Guidance and Rules For Salt Storage in Ohio

Ohio EPA has released a guidance document on the elements of salt storage that are relevant to preventing contamination include siting, design, and operation. The document provides guidance on salt storage practices to prevent the contamination of ground water and surface water. “Salt”, as used here, includes solids such as the popular sodium chloride (NaCl), as well as potassium chloride (KCl), calcium chloride (CaCl2), and magnesium chloride (MgCl2). It also includes mixtures of the same substances with abrasives such as sand, cinder, slag, etc.

Summary of Regulatory Requirements Affecting Salt Storage Operations in Ohio


Caltha LLP provides expert consulting services to public and private sector clients in Ohio and nationwide to address Stormwater Permitting & Regulatory Support, Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPP), Stormwater Monitoring and Stormwater Training.

For further information contact Caltha LLP at info@calthacompany.com or Caltha LLP Website

Benchmark Monitoring Requirements Under MDE Draft Industrial General Permit

Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) is issuing a draft General Permit Number 12-SW of stormwater discharges from industrial facilities. MDE has chosen to base the state’s permit on the EPA’s Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP).

The draft permit will replace the General Permit Number 02-SW that was issued for a five-year term on December 1, 2002. The General Permit 02-SW expired on November 30, 2007 but was administratively continued for facilities that were covered under the permit at the time it expired. The final permit is expected to be issued in early 2013.

Read a summary of the key changes to the Maryland General Permit.

Information about Maryland General Permit SWPPP Template and Compliance Plan

One of the key difference in the draft permit compared to the EPA MSGP is that MDE chose to focus on reducing stormwater volume rather than on benchmark monitoring for specific pollutants. MDE evaluated the full list of benchmark monitoring requirements in the MSGP, and narrowed the selection down to three industries that have the highest potential for metals in their stormwater,

1. Subsector C1 – Agricultural Chemicals for (SIC 2873-2879), part of Sector C - Chemical and Allied Products Manufacturing, and Refining (Nitrate plus Nitrite Nitrogen at 0.68 mg/L, Total Lead at 0.014, Total Iron at 1.0 mg/L, Total Zinc at 0.04 mg/L and Phosphorus at 2.0 mg/L).
2. Sector M – Automobile Salvage Yards (Total Suspended Solids (TSS) at 100 mg/L, Total Aluminum at 0.75 mg/L, Total Iron at 1.0 mg/L, Total Lead at 0.014 mg/L).
3. Sector N – Scrap Recycling and Waste Recycling Facilities (Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) at 120 mg/L, Total Suspended Solids (TSS) at 100 mg/L, Total Recoverable Aluminum at 0.75 mg/L, Total Recoverable Iron at 1.0 mg/L, Total Recoverable Lead at 0.014 mg/L, Total Zinc at 0.04 mg/L, Total Recoverable Copper at 0.0038 mg/L).
4. Sector AA – Fabricated Metal Products (Nitrate plus Nitrite Nitrogen at 0.68 mg/L, Total Zinc at 0.04 mg/L)

Benchmark monitoring must occur during the first 4 full quarters of permit coverage after the permittee is granted access to NetDMR. If the average of the 4 quarters of monitoring values exceeds the benchmark, the permittee is required to either:
1. perform corrective actions, and conduct an additional 4 quarters of monitoring until the average value is below the benchmark, or
2. determine that no further pollutant reductions are technologically available and economically practicable and achievable in light of best industry practice to meet applicable effluent limits, and continue to monitor once-per-year.

Caltha LLP provides expert consulting services to public and private sector clients nationwide to address Stormwater Permitting and Regulatory Support, Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPP), Stormwater Monitoring and Stormwater Training.
For further information contact Caltha LLP at info@calthacompany.com or Caltha LLP Website

Impaired Waters and Antidegradation Requirements In Draft Maryland Industrial Permit

Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) is issuing a draft General Permit Number 12-SW of stormwater discharges from industrial facilities. MDE has chosen to base the state’s permit on the EPA’s Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP). The draft permit will replace the General Permit Number 02-SW that was issued for a five-year term on December 1, 2002. The General Permit 02-SW expired on November 30, 2007 but was administratively continued for facilities that were covered under the permit at the time it expired. The final permit is expected to be issued in early 2013.

