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COLORADO DEPART7KENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT -Water Quality Control Division <br />Rationale -Page 14 Permit No. COR-040a0~0 <br />V!/. CHANGES AFTER PUBLIC NOTICE (com.) <br />the optimum solution. At 40 percent cover, the Division is relatively certain that the site will remain stable. <br />However, the Division recognizes that 40 percerst cover may not be achievable in all cases and has added the <br />sentence: "The Division may, after corssultation with the permittee and upon good cause being shown, revise <br />the vegetative cover requirement on a case-by-case basis. " <br />Reeardine the definition of "Vegetative Cover": Vegetative cover will be defined to 6e "the aerial projection <br />of all grasses, fortis, mosses (living or dead) onto the ground. " <br />Reeardin¢ the difficuUv of [he task: !n return for reclaiming and revegetating the sire, the Division is willing <br />to terminate permit coverage and release the owner/operator from NPDES liability. The Division mast have <br />some assurarsce that the sire will remain stable and will not relapse into a water quality problem. <br />8. Exoloration activities <br />The draft Rationale stated that "Sites at which only exploration has been conducted are included in this <br />exemption from mining storrrswater permit requirements. " One permittee objected to this statement because <br />Category (iii) of the stormwater regulations (5 CCR 1002-2 § 6.4.2 (5)(c)) includes SIC major group 10 - <br />Metal Mining. The explanation of this major group states "This major group includes establishments primarily <br />engaged in mining, developing mines, or exolorine for metallic minerals (ores)" (emphasis added). <br />Resoonse: The Division has removed this sentence from the Rationale. Exploration activities which meet the <br />exposure criteria will require a srormwater permit. <br />9. Reference to "Performance Bond" <br />The draft permit and Rationale refer to the release of the "performance bond" 6y the Colorado Division of <br />Minerals and Geology (CDMG) as the trigger for the termination of stormwater permit coverage for mines <br />with CDMG permits. One commemor objected to the use of this term. <br />Resnonse: The Division agrees that because of the complexity of bond release, in some instances this may be <br />confusing. The language in the permit and the Rationale has been revised to use the phrase "release from <br />state reclamation requirements", which is the phrase used in the regulations. <br />!0. SWMPs as public documents <br />One commemor objected to the language in the permit which requires permittees to make the SWMP available <br />to any member of the public upon request. This opens the permittee to unwarranted imrusion and potentially <br />to interference. This commemor asks that this requirement be removed. <br />Resnonse: Section 308(b) of the federal Clean Water Acr requires that all reports (which includes SWMPs) <br />shall be available to the public. The Division has modified the permit requiremem to state that the perntittees <br />must make the SWMP available to the public upon request, unless the SWMP is on file with the Division. <br />Permittees may voluntarily submit SWMPs to the Division to avoid providing the documents directly to the <br />public. <br />Sarah Johnson <br />August 7, 1996 <br />