Issuance and Effective Date of Permit, General Permit Coverage, or Other Determination and

Requests for Adjudicatory Hearings (1) After the conclusion of the public comment period provided in 314 CMR 2.06 or 2.07, the Department shall issue the permit or general permit coverage, or determination to deny the permit or general permit coverage. If no comments objecting to the issuance or terms of the permit or permit coverage were received by the Department during the public comment period, then the permit or permit coverage shall be effective upon issuance. If comments objecting to the issuance or the terms of the permit or general permit coverage were received by the Department during the public comment period, then the permit or general permit coverage shall become effective 30 days after issuance. (2) During the 30 day period following issuance of the permit, general permit coverage, or determination to deny, any person aggrieved by the issuance or the determination, except an applicant for or permittee with general groundwater discharge permit coverage, may file a request for an adjudicatory hearing relative thereto with the Department. The standing of a person to request a hearing, and the procedures for filing such request are governed by M.G.L. c. 30A and 310 CMR 1.01: Adjudicatory Proceeding Rules for the Department of Environmental Protection. Except in the case of a surface water discharge permit jointly issued with EPA, unless the person requesting the adjudicatory hearing requests and is granted a stay of the terms and conditions of the permit or general permit coverage, the permit or general permit coverage shall remain effective or become effective at the conclusion of the 30 day period. 2.08: continued (3) In the case of an individual surface water discharge permit jointly issued with EPA: (a) an uncontested permit authorizing a new discharge shall remain effective or become effective at the conclusion of the 30 day period following issuance of the permit, unless a later effective date is specifically provided; (b) for a permit authorizing a new discharge, which is contested in a request for an adjudicatory hearing, the effect of the permit shall be stayed pending the Commissioner's final decision on the permit. The Department shall notify the permit applicant and any other party to the adjudicatory appeal proceedings that a stay is in effect; and (c) for any other contested permit, the effect of the contested terms and conditions shall be stayed pending the Commissioner's final decision on the permit. The effect of uncontested terms and conditions that cannot be severed from the contested terms and conditions also shall be stayed. The Department shall notify the permittee and any other party to the adjudicatory hearing of the uncontested and severable terms and conditions of the permit, which will become fully effective enforceable obligations of the permit 30 days after the date of the notification, as well as of the stayed terms and conditions of the permit. (4) By submitting an application for general discharge permit coverage, the applicant or permittee waives any right to request an adjudicatory hearing relative to the Department's issuance or denial of the general permit coverage. Such applicants and permittees have the option instead to apply for an individual discharge permit, in which case, they would not waive any right to request an adjudicatory hearing relative to the Department's issuance of the individual permit or permit determination. (5) Any person, other than the permit applicant or permittee, who files a request for an adjudicatory hearing with the Department pursuant to 314 CMR 2.08(2) on an individual permit or general permit coverage, also shall simultaneously send a copy of the request by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the applicant or permittee. Any person who files a request for an adjudicatory hearing with the Department pursuant to 314 CMR 2.08(2) on a general permit also shall simultaneously send a copy of the request by certified mail, return receipt requested, to each permittee covered by the general permit. (6) In accordance with M.G.L. c. 21, § 45, any Department proposal to suspend or revoke a permit or general permit coverage, in whole or in part under 314 CMR 2.10, including any proposed reduction in an authorized discharge, shall inform the person(s) to whom it is issued of their right to request a hearing within 30 days after issuance of the Department's proposal under the provisions of M.G.L. c. 30A.