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National Pollution Discharge Elimination System Permitting (NPDES)

In 1987, Congress amended the Federal Pollution Control Act (also known as the Clean Water Act, or CWA) to require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a tiered program to regulate storm water discharges under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program (NPDES) program. The EPA began that process in November 1990 by publishing industrial and municipal storm water regulations.

EPA introduced its long-term permitting strategy for storm water discharges in the preamble of the November 1990 regulations. A four-tier process for regulating industry was proposed:

Tier I - Base line General Permitting - One or more general permits will be developed to initially cover the majority of storm water discharges associated with industrial activity.

Tier II -Watershed Permitting - Facilities within watershed shown to be adversely impacted by storm water discharges associated with industrial activity will be targeted for individual of watershed-specific general permits.

Tier III -Multi-Sector or Specific Industry Permitting - Specific industry categories will be targeted for individual or industry-specific general permits

Tier IV -Facility-Specific Permitting - A variety of factors will be used to target specific facilities for individual permits.

The November 1990 regulations also defined application requirements for the NPDES program and industries required to obtain Baseline Industrial General Permits under Tier I. Since 1990, a number of changes have taken place that effect aggregate facilities.

In 1992, the EPA amended permit issuance deadlines. In addition, the EPA noted that it would no longer be requiring permit applications for construction activities less than five acres until application requirements were established by regulation.

The regulations were amended again in 1995. The amendments eliminated the exemption for construction activities that were less than five acres. This led to many smaller aggregate facilities applying for NPDES permits. Applications for subject facilities must be submitted by August 7, 2001.

The most recent amendment affecting the aggregates industry was promulgated on August 30, 1998. This amendment provided final notice of modifications to EPA’s NPDES Storm Water Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP), Tier III. The MSGPs will replace the baseline permits that expired in 1997. However, not all areas that were covered under the baseline permit will be covered under the MSGP, and the baseline permit will be reissued for those areas. Further, there are a few areas that will not be covered by either permit and will need to obtain individual permits. A explanation of areas regulated by the different permits is given in the background section of the Federal Register Volume 63, page 52431 (63 FR 52431 I. Background). The advantage of the MSGP is that it provides approved, industry specific requirements for monitoring, standards, and inspections. The following table summarizes the MSGP and Baseline Permit requirements for the aggregate industry.

Mineral Mining and Processing Facilities Sector
MonitoringBaseline Does not impose any monitoring on these types of facilities unless they are EPCRA 313 facilities.
MSGP Dimension stone, crushed stone, and nonmetallic minerals except fuels mining and processing facilities must collect grab samples for TSS during the second and fourth years of permit coverage.
Sand and gravel mining and processing facilities must collect quarterly grab samples for TSS and nitrate + nitrite nitrogen during the second and fourth years of permit coverage.
All facilities must conduct quarterly visual examinations of storm water discharges unless inactive and unstaffed.
MSGP sector-specific SWPPP considerations Site map must indicate monitoring points.
Assess the applicability of certain BMPs commonly used at such mining sites.
Sediment and erosion control BMPs must be planned for new activities and implemented for existing activities.
Performance standards/limits Numeric effluent limitations for mine dewatering discharges in EPA Regions I, II, VI, X and Arizona established under 40 CFR Part 436 are included:
  • TSS daily maximum = 45 mg/L.
  • TSS 30 day average = 25 mg/L.
  • pH within range of 6.0 to 9.0.
Inspections   Quarterly visual inspections of all BMPs for active mines.
Annual inspections for inactive mines.
Annual comprehensive site compliance evaluation for active sites.
Once every three years comprehensive site compliance evaluation for inactive site.

For more information regarding NPDES Permitting from EPA visit http://www.epa.gov/ebtpages/watewastewnationalpollutantdischargee.html or http://www.epa.gov/owmitnet/.

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