards from which the equivalent limitations were derived.
8. Many categorical pretreatment standards
specify one limit for calculating maximum daily discharge limitations and a
second limit for calculating maximum monthly average, or four-day average,
limitations. Where such standards are being applied, the same production or
flow figure shall be used in calculating both the average and the maximum
equivalent limitation.
9. Any
industrial user operating under a control mechanism incorporating equivalent
mass or concentration limits calculated from a production based standard shall
notify the control authority within two business days after the user has a
reasonable basis to know that the production level will significantly change
within the next calendar month. Any user not notifying the control authority of
such anticipated change will be required to meet the mass or concentration
limits in its control mechanism that were based on the original estimate of the
long term average production rate.
D. Dilution prohibited as substitute for
treatment. Except where expressly authorized to do so by an applicable
pretreatment standard or requirement, no industrial user shall ever increase
the use of process water, or in any other way attempt to dilute a discharge as
a partial or complete substitute for adequate treatment to achieve compliance
with a pretreatment standard or requirement. The control authority may impose
mass limitations on industrial users which are using dilution to meet
applicable pretreatment standards or requirements, or in other cases where the
imposition of mass limitations is appropriate.
E. Combined wastestream formula. Where
process effluent is mixed prior to treatment with wastewaters other than those
generated by the regulated process, fixed alternative discharge limits may be
derived by the control authority, or by the industrial user with the written
concurrence of the control authority. These alternative limits shall be applied
to the mixed effluent. When deriving alternative categorical limits, the
control authority or industrial user shall calculate both an alternative daily
maximum value using the daily maximum values specified in the appropriate
categorical pretreatment standard or standards and an alternative consecutive
sampling day average value using the monthly average values specified in the
appropriate categorical pretreatment standards. The industrial user shall
comply with the alternative daily maximum and monthly average limits fixed by
the control authority until the control authority modifies the limits or
approves an industrial user modification request. Modification is authorized
whenever there is a material or significant change in the values used in the
calculation to fix alternative limits for the regulated pollutant. An
industrial user must immediately report any such material or significant change
to the control authority. Where appropriate new alternative categorical limits
shall be calculated within 30 days.
1.
Alternative limit calculation. For purposes of these formulas, the "average
daily flow" means a reasonable measure of the average daily flow for a 30-day
period. For new sources, flows shall be estimated using projected values. The
alternative limit for a specified pollutant will be derived by the use of
either of the following formulas:
a.
Alternative concentration limit.
View Image
where:
CT = the alternative concentration
limit for the combined wastestream.
Ci = the categorical pretreatment
standard concentration limit for a pollutant in the regulated stream i.
Fi = the average daily flow (at
least a 30-day average) of stream i to the extent that it is regulated for such
pollutant.
FD = the average daily flow (at
least a 30-day average) from:
(i)
boiler blowdown streams, noncontact cooling streams, stormwater streams, and
demineralizer backwash streams; provided, however, that where such streams
contain a significant amount of a pollutant, and the combination of such
streams, prior to treatment, with an industrial user's regulated process
wastestreams will result in a substantial reduction of that pollutant, the
control authority, upon application of the industrial user, may exercise its
discretion to determine whether such streams should be classified as diluted or
unregulated. In its application to the control authority, the industrial user
must provide engineering, production, sampling and analysis and such other
information so that the control authority can make its determination;
(ii) sanitary wastestreams where
such streams are not regulated by a categorical pretreatment standard; or
(iii) any process wastestreams
which were or could have been entirely exempted from categorical pretreatment
standards for one or more of the following reasons (see Appendix D of 40 CFR
Part 403):
(1) The pollutants of concern are
not detectable in the effluent from the industrial user;
(2) The pollutants of concern are present
only in trace amounts and are neither causing nor likely to cause toxic
effects;
(3) The pollutants of
concern are present in amounts too small to be effectively reduced by
technologies known to the administrator; or
(4) The wastestream contains only pollutants
which are compatible with the POTW.
FT = The average daily flow (at
least a 30-day average) through the combined treatment facility (includes
Fi, FD and unregulated
streams).
N = The total number of regulated streams.
b.
Alternative mass limit.
View Image
where:
MT = the alternative mass limit for
a pollutant in the combined wastestream.
Mi = the categorical pretreatment
standard mass limit for a pollutant in the regulated stream i (the categorical
pretreatment mass limit multiplied by the appropriate measure of
production).
Fi = the average flow (at least a
30-day average) of stream i to the extent that it is regulated for such
pollutant.
FD = the average daily flow (at
least a 30-day average) from:
(i)
boiler blowdown streams, noncontact cooling streams, stormwater streams, and
demineralizer backwash streams; provided, however, that where such streams
contain a significant amount of a pollutant, and the combination of such
streams, prior to treatment, with an industrial user's regulated process
wastestreams will result in a substantial reduction of that pollutant, the
control authority, upon application of the industrial user, may exercise its
discretion to determine whether such streams should be classified as diluted or
unregulated. In its application to the control authority, the industrial user
must provide engineering, production, sampling and analysis and such other
information so that the control authority can make its determination;
(ii) sanitary wastestreams where
such streams are not regulated by a categorical pretreatment standard; or
(iii) any process wastestreams
which were or could have been entirely exempted from categorical pretreatment
standards for one or more of the following reasons (see Appendix D of 40 CFR
Part 403):
(1) The pollutants of concern are
not detectable in the effluent from the industrial user;
(2) The pollutants of concern are present
only in trace amounts and are neither causing nor likely to cause toxic
effects;
(3) The pollutants of
concern are present in amounts too small to be effectively reduced by
technologies known to the administrator; or
(4) The wastestream contains only pollutants
which are compatible with the POTW.
FT = The average flow (at least a
30-day average) through the combined treatment facility (includes
Fi, FD and unregulated
streams).
N = The total number of regulated streams.
2. An alternative pretreatment limit may not
be used if the alternative limit is below the analytical detection limit for
any of the regulated pollutants.
3.
Self-monitoring required to insure compliance with the alternative categorical
limit shall be conducted in accordance with the requirements of 9VAC25-31-840
G.
4. Where a treated regulated
process wastestream is combined prior to treatment with wastewaters other than
those generated by the regulated process, the industrial user may monitor
either the segregated process wastestream or the combined wastestream for the
purpose of determining compliance with applicable pretreatment standards. If
the industrial user chooses to monitor the segregated process wastestream, it
shall apply the applicable categorical pretreatment standard. If the user
chooses to monitor the combined wastestream, it shall apply an alternative
discharge limit calculated using the combined wastestream formula as provided
in this section. The industrial user may change monitoring points only after
receiving approval from the control authority. The control authority shall
ensure that any change in an industrial user's monitoring point or points will
not allow the user to substitute dilution for adequate treatment to achieve
compliance with applicable standards.
Statutory Authority
§ 62.1-44.15 of the Code of Virginia; § 402 of
the federal Clean Water Act; 40 CFR Parts 122, 123, 124, 403, and 503.
