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RATIONALE <br />SECOND RENEWAL <br />CDPS GENERAL PERMIT <br />FOR COAL MINING FACILITIES (SURFACE RUNOFF OtVL3~ <br />CDPS NO. COG850000 <br />Changes to this general permit upon the second renewal are relatively minor in nature. <br />• Minor Wastewater Sources--The Division proposes to allow minor wastewater sources other than surface runoff to be <br />discharged under this general permit in conjunction with surface runoff. Only those sources for which the effluent <br />limitatioru and monitoring requirements are the same as those in this permit can be included. Each application will be <br />evaluated separately. Additional monitoring may be requested by the Division during the application review process to <br />aid in ow derermiruuion. There is no way to nutke a blanket statement of which minor wastewater source will be included <br />and which minor wastewazer sowces will be excluded. Generally, a wostewater source would have to be minor in volume <br />and/or constituent concemration to be eligible for coverage. An example would be a small volume of pit or mine water <br />that occurs intermittently for short periods of time and would comprise a low perceruage of the total volume in a <br />sedimentation pond. The pond might be oversized to the degree that this source would not cause a ditcharge to occur to <br />state waters during periods when the mine water is discharging to the pond. A chemical analysis and possibly, whole <br />effluent toziciry testing, of the source would be reouired for the Division's determination. <br />• Burden of Proof--The Burden of Proof section of the permit (Parr l.B.l.d.) is being refined to better demonstrate <br />coruirtency in its application to all facilities. There was a perception by a small segment of the mining industry that this <br />section discrimittated against facilities that had only manual pond dewatering capabilities. This was nor the intention. <br />The goal is to provide relief from primary limitarioru only when necessary, i. e., when precipitation overwhelms a treatment <br />rystem and it is unable to meet the primary limitations, regardless of the type of discharge structure. Tne relief is nor <br />meant to be applied to all dischcrges of predpitatian-related eJ>riuenr. Otherwise, the primary limitations would never apph• <br />ra surface runoff, since all surface runoff is precipitation-related. Tnis is clearly not the intention of the regulation-s. <br />• Whale EfRuent Toridty-The aischargu aralrorized under this permit do nor contain toxic pollutants in toxic arwunrs. thus <br />whole e,~iuent toxicity (A'E~ regulations do not apply to rhu permit cad no WET resting requirements will be imposed in <br />this permit. Ij a facility applying for coverage under this permit is determined to have the potential to discharge toxic <br />pollutants in toxic amounts, the facility will not be cenified under this permit. It will instead be processed far coverage <br />under an individual permit with WET resting requirements. As noted aDOVe however, WET resting at application may be <br />required to assist in determining the eligibility for the facility to be certified for discharge through this general permit. <br />• .Antide~radation--The Division reviewed this renewal permit far compliance with anridegradation regulations. No <br />limitations have changed, thus there is no increase in Ioading from those facilities with continuing coverage under the <br />general permit. Additionally, dirrhargu authorized under this permit are nor expected ro occur during low flow conditions, <br />they rypirally occur when stream flows are high and oualiry is poor due to storm events. Ir is the Division's determination <br />that amidegradan'on does not apply to this permit. <br />• Stormwater--Changes from the most recent language in this general permit are few. The Division modified the <br />Testing/Evaluation (or Non-Stormwater section to allow idenafrcarion of non-stormwater ducharges withow actual <br />sampling. Also, the date by which inspection of inactive industrial sites under Pan I.B.2.6)5) must be performed is <br />changed to October I, 1999, or two years after the sire becomes inactive, whichever is earlier. <br />Jon C. Kubic <br />Kathryn Dolan (srormwater) <br />January 22, 1997 <br />Public Notice Comments: No comments were received during the public notice period. Tne fine! permit will be unchangetj~ <br />from the draft version with one exception. The reouirement to submit duplicate copies of discharge monitoring reports to r <br />US Environmental Protection Agency Region VIII is being eliminated. Parr I.D.1. of the permit reflects this change. <br />lon C. Kubic <br />March 20, 1997 <br />