Current through Register Vol. 24-06, March 15, 2024
(1) Application and completeness.
(a) The department will not begin the
processing of a permit until the applicant has fully complied with the
application requirements for the permit. Permit applications must comply with
the signature and certification requirements of WAC
173-303-810(12) and
(13).
(b) The department will review for
completeness each application for a permit under this chapter. Each application
for a permit should be reviewed for completeness within sixty days of its
receipt. Upon completing the review, the department will notify the applicant
in writing whether or not the application is complete. If the application is
incomplete, the department will list the information necessary to make the
application complete, and will specify in the notice of deficiency a date for
submitting the necessary information. After the application is completed, the
department may request additional information from an applicant but only when
necessary to clarify, modify, or supplement previously submitted material.
Requests for such additional information will not render an application
incomplete.
(c) If an applicant
fails or refuses to correct deficiencies in the application, the permit may be
denied and appropriate enforcement actions may be taken under
chapter
70.105 RCW.
(d) If the department decides that a site
visit is necessary for any reason in conjunction with the processing of an
application, then the department will notify the applicant and a date will be
scheduled.
(e) The effective date
of an application is the date on which the department notifies the applicant
that the application is complete as provided in (b) of this
subsection.
(2) Draft
permits.
(a) A draft permit is a document
prepared by the department indicating the tentative decision to issue, deny,
modify, revoke and reissue, or terminate a permit.
(b) When an application is complete, the
department will tentatively decide whether to prepare a draft permit, or to
deny the application.
(c) If the
department tentatively decides to deny the permit application, then the
department will issue a notice of intent to deny. A notice of intent to deny
the permit application is a type of draft permit which follows the same
procedures as any draft permit prepared under this subsection. If the
department's final decision is that the tentative decision to deny was
incorrect, then the department will withdraw the notice of intent to deny and
proceed to prepare a draft permit under this subsection.
(d) If the department decides to prepare a
draft permit, it will contain the following information:
(i) All conditions applicable to permits
under WAC
173-303-810 and
173-303-815 including compliance
and monitoring requirements;
(ii)
Applicable conditions under WAC
173-303-830 and
173-303-815; and
(iii) All applicable standards for storage,
treatment and disposal, and other permit conditions.
(e) All draft permits must be accompanied by
a fact sheet that is supported by administrative record and made available for
public comment.
(f) Fact sheet;
statement of basis.
(i) A fact sheet will be
prepared for every draft permit for a major dangerous waste management
facility, and for every draft permit which the department finds is the subject
of wide-spread public interest or raises major issues.
(ii) The fact sheet will briefly set forth
the principal facts and the significant factual, legal, methodological, and
policy questions considered in preparing the draft permit. The department will
send this fact sheet to the applicant and, on request, to any other
person.
(iii) The fact sheet will
include, when applicable:
(A) A brief
description of the type of facility or activity which is the subject of the
draft permit;
(B) The type and
quantity of wastes, fluids, or pollutants which are proposed to be or are being
treated, stored, disposed, injected, emitted, or discharged;
(C) A brief summary of the basis for the
draft permit conditions including supporting references;
(D) Reasons why any requested variances or
alternatives to required standards do or do not appear justified; and
(E) A description of the procedures for
reaching a final decision on the draft permit including:
(I) The beginning and ending dates of the
comment period and the address where comments will be received;
(II) Procedures for requesting a hearing and
the nature of that hearing;
(III)
Any other procedures by which the public may participate in the final decision;
and
(IV) Name and telephone number
of a person to contact for additional information.
(iv) The department will prepare a
statement of basis for every draft permit for which a fact sheet is not
prepared. The statement of basis will briefly describe the derivation of the
conditions of the draft permit and the reasons for them or, in the case of
notices of intent to deny or terminate, reasons supporting the tentative
decision. The statement of basis will be sent to the applicant and, on request,
to any other person.
(3) Public notice and involvement.
(a) The department will give public notice
that the following actions have occurred:
(i)
A draft permit has been prepared or an application is tentatively being
denied;
(ii) A hearing on a permit
has been scheduled; or
(iii) An
appeal on a permit has been filed with the pollution control hearings board.
Note:
|
Additional public notice requirements for permitting
at the preapplication and application stages are at WAC
173-303-281(3) through
(5).
|
(b) No public notice is required when a
request for permit modification, revocation and reissuance, or termination is
denied. A written notice of the denial will be given to the person who
requested the permit change and to the permittee.
(c) The public notice may describe more than
one permit or permit action.
(d)
Public notice of the preparation of a draft permit, including a notice of
intent to deny a permit application will allow at least forty-five days for
public comment. Public notice of a public hearing will be given at least thirty
days before the hearing.