Read a summary of the key changes to the Maryland General Permit.

Information about Maryland General Permit SWPPP Template and Compliance Plan

The draft permit contains new, specific WQBEL requirements applicable to impaired waters and antidegradation policies:

• Discharges to Impaired Waters – The permit contains requirements for new and existing discharges to impaired waters with or without EPA approved or established TMDLs. New dischargers are only eligible for discharge authorization if they demonstrate that there is either no exposure of stormwater to the pollutant for which the water is impaired, or the impairment pollutant is not present at the facility, or that the discharge is not expected to cause or contribute to a water quality standards exceedance. For existing discharges to impaired waters with State approved or established TMDLs, MDE will determine if more stringent requirements are necessary to ensure that the permittee is discharging consistent with the TMDL and applicable WLA.
• Antidegradation Requirements – MDE has clarified its expectation of operators to meet antidegradation requirements as part of the permit authorization process as well as to comply with permit provisions after authorization to discharge is received. If an NOI indicates that an operator is seeking coverage for a new discharge to a Tier 2 water, MDE will determine if additional requirements are necessary to be consistent with the applicable antidegradation requirements, or if alternatively, an individual permit application is necessary. New dischargers are no longer eligible for coverage under this permit for discharges to waters designated as Tier 3 for antidegradation purposes.

Caltha LLP provides expert consulting services to public and private sector clients nationwide to address Stormwater Permitting & Regulatory Support, Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPP), Stormwater Monitoring and Stormwater Training.
For further information contact Caltha LLP at info@calthacompany.com or Caltha LLP Website

Final Rule On Logging Roads As Industrial Discharges

On December 7, 2012, EPA published a final rule clarifying that stormwater permitting is not required for logging roads. The Agency had proposed the rule in September in response to a 2011 citizen suit brought before the Ninth Circuit Court . The suit alleged violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA) against a logging company for discharging stormwater from ditches alongside two logging road in state forests without a permit.

The court decided that because the stormwater runoff from the two roads in question is collected by and then discharged from a system of ditches, culverts, and channels, it was a point source discharge of industrial stormwater for which a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit would be required.

According to EPA, the agency never intended for logging roads to be regulated as industrial facilities. Therefore, the Agency revised 40 CFR 122.26(b)(14) to clarify its intent. The final rule will be effective on January 7, 2013. EPA believes stormwater discharges from forest roads, including logging roads, should be evaluated under section 402(p)(6) of the CWA because the section allows for a broad range of flexible approaches that are better suited to address the complexity of forest road ownership, management, and use. The final rule adds language to existing Phase I stormwater regulations to clarify that, for the purposes of assessing whether stormwater discharges are “associated with industrial activity,” the only facilities that would qualify as “industrial” would be rock crushing, gravel washing, log sorting, and log storage.

Caltha LLP provides technical support services to industrial facilities nationwide to complete individual and general permit application materials and to develop storm water permit compliance plans and stormwater pollution prevention plans (SWPPP). For more information, go to:
Caltha Stormwater Permitting and Compliance Page

Reissued Kentucky General Industrial Permit For "Other Facilities"

Note: Click here to read update on release of Final Kentucky General Stormwater Permit and NOI submittal dates.

On September 13, 2012, the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Water (DOW) released a draft Kentucky Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (KPDES) General Permit for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Industrial Activity from “Other Facilities”. The previous KYR000000 permit had expired in 2007 and was administratively continued. This draft General KPDES Permit does not address specific categories of facilities, but provides permit coverage for facilities that are not required to obtain an individual KPDES Permit.

