Oregon Combines Industrial Stormwater Permits Into One Statewide General Permit

The Oregon DEQ is midway through the process to renew and reissue the NPDES 1200-COLS and NPDES 1200-Z industrial stormwater general permits. The DEQ has maintained different permits covering different geographical areas. The NPDES 1200-COLS permit expired Sept. 30, 2016 and the NPDES 1200-Z expires June 30, 2017. DEQ intends to combine the 1200-COLS and 1200-Z permits into a single industrial stormwater permit. DEQ believes this will reduce the number of general permits requiring renewal, improve the agency’s efficiency in issuing permits, and improve consistency for permit registrants.


DEQ intends to reissue the 1200-Z (with basin-specific conditions for the 1200–COLS) on or before June 1, 2017, with an effective date of July 1, 2017. However, current 1200-COLS permit registrants were required to submit a renewal form by August 1, 2016, and current 1200-Z permit registrants must submit a renewal form by January 3, 2017. For existing registrants that submit a renewal form, coverage under their permit will be administratively extended until they receive coverage under the new permit.


Because the 1200-COLS expired before the combined permit will be available, DEQ issued the 1200-COLSB “bridge permit” for the period between when the 1200-COLS expires and a new combined permit is issued. The reissued 1200-COLSB permit is identical to the expired permit, and became effective on Oct. 1, 2016. This permit will expire on July 1, 2017, when the new combined permit takes effect.


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