(e) Public
notice of activities described in this subsection will be given by the
following methods:
(i) By mailing a copy of a
notice to the following persons (any person otherwise entitled to receive
notice under this paragraph may waive his or her rights to receive notice for
any classes and categories of permits):
(A)
The applicant;
(B) Any other agency
which the department knows has issued or is required to issue a permit for the
same activity or facility;
(C)
Federal and state agencies with jurisdiction over fish, shellfish, and wildlife
resources and over coastal zone management plans, the advisory council on
historic preservation, state historic preservation officers, including any
affected states (Indian tribes) (for purposes of this paragraph and in the
context of the Underground Injection Control Program only, the term state
includes Indian tribes treated as states);
(D) Persons on the mailing list developed by:
(I) Including those who request in writing to
be on the list;
(II) Soliciting
persons for an area list from participants in past permit proceedings in that
area; and
(III) Notifying the
public of the opportunity to be put on the mailing list through periodic
publications in the public press and in appropriate publications of the
department;
(E) Any unit
of local government having jurisdiction over the area where the facility is
proposed to be located, and each state agency having any authority under state
law with respect to construction or operation of such facility;
(ii) For major permits, by
publication of a notice in a daily or weekly newspaper within the area affected
by the facility;
(iii) For all
permits, by publication of notice in a daily or weekly major local newspaper of
general circulation, and local radio broadcast of the public notice;
and
(iv) By any other method
reasonably calculated to give notice of the action in question to the persons
potentially affected by it, including press releases or any other forum or
medium to elicit public participation.
(4) Contents of the public notice.
(a) All public notices issued will contain
the following minimum information:
(i) Name
and address of the office processing the permit action for which notice is
being given;
(ii) Name and address
of the permittee or permit applicant and, if different, of the facility or
activity regulated by the permit;
(iii) A brief description of the business
conducted at the facility or activity described in the permit application or
the draft permit;
(iv) Name,
address, and telephone number of a person from whom interested persons may
obtain further information, including copies of the draft permit, fact sheet or
statement of basis, and the application;
(v) A brief description of the comment
procedures and the time and place of any hearing that will be held, including a
statement of procedures to request a hearing (unless a hearing has already been
scheduled) and other procedures by which the public may participate in the
final permit decision;
(vi) And any
additional information considered necessary or proper.
(b) In addition to the general public notice
described in (a) of this subsection, public notice of a hearing under
subsection (5) of this section will contain the following information:
(i) Date, time, and place of the
hearing;
(ii) Reference to the date
of the previous public notice relating to the permit; and
(iii) A brief description of the nature and
purpose of the hearing including the applicable rules and procedures.
(c) In addition to the general
public notice all persons identified in WAC
173-303-840(3)(e)(i)(A), (B), and
(C) will be mailed a copy of the fact sheet,
the permit application (if any), and the draft permit (if any).
(d) Public comments and request for public
hearings. During the public comment period any interested person may submit
written comments on the draft permit and may request a public hearing, if no
hearing has already been scheduled. A request for a public hearing must be in
writing and must state the nature of the issues proposed to be raised in the
hearing. All comments will be considered in making the final decision and will
be answered according to WAC
173-303-840(9).
(5) Public hearings.
(a) The department will hold a public hearing
whenever, on the basis of requests, there is a significant degree of public
interest in a draft permit or there is written notice of opposition and the
director receives a request for a hearing during the forty-five day comment
period. The department also may hold a public hearing at its discretion,
whenever, for instance, such a hearing might clarify one or more issues
involved in the permit decision. Public notice of the hearing will be given as
specified in WAC
173-303-840(3).
Whenever possible, the department will schedule a public hearing under this
subsection at a location convenient to the nearest population center to the
proposed facility.
(b) Any person
may submit oral or written statements and data concerning the draft permit.
Reasonable limits may be set upon the time allowed for oral statements, and the
submission of statements in writing may be required. The public comment period
under WAC
173-303-840(3)
will automatically be extended to the close of any public hearing under this
subsection. The hearing officer may also extend the comment period by so
stating at the hearing.
(c) A tape
recording or written transcript of the hearing will be made available to the
public.
(6) Obligation
to raise issues and provide information during the public comment period.
(a) All persons, including applicants, who
believe any condition of a draft permit is inappropriate, or that the
department's tentative decision to deny an application, terminate a permit, or
prepare a draft permit is inappropriate, must raise all reasonably
ascertainable issues and submit all reasonably available arguments and factual
grounds supporting their position, including all supporting material, by the
close of the public comment period (including any public hearing) under WAC
173-303-840(3).
