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Hot Topics in NPDES Permitting
• Industrial Permitting Universe
• Water Quality Standards Update
• General Permits 5 & 7
• General Permits 8 & 9
• New General Permits Database and eReporting
• Wastewater Rule Cleanup
• Antidegradation
• Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy
• Temperature Limits
• 316(b) Cooling Water Intake Impingement and Entrainment
• New ELGs for Steam Electric
Industrial Permitting Universe
• 3 Staff
• 358 Individual industrial NPDES permits
– 31 Majors (12 expired)
– 274 Minors (102 expired)
– 53 Minor permits for drinking water treatment plants (11 expired)
• Applications for ~40 “new” facilities – mostly drinking water plants
• 72 State operation permits (9 expired)
• 3 General Permits (mines, water well construction, and pesticides)
• 2 proposed General Permits (hydrostatic testing and dewatering)
• Permitting priority = Nutrient Reduction Strategy
Water Quality Standards Update
• Use Attainability Analyses
– 63 Industrial Permits delayed for UAA
– Next UAA batch to include ~200 stream segments
– Facilities in next batch will be notified late 2016 or early 2017
– Rulemaking for next batch in 2017
• Aluminum
– Beginning research, waiting for more info from EPA on new nationwide aluminum standard
• Copper Biotic Ligand Model (BLM)
– Through Governor’s office approval, working through EPA comments prior to rulemaking
• WLAP (Iowa Wasteload Allocation Procedure Document)
– Currently undergoing legal review at DNR prior to Governor’s office review
General Permits 5 & 7 Renewals
• General Permit 5 Renewal
– Discharges from mines and quarries
– Updates for clarity and corrected citations
– New permit should be adopted July 20th
• General Permit 7 Renewal
– Discharges of pesticide residuals
– Extensive changes that eliminate NOI, annual reports, IPM plans, etc. for large applicators.
– New permit should be adopted May 18th
New General Permits 8 & 9
• General Permit 8
– Covers discharges of hydrostatic test water, tank ballast water, and water used to disinfect, flush or test potable water lines
– Includes eligibility criteria and BMPs. NOI only for select situations.
• General Permit 9
– Covers discharges from excavation and groundwater dewatering along with residential open-loop geothermal systems
– BMP requirements. NOI only for select situations
• Rulemaking for GP 8 & 9
– Second set of stakeholder meetings held May 3rd.
– Hope to get GP 8 & 9 to DNR legal for review by late May/early June
– Rulemaking in 2017?
New General Permits Database and eReporting
• New database for GPs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9
• Expansion of the existing stormwater database
• Will use the same type of user interface as current stormwater database
• Database will be ready when new GPs 8 & 9 are adopted, likely 2017
• Will comply with the new federal eReporting Rule
• Also look for DMR submittal changes for individual permits in late 2016/early 2017
• Must submit DMRs electronically
• DMR submittal will be through WWPIE
Wastewater Rule Cleanup
• Rule changes to several Iowa Administrative Code chapters
• Should be adopted May 18th
• Removal of several requirements including:
– Publishing public notices in the newspaper (minor facilities only)
– Operational monitoring
– Variances for fee refunds
• No amendments to remove operational monitoring. Changes will occur upon renewal.
Antidegradation Background
• Antideg is triggered to discharge a new or increased amount of a pollutant (higher permit limits, new chems, higher WWTP design flows/loads)
• Alternatives Analysis document must evaluate less-degrading and non-degrading alternatives other than direct discharge of pollutant (greater treatment, haul to POTW, land application, recycle, etc.)
• Selected alternative must be the least degrading reasonable alternative
• Includes an economic efficiency justification
• If all less degrading options are greater than approximately 115% of the cost of the option you want, degradation has been allowed.
Antidegradation Settlement
• IDNR and Iowa Environmental Council (IEC) reached settlement on City of Clarion AA
– Requires IDNR to make all of the following findings in the approval letter (with citations)
• Beneficial uses are maintained and WQS are met
• Highest statutory and regulatory requirements are achieved
• All cost-effective and reasonable BMPs for non-point sources are implemented
• Allowing degradation is necessary and accommodates important economic or social development in the area of the surface water
• Completeness of AA is key
Antidegradation Lawsuit
• Iowa District Court Case: CVCV050224 Iowa Environmental Council v. Iowa DNR
• Ruled that a comparison of alternatives based on application of the 115% criterion alone does not suffice as an economic efficiency evaluation
• Additional comparison of costs vs. environmental benefits is required
• No specific methodology for monetizing environmental benefits
• Interim Strategy
– Can process AAs that received no IEC comment
– Will work through IEC comments on case by case basis
– New AAs will need some discussion of cost vs. env benefit
– Work with Larry Bryant, (515) 725-8426, [email protected]
• Petition for Rulemaking from Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities, the Iowa League of Cities, and the Iowa Association of Business and Industry requesting rulemaking to be presented at May 17th EPC meeting.
