Since the first advanced human civilizations were founded on rivers, it has been a challenge to maintain surface water quality. As human populations have grown, particularly since the Industrial Revolution, the old habit of using bodies of water as a convenient dumping ground has proven unsustainable and dangerous. An unfortunate byproduct of the technological advances of the Industrial Revolution was the vastly increased amount of toxic chemical, radioactive, and biological waste that was commonly discharged into rivers and lakes. Disposal of industrial wastes and the sanitary household wastes from rapidly growing dense urban centers resulted in the discharge of an unprecedented amount of pollution to the surface waters of the United States. To further complicate the problem, the environmental and human health impact from these unfamiliar waste constituents was poorly understood. Consequently, at the turn of the twentieth century, a crisis was at hand.
The problem didn’t go unnoticed, resulting in passage of the River and Harbors Act of 1899; which is generally regarded as the first federal environmental regulation. The Act was intended to safeguard navigation and prohibited the dumping of refuse into U.S. navigable waters without a permit. Several water pollution control regulations were passed in the first half of the twentieth century, but they lacked an organized permitting system and effective enforcement authority. The 1950s and 60s brought a number of high-profile water pollution events broadcast to the nation via television. Then in the summer of 1969, an oil slick fire, five stories high, on the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught America’s attention. While the locals had seen this a dozen times before, public opinion across the country had changed. This became a defining moment!
The Clean Water Act and NPDES
The Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1972 was the first comprehensive water pollution prevention regulation in U.S. history – giving the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority to operate the National Permit Discharge Elimination System (NPDES, commonly pronounced nip-deez), program and associated enforcement activities. The rule allows EPA to delegate authority to manage their NPDES programs to states who have submitted approved plans. Currently, 47 states have been granted approval. The CWA, along with the CWA amendments of 1977 and the Water Quality Act of 1987, comprise the major regulations governing all point source discharges to the waters of the United States.
Point source discharges originate from a single identifiable source, such as effluent from an industrial facility; whereas non-point sources are diffuse, such as overland precipitation runoff to a stream from an agricultural field. Industrial stormwater and municipal storm sewer system discharges have been designated as point sources and are subject to the NPDES program by EPA.
The NPDES Permit
A NPDES permit is required for all point source discharges – including, but not limited to, sewage, industrial wastewater, industrial stormwater, runoff from construction sites, municipal separate storm sewer systems, concentrated animal feeding operations, beneficial use of biosolids, and pesticides activities. Permit requirements under individual state programs may vary to some degree, but the main elements are consistent. A new permit applicant will likely be required to submit a notice of intent and an application to the local municipality and/or county officials stating the purpose of obtaining the permit and information about the proposed facility/activities. Public notification of the notice of intent may be required. An emergency preparedness/response plan may also be needed with the notice of intent.
The specific requirements of the application will vary with the nature of the operations at the facility and the characteristics of the anticipated wastewater. Discharges from common, relatively minor activities may be covered under a “general permit” if the potential for pollution is relatively low. More complex or potentially high-impact activities, such as discharges from industrial wastewater treatment systems, will require more in-depth and technical applications. The applicant will provide information concerning the Best Available Technologies (BAT) that are employed at the facility to prevent the discharge of pollutants – including such strategies as Pollution Prevention, Treatment Best Management Practices, Land Disposal, and Stormwater Reuse Technologies. If all of the elements of the application are approved, the applicant will receive an authorization to discharge under the NPDES program. Permits are normally granted for five years but may be modified if facility characteristics or operations change.
The permit will require monitoring of the discharges of stormwater and/or wastewater. Monitoring is commonly required on a quarterly basis and will involve a qualified person collecting instantaneous grab samples within the first half hour of a storm event and a flow-controlled composite sample. Parameters such a discharge flow and temperature will be recorded in the field. Chemical and biological constituents of concern will require analysis by a properly accredited laboratory. The scope and frequency of the discharge monitoring will depend on the environmental agency’s determination based on the information that was submitted with the notice of intent or application.
HETI: Here to Help with NPDES Permitting and Compliance
HETI’s diverse team of environmental professionals is available to assist with developing new NPDES permit applications; modifying existing authorizations; and the sampling, analysis of results, and reporting requirements for the permit. Our experts can support a company’s NPDES compliance needs – carefully reviewing regulatory requirements for the facility/operations and offering insight to ensure that pollution prevention strategies and approaches correspond to compliance requirements and are the best option for the facility. Whether the need is for written programs, training, regulatory compliance reviews, health & safety services, or simply addressing questions on compliance, HETI is here to help.