_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1981017 (304)

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COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH&ENVIRONMENT- Water Quality Control Division Rationale -Page S Permit No. COR-040000 IV. STORMWATER DISCHARGES ASSOCIATED WITH MINING OPERATIONS (cont.) D. Exemption for Pre-operational Mines Pre-operational mining sites are not required to obtain stormwater mining permits. The definitions of active and inactive mining sites do not include sites where mining claims are being maintained prior to any disturbances associated with the extraction, beneficiation, or processing of mined materials, nor sites where minimal activities are undertaken for the sole purpose of maintaining a mining claim. Construction stormwater permit requirements apply if more than I acre of land is disturbed, including clearing, grading and excavation; however, sites disturbing between 1 and S acres are not required to obtain permit coverage until July 1, 2002 (see CDPS General Permit number COR-030000). As clarification, claims on land where there has been past extraction, beneficiation, or processing of mining material, but there is currently no active mining, are considered inactive sites and are subject to stormwater regulations. E. Exemption for Uncontaminated Stormwater The Division does not require a permit for discharges of stormwater that do not contact any overburden, raw material, intermediate products, byproducts,finished products or waste products located at the mining operation. Only stormwater discharges that comes into contact with any overburden, raw material, intermediate products, byproducts,finished products or waste products located at the mining operation must be included in the permit. F. Exemption for Reclaimed Mines Mines that have met certain reclamation conditions are not required to obtain a stormwater discharge permit. Coal mining operations which no longer meet the definition of a reclamation area under 40 CFR 434.11(1) because the performance bond issued to the facility by the appropriate SMCRA authority has been released are not required to obtain stormwater discharge permits. Non-coal mining operations which have been released from applicable state or Federal reclamation requirements after December 17, 1990 are also not required to obtain stormwater discharge permits. The Division may designate such reclaimed sites as requiring a stormwater permit if the discharge is a significant contributor of pollutants to waters of the State. G. Exemption for Small Municipalities The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 Section 1068(c)added an exemption to the stormwater regulations for municipalities with less than 100,000 population. The term "municipality"includes cities, towns, counties, special districts or any entity created by or pursuant to State law. Stormwater discharges associated with mining or remediation activities, that are owned or operated by a small municipality are not required to apply for or obtain a stormwater permit until March 10, 2003. (Note: This exemption does not apply to other,privately owned industries within the same small municipality.) The Division plans to develop a new general permit for municipally-owned industries in late 2002, which will likely include metal mining operations and mine-waste remediation projects. V. APPLICATION AND CERTIFICATION Certification under the permit requires submittal of an application. Upon receipt of all required information, the Division may allow or disallow coverage under the general permit. See Parts I.A.3 and I.A.4 of the permit for an outline of the application requirements and applicable time frames. At least thirty days prior to the anticipated date of discharge, the owner (or operator when the owner does not operate the facility) of the mining or remediation operation shall submit an application to the Division. (Note: Under the Federal regulations, this is referred to as a Notice of Intent, or NOI. For internal consistency with its current program, the Division will continue to use the term "application.") If this general permit is applicable, then a certification will be developed and the applicant will be certified under this general permit.