Currently, industrial stormwater dischargers in Kentucky are required to apply for an individual KPDES permit, which does not change under the new draft permit. Facilities that are subject to a promulgated national effluent guideline and those facilities that discharge to a receiving water that is subject to a TMDL for suspended solids are not eligible for coverage under the general permit. Some of the key changes from the previous permit include:

1. Specific effluent limits for Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Oil and Grease (O&G), and pH are in place of the previous requirement to monitor and report the results of monitoring for these parameters. Monitoring is no longer required for Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD).
2. The Stormwater Best Management Practices (SWBMP) Plan will now be refered to as a “Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP).”
3. Inspections with subsequent written reports to document the findings of the inspections would be required on a minimum weekly basis and in response to 2-year, 24-hour storm events that occur.
4. The SWPPP Site Map must include additional features to be shown including directions of stormwater flow, locations of impaired waters and any TMD’s associated with them, and locations of stormwater monitoring points.
5. The SWPPP must include procedures for preventing and responding to spills, and schedules for inspections, preventive maintenance, and employee training required.
6. The SWPPP must contain a daily precipitation log, incident reports in response to spills, employee training records, and control measure maintenance and repair logs.

Caltha LLP maintains a library of SWPPP templates to meet general permit requirements for individual States, including Kentucky. Once the revised permit is issued, Caltha will revise the Kentucky SWPPP template to meet any new requirements and will use this to support our clients located in Kentucky. Caltha LLP provides expert consulting services to public and private sector clients nationwide to address Stormwater Permitting and Regulatory Support, Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPP), Stormwater Monitoring and Stormwater Training.
For further information contact Caltha LLP at info@calthacompany.com  

 

Final North Carolina Industrial General Permit Effective December 1, 2012

North Carolina NPDES General Permit NCG060000 expired on October 31, 2012, which regulates stormwater discharges from a number of industrial sectors including:

• Food and Kindred Products [standard industrial classification (SIC) 20],
• Tobacco Products (SIC 21),
• Soaps, Detergents and Cleaning Preparations; Perfumes, Cosmetics and Other Toilet Preparations (SIC 284),
• Drugs (SIC 283), and
• Public Warehousing and Storage (SIC 4221-4225), 

The North Carolina Division of Water Quality (DWQ) released a draft of the proposed renewal General Permit in September 2012 and the public comment period closed on October 8th.

DWQ received several public comments and EPA Region IV responded that the agency concurred with no comments. Based on the comments received, DWQ revised the draft permit before finalizing. The revisions included:

1. Part II, Section A (Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan), Added language to include petroleum products and reference how federal oil Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure Plan (SPCC) can fulfill some requirements of the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SPPP) where it demonstrates compliance.
2. Part II, Table 1 (Analytical Monitoring for Stormwater), Footnote 3: Added clarification that DWQ’s representative outfall status (ROS) approval remains in effect through subsequent renewals as long as relevant site conditions and operations have not changed.
3. Part II, paragraph following Table 1: Language added to specify that “Sampling is not required outside of the facility’s normal operating hours.”
4. Part II, paragraph following Table 2: Language modified to include option for Division to require monthly monitoring because of a failure to monitor semi-annually (rather than automatically requiring monthly monitoring upon failure to monitor). Also, clarification that adverse weather conditions preventing sample collection does not constitute a failure to monitor.
5. Part II, second paragraph following Table 2: Added clarification that DWQ’s release of a permittee from Tier 2 monthly monitoring remains in effect through subsequent renewals unless other conditions are specified.
6. Part II, Table 3: Modified Footnote 1 to allow precipitation pH (if lower than 6 s.u.) as lower benchmark value.

In final permit was issued in late November with the effective date December 1, 2012.

Caltha LLP maintains a library of SWPPP templates to meet general permit requirements for individual States, including North Carolina. Caltha is currently revising the North Carolina SWPPP template for NPDES General Permit NCG060000 to meet any new requirements and will use this to support our clients located in North Carolina that are subject to this general permit.

For further information contact Caltha LLP at info@calthacompany.com or Caltha LLP Website