Deadline Alert: California Amended IGP TMDL/TNAL/NEL Compliance
/2018 Amended Industrial General Permit Overview
The State Water Resources Control Board adopted an amendment to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Statewide Industrial General Permit (IGP) for stormwater on November 6, 2018. Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) compliance is among the notable new requirements. The new requirements of the Permit will become effective on July 1, 2020.
The Amendment includes the update of:
25 new TMDLs within Los Angeles
3 new TMDLs in the San Francisco Bay Area
1 new TMDL in Santa Ana
7 new TMDLs in San Diego
As a result, those dischargers who discharge an industrial pollutant with a waste load allocation in the U.S. EPA-approved TMDLs listed in Attachment E of the 2018 Amended Industrial General Permit, now referred to as Responsible Dischargers, are responsible for meeting TMDL-specific Numeric Action Levels (TNALs), and/or Numeric Effluent Limitations (NELs) outlined in Attachment E, Table E-2. Responsible Dischargers are required to comply with applicable TMDL-specific requirements, in addition to all other applicable provisions of the Permit.
What Are TMDLs and Why Are They Relevant?
Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) establish a maximum amount of a pollutant allowed in a water body so that the waterbody will meet and continue to meet water quality standards for that particular pollutant. The Clean Water Act requires Regional Water Boards to periodically assess water quality and identify those not meeting quality standards and objectives and list those waters as impaired on the 303(d) list. To address impaired waters, the Regional Water Boards must develop a TMDL, which establishes maximum allowable loads to sources of pollutants.
Compliance Requirements: Responsible Discharger and What TMDLs Apply
If you are a discharger with No Exposure Certification (NEC) coverage or a facility that is complying with the Notice of Non-Applicability (NONA) criteria, these TMDL-specific permit requirements do not apply to you. However, if you are a discharger with Notice of Intent (NOI) coverage, and you discharge stormwater directly or through an MS4 directly to an impaired water body and the pollutant which you are discharging has a waste load allocation specified in one of the TMDLs in which your facility is located, then you are a responsible discharger subject to these TMDL-specific permit requirements.
Responsible Dischargers, as defined in Attachment C (Glossary) of the Proposed General Permit Amendment are required to comply with applicable TMDL requirements. Below is a graphical representation of this definition, sourced from the State Water Board:
To accurately read the Amendment’s Attachment E, Table E.2, there are 3 key questions about an industrial site that will need to be answered:
Which impaired waterbody and/or tributary of impaired waterbody does my site directly discharge to?
What watershed is my site located in?
What pollutants does my site discharge?
Consequences of TNAL/NEL Exceedances
Exceedances of TNALs: Requires implementation of Exceedance Response Actions.
Exceedances of NELs: Are considered violations of the General Permit, are subject to Water Quality Based Corrective Actions, and, in some cases, Mandatory Minimum Penalties (MMPs) may be required to be assessed as detailed in Water Code section 13385.
Only NAL and TNAL exceedances trigger the Exceedance Response Action (ERA) process. The ERA process is not applicable to NEL exceedances.
Mandatory Minimum Penalties (MMPs):
MMPs apply to specific serious and chronic numeric effluent limitation violations of the Permit. MMPs of $3,000.00 are assessed by the Regional Water Boards for each:
Serious Violation: An industrial stormwater discharge parameter that exceeds an applicable NEL concentration two (2) or more times in a reporting year. See California Water Code Division 7 Section 13385(h) for more information. Serious Violations are assessed when:
A parameter exceeds an applicable NEL for a:
Group I Pollutant by 40% or more, or
Group II Pollutant by 20% or more; or
Failure to submit Ad Hoc Monitoring Reports from a Qualifying Storm Event within 30 days of receiving results.
Chronic Violation: An industrial stormwater discharge parameter exceeding an applicable NEL concentration four (4) or more times within a consecutive six (6) months.
Below is the permit violation process for an Instantaneous Maximum Exceedance in a Reporting Year:
Source: California State Water Board
Compliance Deadlines
The new requirements of the Permit will become effective on July 1, 2020.