Nutrient Reduction Strategy – Permitting Process
Establish Establish Construct Meet Effluent Compliance Treatment Limits Limit Schedule
Evaluate Establish Construct Optimize Evaluate Establish
Existing Construction Treatment Treatment Treatment Effluent
Facility Schedule Limits
Nutrient Permitting Process
Normal Permitting Process
Nutrient Reduction Strategy - Implementation
• Weekly TN and TP monitoring
• Submit feasibility and planning study within two years
• DNR reviews study
• Negotiate Construction schedule to meet NRS goals (10 mg/L TN, 1 mg/L TP or 66% TN removal, 75% TP removal)
• Amend permit to incorporate the schedule
• Limits incorporated in permit following one year performance evaluation
• Implementation Flexibilities for Point Sources
– Regulatory certainty – 10 year assurance
– Economic considerations
– Annual average permit limits (99th percentile of monitoring year)
Nutrient Reduction Strategy - Progress with Industries
• 48 Industries included in Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy
• 21 Industries have NRS requirements in their permits
• 6 Industries have submitted the two-year feasibility study
• 2 Industries have permit amendments to include construction schedules
• 2 Industries have permits on public notice to include annual average TN/TP limits
• Website coming soon
• Checklist for feasibility study available
• Updated NRS language coming soon
Temperature Limits
• Iowa Association of Business and Industry Temperature Workgroup
• Recalculated temperature limits for all facilities
• Amending permits for facilities that can meet updated limits
• Thermal modeling or 316(a) demonstrations for facilities that cannot meet limits
– IDNR has approved five 316(a) variances
– Two more 316(a) study applications are under review
316(b) Impingement and Entrainment
• Aquatic organisms drawn into an intake structure are either impinged on components of the intake structure or entrained in the cooling water system itself.
• Existing facilities that withdraw at least 25% of their water from a water of the U.S. exclusively for cooling purposes and have a design intake flow of greater than 2 million gallons per day (MGD) are required to reduce impingement mortality and entrainment.
316(b) Implementation
• If your permit expires on or after July 14, 2018, you must submit all the information required in 40 CFR 122.21(r) with your NPDES permit renewal application.
• If your permit expires prior to July 14, 2018, your permit will be reissued with a schedule to submit the information with the next permit application (54 months later).
• After application is submitted, the selected impingement control method must be constructed as soon as possible. DNR must make BAT finding on entrainment.
• We encourage facilities >125 mgd to submit entrainment study plans for review prior to beginning field work. Two submitted so far.
• 20 affected facilities in Iowa. Of those 8 are greater than 125 mgd and 3 more are close to 125 mgd.
New Steam Electric ELGs – 40 CFR 423
• The final rule sets new and more stringent requirements for coal fired power plant wastestreams (nameplate capacity greater than 50 megawatts)
– Fly ash and bottom ash transport water
• No discharge of ash transport water generated on or after a date set by IDNR. Date must be as soon as possible, no earlier than Nov 1, 2018 but no later Dec 31, 2023.
– Flue gas desulfurization (FGD)
• New metals limits apply to FGD water generated on or after a date set by IDNR. Date must be a as soon as possible, Nov 1, 2018 - Dec 31, 2023.
– Coal combustion residual leachate
• Mercury and arsenic limits for new landfills
– New pretreatment limits and prohibition on discharging certain wastestreams
– New requirements for flue gas mercury control and gasification wastestreams
Questions?
• NPDES Industrial Permitting
– Wendy Hieb, (515) 725-8405, [email protected]
– Julie Faas, (515) 725-8409, [email protected]
– David Schelling, (515) 725-8407, [email protected]
• Antidegradation
– Larry Bryant, (515) 725-8426, [email protected]
• Water Quality Standards and Wasteload Allocations
– Connie Dou, (515) 725-8400, [email protected]
• Industrial Wastewater Treatment Construction Permitting
– Suresh Kumar, (515) 725-8429, [email protected]
• Stormwater Permitting
– Joe Griffin, (515) 725-8417, [email protected]
