1648 Availability of National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System general permit for discharges of stormwater associated with industrial activity (PAG-03)
Availability of National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System General Permit for Discharges of Stormwater Associated with Industrial Activity (PAG-03) [46 Pa.B. 6083]
[Saturday, September 24, 2016]Under The Clean Streams Law (35 P.S. §§ 691.1—691.1001) and sections 1905-A, 1917-A and 1920-A of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P.S. §§ 510-5, 510-17 and 510-20), the Department of Environmental Protection (Department), by this notice, informs the public of the availability of a reissued National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) PAG-03 General Permit for Discharges of Stormwater Associated with Industrial Activity.
The PAG-03 General Permit is intended to provide NPDES permit coverage to facilities with stormwater discharges meeting the definition of stormwater associated with industrial activity under 40 CFR 122.26(b)(14) (relating to storm water discharges (applicable to State NPDES programs, see § 123.25)) and other facilities required to obtain permit coverage by the Department under The Clean Streams Law.
The reissued PAG-03 General Permit will become effective at 12 a.m. on September 24, 2016. All permittees with existing NPDES permit coverage under the PAG-03 General Permit that became effective on December 5, 2010, are authorized to continue discharging under the reissued General Permit, subject to the terms and conditions of the reissued General Permit.
Notice of the availability of a draft PAG-03 General Permit was published at 45 Pa.B. 6245 (October 17, 2015). A 30-day comment period was provided and interested parties were directed to submit comments by means of the Department's eComment system or e-mail to ecomment@pa.gov. The comment period ended on November 16, 2015. The Department received comments and questions from 41 different individuals and organizations during the comment period. A comment and response document has been developed to address all comments submitted and a number of changes were made to the final PAG-03 General Permit documents as a result of the comments described in the comment-response document. A public hearing was not held on the draft PAG-03 General Permit. The Department also made changes to the final PAG-03 General Permit in response to the receipt of comments on the draft General Permit from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Following is a summary of changes made to the final PAG-03 General Permit (3850-PM-BCW0083d) and associated documents in comparison to the draft PAG-03 General Permit documents published at 45 Pa.B. 6245:
• The number of days a Notice of Intent (NOI) must be submitted prior to beginning new discharges has been reduced from 180 days in the draft PAG-03 General Permit to 60 days in the final General Permit.
• Two additional eligibility criteria have been added for PAG-03 General Permit coverage (Discharges not Authorized by this General Permit). If a wasteload allocation has been assigned to a stormwater discharge in a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), the discharge may not be covered by the General Permit. In addition, if a facility withdraws at least 2 million gallons of water per day where 25% or more is used for cooling purposes, the facility's stormwater discharges may not be covered by the General Permit. In both instances an individual permit would be necessary to establish site-specific requirements.
• Definitions have been added for impaired waters, representative outfall, TMDL and wasteload allocation.
• A requirement to use the Department's electronic Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) system for the submission of DMRs has been established to implement the requirements of the EPA's NPDES eReporting Rule.
• Existing permittees will be provided 1 year to implement any best management practices (BMP) in the reissued PAG-03 General Permit that were not part of the previous General Permit, effective December 5, 2010. In addition, flexibility has been provided by the Department for sector-specific BMPs; where the Department determines that alternative BMPs not specified in the General Permit provide the same level of protection as those BMPs in the General Permit, the permittee may implement those alternative BMPs.
• The general requirement for oil/water separators at fueling locations has been removed.
• The inspection frequency has been reduced from quarterly to semiannual to align with stormwater sampling frequency. The requirement for qualified personnel to conduct the inspections has been removed.
• Corrective action plans must be submitted when there are two or more consecutive exceedances of benchmark values for the same parameter at the same outfall, as opposed to site-wide as stated in the draft General Permit. In addition, the corrective action plan may, instead of selecting additional BMPs, include a demonstration that exceedances of benchmark values are solely attributable to natural background sources or that no further pollutant reductions are technologically available and economically practicable or further pollutant reductions are not necessary to prevent exceedances of applicable water quality standards.
• Monitoring requirements for pH have been removed for certain industrial sectors.
• Clarification has been provided to Appendix K, regarding existing salt storage and distribution sites, to establish procedures for future permitting activities under The Clean Streams Law. New salt storage and distribution sites with large stockpiles, greater than or equal to 3,000 tons, must apply for and obtain an individual NPDES permit, or other Departmental approval, whether or not these sites are co-located with other industrial activities, unless these discharges will be covered by an MS4 NPDES permit. New salt storage and distribution sites with small stockpiles, less than 3,000 tons are not required to seek permit coverage under an individual NPDES permit if the BMPs specified in Appendix K are implemented and maintained, unless otherwise notified by the Department in writing that permit coverage or other Departmental approval is required.
• The benchmark value for Total Dissolved Solids in Appendix K has been eliminated and replaced by a benchmark value for Chloride.
• The requirement for treating stormwater from diked areas at petroleum marketing terminals has been removed from Appendix L. This stormwater may be discharged without treatment following visual inspection of the stormwater and controlled release. Semiannual stormwater monitoring applies to these discharges.
• Sector-specific BMPs have been established for Appendix M, regarding asphalt paving, roofing materials, and lubricants.
• The language in the NOI instructions concerning the need to apply for permit coverage if discharges meet the definition of stormwater associated with industrial activity under 40 CFR 122.26(b)(14), regardless of whether or not there is a point source, has been removed.
• Clarification has been added to the NOI instructions that stormwater discharges to a separate or combined sanitary sewer system do not require independent permit coverage.
The NOI fee for coverage under PAG-03 is $500 per each year the permittee operates under the General Permit. The NOI fee will be paid in installments, with the initial fee of $500 submitted with the NOI for permit coverage and an installment of $500 to be submitted at the time each Annual Report is due. The Department anticipates that after coverage under the reissued PAG-03 is approved, coverage will continue each year with sub-mission of the Annual Report, which will constitute the NOI, unless the Department specifically requires the submission of a new NOI in writing.
The General Permit package can be accessed through the Department's eLibrary web site at www.elibrary.dep.state.pa.us by selecting ''Permit and Authorization Packages,'' then ''Clean Water,'' then ''PAG-03 General Permit.''
In accordance with 25 Pa. Code § 92a.84(c)(2) (relating to public notice of general permits), the Department will publish notice of each approval of PAG-03 coverage and No Exposure Certification in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
PATRICK McDONNELL,
Acting Secretary[Pa.B. Doc. No. 16-1648. Filed for public inspection September 23, 2016, 9:00 a.m.]
