PERMFILE116141 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

RATIONALE SECOND RENEWAL CDPS GENERAL PERMIT FOR COAL MINING FACILITIES (SURFACE RUNOFF ONLY) CDPS NO. COG850000 Changes to this general permit upon the second renewal are relatively minor in nature. • Minor Wastewater Sources--The Division proposes to allow minor wastewater sources other than surface runoff to be discharged under this general permit in corsfunction with surface runoff. Only those sources jot which the effluent limitations and monitoring requirements are the same as those in this permit can be included. Each application will be evaluated separately. Additional monitoring may be requested by the Division during the application review process to aid in our determination. There is no way to make a blanket statement of which minor wastewater sources will be included and which minor wastewater sources will be excluded. Generally, a wastewater source would have to be minor in volume andfor constituera concentration to be eligible for coverage. An example would be a small volume of pit or mine water that occurs intermittently for shop periods of rime and would comprise a tow percentage of the total volume in a sedimentation pond. the pond might be oversized to the degree that this source would nor cause a disrharge to occur to state waters during periods when the mine water is discharging to the pond. A chemical analysis and possibly, whole effluent toxicity testing, of the source would be required for [he Division's determination. • Burden of Proof--The Burden of Proof section of the permit (Part I.B.I.d.) is being refined to better demonstrate consistency is its application to all facilities. Ihere was a perception by a small segment of the mining industry that this section discriminated against facilities that had only manual pond dewatering capabilities. this was not the intention. The goat is to provide relief from primary limitations only when necessary, i. e., when precipitation overwhelms a treatment system and it is unable to meet the primary limitations, regardless of the type of discharge structure. The relief is nor menrrt to be applied to aU diselrarges of precipitation-related effluent. Otherwise, the primary limitations would never apply fo surface runoff; since all surface runoff isprecipitation-related. Zhis is clearly not the intention of the regulations. ,• • Whole EffLtent Toxicity-the distlrarges atalwrized under this permit do nor comain Toxic pollutants in toxic amounts, thus whole e~hterrt toxicity (R'E~ regulations do nor apply to this permit and no WET testing requirements will be imposed in this permit. If a facility applying jot coverage under this permit is de[emuned to have the potential to discharge toxic pollutants in toxic amounts, the facility will not be cenified under this permit. It will irutead be processed far coverage under an individual permit with WET testing requirements. As noted above however, WET testing at application may be required ro assist in determining the eligibility for the facility to be cerafied for discharge through this generat permit. Antideeradation--The Division reviewed this renewal permit for compliance with antidegradation regulations. No limitations have changed, thus there is no increase in loading from those facilities with continuing coverage under the general permit. Additionally, discharges atdwrized under this permit are not expected ro occur during low flow conditions, they typically ocav when stream flaws are high and quality is poor due to storm events. It is the Division's determination that anlidegradation does not apply to this permit. • Stormwater--Changes from the most recent language in this general permit are few. The Division modified the Testin¢/Evaluation for Non-Stormwater section to allow identification of non-stormwater discharges without actual sampling. Also, the date by which inspection of inactive industrial sites under Pan 1. B. Z.b)5) nwsr be performed is changed to October I, 1999, or two years after the site becomes inactive, whichever is earlier. Ion C. Kubic Kathryn Dolan (stormwater) January 22, 1997 Public Notice Comments: No comments were received during the public notice period. The final permit will be unchanged om the draft version with one exception. the requirement to submit duplicate copies of discharge monitoring reports !o the ~S Environmental Protection Agency Region VIII it being eliminated. Parr I.D.I. of the permit reflects this change. Ion C. Kubic March 20, 199"