Current through Register Vol. 41, No. 3, September 23, 2024
A. Duty
to apply. Any person who discharges or proposes to discharge stormwater into or
upon state waters from municipal separate storm sewer systems or
land-disturbing activities and who does not have an effective permit, except
persons covered by general permits, excluded from the requirement for a permit
by this chapter, shall submit a complete application in accordance with this
section.
B. Who applies. When a
facility or activity is owned by one person but is operated by another person,
it is the operator's duty to obtain a permit.
C. Time to apply. Any person proposing a new
discharge shall submit an application at least 180 days before the date on
which the discharge is to commence, unless permission for a later date has been
granted by the department. Stormwater discharges from large construction
activities and stormwater discharges associated with small construction
activities shall submit applications at least 90 days before the date on which
construction is to commence. Different submittal dates may be required under
the terms of applicable general permits. Persons proposing a new discharge are
encouraged to submit their applications well in advance of the 90-day or
180-day requirements to avoid delay.
D. Duty to reapply. All permittees with a
currently effective permit shall submit a new application at least 180 days
before the expiration date of the existing permit unless permission for a later
date has been granted by the department. The department shall not grant
permission for applications to be submitted later than the expiration date of
the existing permit.
E.
Completeness. The department shall not issue a permit before receiving a
complete application for a permit except for general permits. An application
for a permit is complete when the department receives an application form and
any supplemental information which are completed to its satisfaction. The
completeness of any application for a permit shall be judged independently of
the status of any other permit application or permit for the same facility or
activity.
F. Information
requirements. All applicants for permits shall provide the following
information using the application form provided by the department:
1. The activities conducted by the permit
applicant which require it to obtain a permit;
2. Name, mailing address, and location of the
facility for which the application is submitted;
3. Up to four SIC codes which best reflect
the principal products or services provided by the facility;
4. The operator's name, address, telephone
number, email address, ownership status, and status as federal, state, private,
public, or other entity;
5. Whether
the facility is located on Indian lands;
6. A listing of all permits or construction
approvals received, applied for, or to be applied for under any of the
following programs:
a. Hazardous Waste
Management program under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
(42 USC §
6921);
b. Underground Injection Control (UIC)
program under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) (42 USC §
300h);
c. VPDES program under the CWA and the State
Water Control Law;
d. Prevention of
Significant Deterioration (PSD) program under the Clean Air Act (42 USC §
4701 et seq.);
e. Nonattainment program under the Clean Air
Act (42 USC §
4701 et seq.);
f. National Emission Standards for Hazardous
Pollutants (NESHAPS) preconstruction approval under the Clean Air Act
(42 USC §
4701 et seq.);
g. Ocean dumping permits under the Marine
Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act (33 USC § 14 et seq.);
h. Dredge or fill permits under § 404 of
the CWA;
i. A permit under the CWA
and the Virginia Erosion and Stormwater Management Act; and
j. Other relevant environmental
permits;
7. A
topographic map (or other map if a topographic map is unavailable) extending
one mile beyond the property boundaries of the source, that depicts: the
facility and (i) each of the source's intake and discharge structures; (ii)
each of the source's hazardous waste treatment, storage, or disposal
facilities; (iii) each well where fluids from the facility are injected
underground; and (iv) those wells, springs, other surface water bodies, and
drinking water wells listed in public records or otherwise known to the permit
applicant in the map area; and
8. A
brief description of the nature of the business.
G. Variance requests. A discharger which is
not a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) may request a variance from
otherwise applicable effluent limitations under any of the following statutory
or regulatory provisions within the times specified in this subsection:
1. Fundamentally different factors.
a. A request for a variance based on the
presence of fundamentally different factors from those on which the effluent
limitations guideline was based shall be filed as follows:
(1) For a request from best practicable
control technology currently available (BPT), by the close of the public
comment period for the draft permit; or
(2) For a request from best available
technology economically achievable (BAT) or best conventional pollutant control
technology (BCT), by no later than 180 days after the date on which an effluent
limitation guideline is published in the Federal Register for a request based
on an effluent limitation guideline promulgated on or after February 4,
1987.
b. The request
shall explain how the requirements of the applicable regulatory or statutory
criteria have been met.
2. A request for a variance from the BAT
requirements for CWA § 301(b)(2)(F) pollutants (commonly called
nonconventional pollutants) pursuant to § 301(c) of the CWA because of the
economic capability of the owner or operator, or pursuant to § 301(g) of
the CWA (provided, however, that a § 301(g) variance may only be requested
for ammonia, chlorine, color, iron, total phenols (when determined by the
administrator to be a pollutant covered by § 301(b)(2)(F) of the CWA), and
any other pollutant that the administrator lists under § 301(g)(4) of the
CWA) must be made as follows:
a. For those
requests for a variance from an effluent limitation based upon an effluent
limitation guideline by:
(1) Submitting an
initial request to the regional administrator, as well as to the department,
stating the name of the discharger, the permit number, the outfall number, the
applicable effluent guideline, and whether the discharger is requesting a
§ 301(c) or § 301(g) of the CWA modification, or both. This request
must have been filed not later than 270 days after promulgation of an
applicable effluent limitation guideline; and
(2) Submitting a completed request no later
than the close of the public comment period for the draft permit demonstrating
that:
(i) all reasonable ascertainable issues
have been raised and all reasonably available arguments and materials
supporting their position have been submitted; and
(ii) that the applicable requirements of 40
CFR Part 125 have been met. Notwithstanding this provision, the complete
application for a request under § 301(g) of the CWA shall be filed 180
days before EPA must make a decision (unless the Regional Administrator
establishes a shorter or longer period); or
b. For those requests for a variance from
effluent limitations not based on effluent limitation guidelines, the request
need only comply with subdivision 2 a (2) of this subsection and need not be
preceded by an initial request under subdivision 2 a (1) of this
subsection.
3. A
modification under § 302(b)(2) of the CWA of requirements under §
302(a) of the CWA for achieving water quality related effluent limitations may
be requested no later than the close of the public comment period for the draft
permit on the permit from which the modification is sought.
4. A variance for alternate effluent
limitations for the thermal component of any discharge must be filed with a
timely application for a permit under this section, except that if thermal
effluent limitations are established on a case-by-case basis or are based on
water quality standards the request for a variance may be filed by the close of
the public comment period for the draft permit. A copy of the request shall be
sent simultaneously to the department.
H. Expedited variance procedures and time
extensions.
1. Notwithstanding the time
requirements in subsection G of this section, the department may notify a
permit applicant before a draft permit is issued that the draft permit will
likely contain limitations that are eligible for variances. In the notice the
department may require the permit applicant as a condition of consideration of
any potential variance request to submit a request explaining how the
requirements of 40 CFR Part 125 applicable to the variance have been met and
may require its submission within a specified reasonable time after receipt of
the notice. The notice may be sent before the permit application has been
submitted. The draft or final permit may contain the alternative limitations
that may become effective upon final grant of the variance.
2. A discharger who cannot file a timely
complete request required under subdivisions G 2 a (2) or G 2 b of this section
may request an extension. The extension may be granted or denied at the
discretion of the department. Extensions shall be no more than six months in
duration.
I.
Recordkeeping. Permit applicants shall keep records of all data used to
complete permit applications and any supplemental information submitted under
this section for a period of at least three years from the date the application
is signed.
Statutory Authority: §
62.1-44.15:28 of the Code of
Virginia; Chapters 68 and 758 of the 2016 Acts of
Assembly.
