NPDES Wastewater

The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program regulates the direct discharge of wastewater to waters of the states and Indian country. Under this program, industrial facilities and POTWs (publicly owned treatment works), which directly discharge to waters of the US, must apply and be granted a NPDES permit before discharging wastewater directly to surface waters. The permits require compliance with all federal standards and may also require additional controls based on local conditions and treatment techniques.

Because POTWs are direct dischargers, they must obtain and comply with a NPDES permit. This permit limits the amount of pollutants the sewage treatment plant may discharge. If the concentration of pollutants is too high, or if its discharges endanger public health or the environment, the facility violates its permit and can be fined and/or forced to upgrade its operation. A POTW may have trouble meeting its NPDES permit conditions if the amounts of pollutants in the wastewater flowing into the treatment plant (the influent wastewater) are too high. One way to reduce the amounts of pollutants in the influent wastewater is to require pretreatment. Thus, the conditions of a POTW's discharge permit might dictate the need for pretreatment.

Industries that discharge wastewater to a municipal sewer system may be required to have a treatment agreement. The NPDES Permits Section reviews treatment agreements for conformance to federal and state pretreatment requirements. Some larger cities have accepted responsibility for administering local pretreatment programs.

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe currently has fourteen (14) facilities that fall into the categories which are subject to the requirements of the NPDES permitting program overseen by the Region 8 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Region 8 Environmental Protection Agency is the primacy agency that issues all NPDES permits for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. These facilities are wastewater treatment facilities that treat or process wastewater from our local businesses and communities. The majority of these facilities are typically facultative lagoons that stabilize and treat incoming wastewaters. Other treatment processes include mechanical treatment plants that can take a considerable amount of time to maintain to ensure that they are working properly. At this time all of the NPDES permits that are held by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe will typically contain maximum effluent requirements which must be met for the following conventional parameters:

Five day Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5)
Total Suspended Solids (TSS)
pH
Fecal Coliform
Oil and Grease

The permit is typically a license or authorization for a particular facility to discharge a specified amount of pollutant into a receiving water under certain conditions; however, permits may also authorize facilities to process, incinerate, landfill, or beneficially use sewage sludge. The two basic types of NPDES permits issued are "individual" and "general" permits.

An individual permitis a permit specifically tailored to an individual facility. Once a facility submits the appropriate application(s), the permitting authority develops a permit for that particular facility based on the information contained in the permit application (e.g., type of activity, nature of discharge, receiving water quality). The authority issues the permit to the facility for a specific time period (not to exceed five years) with a requirement that the facility reapply prior to the expiration date.

A general permitcovers multiple facilities within a specific category. General permits may offer a cost-effective option for permitting agencies because of the large number of facilities that can be covered under a single permit. According to the NPDES regulations at 40 CFR §l22.28, general permits may be written to cover categories of point sources having common elements, such as:

Storm water point sources;
Facilities that involve the same or substantially similar types of operations;
Facilities that discharge the same types of wastes or engage in the same types of sludge use or disposal practices;
Facilities that require the same effluent limits, operating conditions, or standards for sewage sludge use or disposal; and
Facilities that require the same or similar monitoring.

General permits, however, may only be issued to dischargers within a specific geographical area such as city, county, or state political boundaries; designated planning areas; sewer districts or sewer authorities; state highway systems; standard metropolitan statistical areas; or urbanized areas. By issuing general permits, the permitting authority allocates resources in a more efficient manner to provide more timely permit coverage. For example, a large number of facilities that have certain elements in common may be covered under a general permit without expending the time and money necessary to issue an individual permit to each of these facilities. In addition, using a general permit ensures consistency of permit conditions for similar facilities.

Major Components of a Permit

All NPDES permits, at a minimum, consist of five general sections:

Cover Page- Typically contains the name and location of the permittee, a statement authorizing the discharge, and the specific locations for which a discharge is authorized.

Effluent Limits- The primary mechanism for controlling discharges of pollutants to receiving waters. Permit writers spend a majority of their time deriving appropriate effluent limits based on applicable technology-based and water quality-based standards.

Monitoring and Reporting Requirements - Used to characterize waste streams and receiving waters, evaluate wastewater treatment efficiency, and determine compliance with permit conditions.

Special Conditions- Conditions developed to supplement effluent limit guidelines.

Standard Conditions- Pre established conditions that apply to all NPDES permits and delineate the legal, administrative, and procedural requirements of the permit. Every permit contains these five basic sections, but the contents of sections will vary depending on whether the permit is issued to a municipal or industrial facility and whether the permit will be issued to an individual facility or to multiple dischargers (i.e., a general permit).