(b) All supporting materials will be included
in full and may not be incorporated by reference, unless they are already part
of the administrative record in the same proceeding, or consist of state or
federal statutes and regulations, documents of general applicability, or other
generally available reference materials. Commenters must make supporting
material not already included in the administrative record available to the
department. A comment period longer than forty-five days will often be
necessary in complicated proceedings to give commenters a reasonable
opportunity to comply with the requirements of this subsection. Commenters may
request a longer comment period.
(7) Reopening of the public comment period.
If any data, information, or arguments submitted during the public comment
period, including information or arguments required under subsection (6) of
this section, appear to raise substantial new questions concerning a permit,
the department may take one or more of the following actions:
(a) Prepare a new draft permit, appropriately
modified;
(b) Prepare a revised
statement of basis, a fact sheet or revised fact sheet, and reopen the comment
period; or
(c) Reopen or extend the
comment period to give interested persons an opportunity to comment on the
information or arguments submitted.
Comments filed during the reopened comment period will be
limited to the substantial new questions that caused its reopening. The public
notice will define the scope of the reopening.
(8) Issuance and effective date of permit.
(a) After the close of the public comment
period under WAC
173-303-840(5)
on a draft permit, the department will issue a final permit decision (or a
decision to deny a permit for the active life of a RCRA dangerous waste
facility or unit under WAC
173-303-840 ). The department
will notify the applicant and each person who has submitted written comments or
requested notice of the final permit decision. For purposes of this section, a
final permit means a final decision to issue, deny, modify, revoke and reissue,
or terminate a permit.
(b) A final
permit decision will become effective thirty days after the service of notice
of the decision, unless:
(i) A later effective
date is specified in the decision; or
(ii) No comments requested a change in the
draft permit, in which case the permit will become effective immediately upon
issuance; or
(iii) Review is
requested under chapter 43.21B RCW or an evidentiary hearing is requested under
RCW
43.21B.160.
(9) Response to comments. At the time that
any final permit is issued, the department will issue a response to comments.
This response will specify which provisions, if any, of the draft permit have
been changed in the final permit decision and the reason for the change, and
briefly describe and respond to all significant comments of the draft permit
raised during the public comment period or during any hearing. The response to
comments shall be available to the public.
(10) Decision-making procedure for
modification, revocation and reissuance, or termination of permits.
(a) Permits may be modified, revoked and
reissued, or terminated either at the request of any interested person
(including the permittee) or upon the department's initiative. However, permits
may only be modified or revoked and reissued for the reasons specified in WAC
173-303-830(3),
or terminated for the reasons specified in WAC
173-303-805 or
173-303-830(5).
All requests must be in writing and must contain facts or reasons supporting
the request.
(b) If the department
tentatively decides to modify or revoke and reissue a permit under WAC
173-303-830(3) or
(4)(c), it will prepare the draft permit
under WAC
173-303-840(2),
incorporating the proposed changes. The department may request additional
information and, in the case of a modified permit, may require the submission
of an updated permit application. In the case of revoked and reissued permits,
the department will require the submission of a new application.
(c) In a permit modification under this
subsection, only those conditions to be modified will be reopened when a new
draft permit is prepared. All other aspects of the existing permit will remain
in effect for the duration of the unmodified permit. When a permit is revoked
and reissued under this section, the entire permit is reopened just as if the
permit had expired and was being reissued. During any revocation and reissuance
proceeding the permittee must comply with all conditions of the existing permit
until a new final permit is reissued.
(d) "Class 1 and class 2 modifications" as
defined in WAC
173-303-830(4)(a) and
(b) are not subject to the requirements of
this subsection.
(e) If the
department tentatively decides to terminate an interim status permit under WAC
173-303-805 or a final permit
under WAC
173-303-806, it will issue a
notice of intent to terminate. A notice of intent to terminate is a type of
draft permit which follows the same procedures as any draft permit prepared
under WAC
173-303-840(2).
Statutory Authority:
Chapters
70.105,
70.105D,
15.54 RCW and
RCW
70.105.007. 00-11-040 (Order 99-01), §
173-303-840, filed 5/10/00, effective 6/10/00. Statutory Authority:
Chapters
70.105 and
70.105D RCW. 98-03-018 (Order
97-03), § 173-303-840, filed 1/12/98, effective 2/12/98; 95-22-008 (Order
94-30), § 173-303-840, filed 10/19/95, effective 11/19/95; 94-01-060
(Order 92-33), § 173-303-840, filed 12/8/93, effective 1/8/94. Statutory
Authority:
Chapter
70.105 RCW. 84-14-031
(Order DE 84-22), § 173-303-840, filed 6/27/84. Statutory Authority:
Chapter
70.105 RCW and
RCW
70.95.260. 82-05-023 (Order DE 81-33), §
173-303-840, filed 2/10/82.