Time Schedule Orders (TSO)
Responsible Dischargers may request a Time Schedule Order (TSO) for the Regional Water Board’s consideration when:
Additional time is necessary to comply with final TMDL-specific NELs*, and
The requester provides a detailed compliance time schedule of specific actions the Discharger will take to correct or prevent a violation of requirements and attain compliance with NELs following the requirements in the California Water Code Sections 13300 and 13385(j)(3).
It is recommended that Responsible Dischargers consider applying for a TSO if their historical sampling and analysis results have yielded average values above the applicable NEL values to which the Discharger will have to comply with beginning July 1st, 2020.
* It is important to note that TSOs are not applicable to NALs or TNAls, and that third-party citizen lawsuits may still occur when a TSO is in effect.
Alternative Compliance Options
The State Water Board has also approved two (2) compliance options in Attachment I of the Industrial General Permit that, if implemented with all criteria met, automatically deems a facility in compliance of the General Permit, including the Permit’s discharge prohibitions, Numeric Action Levels and Exceedance Response Action process, Effluent Limitations, and Receiving Water Limitations (i.e. TMDLs).
On-Site Compliance Option:
The On-Site Compliance Option states that a responsible discharger may implement on-site BMPs for the capture and use, infiltration, and/or evapotranspiration of stormwater. They may also instead include BMPs they capture and divert the required stormwater runoff volumes to a publicly owned sanitary sewer treatment without discharging into a municipal sewer system or receiving surface water body. These structural BMPs must meet the following criteria:
Effectively capture and use, infiltrate and/or evapotranspire the volume of runoff produced up to and during the 85th percentile 24-hour precipitation, including that of industrial stormwater and authorized non-storm water.
Designed to work for all areas associated with industrial activities and water sources (i.e. stormwater, run-off).
Be designed by a California licensed civil engineer with the ability to empty within 24 hours or with additional storage capacity beyond the standard to offset longer drawdown time.
The BMPs are properly maintained and frequently inspected.
Include a shut-off mechanism in the design and implementation of infiltration BMPs.
Meet Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) criteria from Table A of the Industrial General Permit for industrial pollutants at the facility in order to address possible groundwater contamination from the BMPs operation.
To follow the On-Site Compliance Option, a facility would also need to report the type of BMP with a description of its pretreatment system, a map with the BMP’s location along with its latitude and longitude, and bypass mechanisms. It is also a requirement to sample the influent entering the infiltration BMP(s) at least twice within the first half of the Reporting Year (July 1 – December 31), twice within the second half of the Reporting Year (January 1 – June 30), and report these results to SMARTS within 30 days.
Off-Site Compliance Option:
The Off-Site Compliance Option states that a responsible discharger may form a partnership, approved by the applicable Regional Water Board Executive Officer and local jurisdiction representatives, with a local jurisdiction or another discharger to implement an off-site stormwater capture and/or infiltration BMP. This option requires the following criteria:
Effectively capture and divert, infiltrate and/or evapotranspire the volume of runoff produced up to and during the 85th percentile 24-hour precipitation event based on precipitation data from local or historical precipitation data and records.
Authorized non-storm water and industrial stormwater is not to be discharged to a water of the United States or a water of the state before reaching the off-site BMP.
To follow the Off-Site Compliance Option, a facility would also need to comply with the same monitoring and records requirement of the on-site compliance option.
How Can KERAMIDA Help You?
KERAMIDA provides comprehensive environmental, health & safety, sustainability, remediation, and training services to clients worldwide.
Please call KERAMIDA today to speak with one of our professionals regarding your TMDL/TNAL/NEL applicability and/or compliance efforts. Call Jodie Crandell at (916) 202-3480 or Ron Hayes at (818) 626-8614.
Or contact us online for a quick response to any TMDL-related questions you may have. If your facility is applicable to the new TMDL provisions and is interested in submitting a Time Schedule Order (TSO) application to request extended time to comply before July 1, 2020, KERAMIDA is currently offering a suite of services and assistance.
Contact:
Jodie Crandell, QISP, QEP, TOR
Senior Project Manager
KERAMIDA Inc.
Contact Jodie at jcrandell@keramida.com.