Overview of the Permitting Process While the limits and conditions in an individual NPDES permit are unique to the permittee, the process used to develop the limits and conditions and issue the permit generally follows a common set of steps. The order of these steps may vary depending on whether the permit is an individual or general permit. A general description of permitting process for individual and general permits is presented below. Additionally, the future consideration of permitting on a watershed basis is discussed.

Individual Permits Below are the step which are taken by the EPA to develop and issue individual NPDES permit:

Receive application from permittee.
Review application for completeness and accuracy.
Request additional information as necessary.
Develop technology-based effluent limits using application data and other sources.
Develop water quality-based effluent limits using application data and other sources.
Compare water quality-based effluent limits with technology-based effluent limits and choose the more stringent of the two as the effluent limits for the permit.
Develop monitoring requirements for each pollutant.
Develop special conditions.
Develop standard conditions.
Consider variances and other applicable regulations.
Prepare the fact sheet, summarizing the principal facts and the significant factual legal, methodological and policy questions considered in preparing the draft permit including public notice of the draft permit, and other supporting documentation.
Complete the review and issuance process.
Issue the final permit.
Ensure permit requirements are implemented.

The NPDES permitting process begins when the operator of the facility (permittee) submits an application. After receiving the application and making a decision to proceed with the permit, the EPA reviews the application for completeness and accuracy. When the application is complete, the permit writer, using the application data, begins to develop the draft permit and the justification for the permit conditions (referred to as the fact sheet or statement of basis).

The first major step in the development process is deriving technology-based effluent limits. Following this step, the permit writer derives effluent limits that are protective of state water quality standards (i.e., water quality-based effluent limits). The permit writer then compares the technology-based effluent limits with the water quality-based effluent limits and applies the more stringent limits in the permit. The decision-making process for deriving limits is documented in the permit fact sheet. It is quite possible that a permit may have limits that are technology-based for some parameters and water quality-based for, others. For example, a permit may contain an effluent limit for TSS based on national effluent limit guidelines (technology-based), a limit for ammonia based on prevention of aquatic toxicity (water quality-based), and a BOD5 limit based for part of the year on effluent limit guidelines (technology-based) and for the remainder of the year on water quality considerations.

Following the development of effluent limits, the permit writer develops appropriate monitoring and reporting conditions, facility-specific special conditions, and includes standard conditions that are the same for all permits. After the draft permit is complete, the permitting authority provides an opportunity for public participation in the permit process. A public notice announces the permit and interested parties may submit comments regarding the draft permit. Based on the comments, the permitting authority then develops the final permit, with careful attention to documenting the process and decisions for the administrative record, and issues the final permit to the facility.

General Permits

The process for developing and issuing general NPDES permits is similar to the process for individual permits, however, there are certain differences in the order of events. The permitting authority first identifies the need for a general permit by collecting data demonstrating that a group, or category, of dischargers has similarities that warrant a general permit. In deciding whether to develop a general permit, permitting authorities consider the following:

Are there a large number of facilities to be covered?
Do the facilities have similar production processes or activities?
Do the facilities generate similar pollutants?
Do only a small percentage of the facilities have the potential for violations of water quality standards?

The remaining steps of the permit process are the same as for individual permits. The permitting authority develops the draft permit and fact sheet, issues a public notice, addresses public comments, documents the issues for the administrative record, and issues the final permit. After the general permit has been issued, facilities that wish to be covered under the general permit generally submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) to the permitting authority. The permitting authority may then either request additional information describing the facility, notify the facility that it is covered by the general permit, or require the facility to apply for an individual permit.

Whether a general permit or individual permit is issued the permits will be subject to one of the three categories listed below:

PERMIT CATEGORIES
Category 1	Usually an indepent or site specific discharge permit that allows for continuous discharge. Permission to discharge is granted when the permit is issued and is valid for the life of the permit in the event that the facility meets the effluent limitations outlined in the facility permit.
Category 2	Usually included in the "general permit" applications and the facility is required to obtain permission from the permitting agency (EPA) prior to discharge. Discharge authorization will be based on pre-discharge sample analysis. If discharge authorization is granted by the permitting agency, the facility will be allow to discharge for a specified amount of time and must monitor for effluent limitations during the discharge period.
Category 3	Usually included in the "general permit" and the facility is not allowed to discharge at any time except in accordance with the bypass provisions of the NPDES permit. If an unauthorized release occurs or is expected to occur, the permittee shall take the appropriate measures to minimize the discharge of pollutants.

For additional information on wastewater permits and requirements please contact the staff at the Office of Water Resources at (605) 747-2559.