General Permits

(1) The Department may issue general permits that authorize one or more types of discharges and the construction, operation, and maintenance of associated treatment works by multiple dischargers who have properly applied for and obtained coverage under the appropriate general permit. General permits may require dischargers to also employ best management practices. (a) The Department may issue general permits to one or more categories or subcategories of dischargers whose discharges warrant similar control measures because the Department has determined that they: involve the same or similar types of operations; discharge the same types of wastes; require the same effluent limitations or operating conditions; require the same or similar monitoring requirements; and are more appropriately controlled under a general permit than under individual permits. (b) Based on the factors set forth in 314 CMR 5.13(1)(a), the Department may issue general permits for the construction, installation, modification, operation, and maintenance of certain PWTFs and POTWs that discharge less than 50,000 gallons per day of sewage. The Department may also issue general permits for additional discharges including, without limitation, the following: reject water from reverse osmosis facilities; boiler blowdown with chemical additives approved by the Department; carwashes; laundromats; wastewater from water purification plants and water treatment plant lagoons; and point source agricultural discharges. (2) The Department may limit the scope of a general permit to discharges within a particular geographic area, or exclude discharges in a specified geographic area from coverage under a general permit. (3) The Department may issue, modify or revoke a general permit in accordance with applicable provisions of 314 CMR 2.00: Permit Procedures and 5.00. The Department may make a minor modification of a general permit without following the procedures set forth in 314 CMR 2.00 to correct typographical errors. (4) Dischargers who previously obtained an individual permit and seek to be covered by a general permit in lieu of an individual permit, and proposed dischargers who seek to be covered by a general permit, shall submit to the Department a notice of intent requesting coverage under the general permit in accordance with the requirements of the appropriate general permit, 314 CMR 2.00: Permit Procedures and 5.00. A discharger who fails to submit a notice of intent in accordance with the terms of the general permit, 314 CMR 2.00 and 5.00, is not authorized to discharge under the general permit. In general, the filing of a complete and timely notice of intent fulfills the requirements for permit applications for purposes of 314 CMR 5.09A. (5) The Department will specify the contents of the notice of intent in the general permit and require the submission of information deemed necessary for the Department to adequately implement and oversee compliance with the general permit, including, at a minimum, the legal name and address of the owner or operator, the facility name and address, type of facility or discharge, and the location of the discharge. (6) The Department will specify in the general permit the deadlines for submitting notices of intent to be covered and the date(s) when a discharger is authorized to discharge under the general permit. (7) The Department will specify in the general permit whether a discharger that has submitted a complete and timely notice of intent, and is eligible for coverage under the general permit, is authorized to discharge in accordance with the general permit either: upon the receipt of the notice of intent by the Department; after a waiting period specified in the general permit; on a date specified in the general permit; or upon receipt of notification by the Department. (8) The Department may require any person seeking coverage under a general permit, or authorized to discharge under a general permit, to apply for and obtain an individual permit or an alternative general permit. Circumstances in which the Department may require an individual permit or an alternative general permit include, but are not limited to, the following: (a) The discharger is not in compliance with the terms and conditions of the general permit, or has not met the eligibility requirements for coverage under the general permit; (b) A change has occurred in the availability of demonstrated technology or practices for the control or abatement of pollutants applicable to the discharges covered by the general permit; (c) More specific effluent limitations are established for discharges than those covered by the general permit; (d) The Department, based on a Total Maximum Daily Load developed by the Department or otherwise, determines that: 1. The discharger is not appropriately or adequately controlled under the general permit; or 2. More stringent limits than those set forth in the general permit are necessary to protect the public health, safety, welfare or the environment, to achieve or maintain compliance with 314 CMR 4.00: Massachusetts Surface Water Quality Standards, or protect the ground water as an actual or potential source of potable water; (e) The discharger covered by the general permit is a significant contributor of pollutants to waters of the Commonwealth based on the location or quantity of the discharge or type of pollutants discharged; (f) The entity seeking coverage under the general permit has failed to provide sufficient information for the Department to determine that coverage under the general permit will adequately protect the public health, safety, welfare, and the environment; or (g) The Department determines that the treatment works authorized to discharge under the general permit: 1. No longer involves the same or substantially similar types of operations as the permittees granted coverage under the general permit; 2. No longer discharges the same types of wastes as the permittees granted coverage under the general permit; 3. No longer requires the same effluent limitations or operating conditions as the permittees granted coverage under the general permit; 4. No longer requires the same or similar monitoring as the permittees granted coverage under the general permit; or 5. Is more appropriately controlled under an individual permit. (9) In lieu of requiring a discharger covered or seeking coverage under a general permit to obtain an individual permit, the Department may direct such discharger to undertake additional control measures, best management practices or other actions to ensure compliance with the general permit, achieve or maintain compliance with 314 CMR 4.00: Massachusetts Surface Water Quality Standards, protect the use of the ground water as an actual or potential source of potable water, or protect the public health, safety, welfare, or the environment. The Department may also require the discharger to replace damaged monitoring wells, install additional monitoring wells, to monitor for additional parameters, or perform more frequent monitoring if it determines that such requirements are necessary to protect the public health, safety, welfare, or the environment. The Department may exercise its authority to require the discharger to take the above actions by requiring the discharger to request coverage under an alternative general permit, by taking an enforcement action against the discharger, or by other means. (10) Where the Department requires a discharger covered or seeking coverage under a general permit to apply for an individual permit or request coverage under an alternative general permit, the Department shall notify the permittee in writing that an individual permit or alternative general permit application is required as applicable. The Department's notification will include a brief statement of the reasons for the Department's action, the applicable form, a statement setting a deadline for the permittee to file the application for an individual permit or submit the notice of intent requesting coverage under the alternative general permit, and a statement that on the effective date of issuance or denial of the individual permit or alternative general permit as it applies to the particular permittee, coverage under the general permit shall automaticallycease. The Department may grant additional time to submit the application or notice of intent upon request of the applicant. If a permittee fails to submit an individual permit application or a notice of intent requesting coverage under a general permit within the deadline set forth in its notification, the effectiveness of the general permit as applied to the discharger may be terminated as follows: (a) For a permittee seeking renewal of coverage under a general permit the effectiveness of the general permit as applied to the discharger is automatically terminated at the end of general permit term; or (b) To terminate coverage prior to the end of the permit term, the Department may revoke the general permit coverage in accordance with 314 CMR 2.10: Modification, Suspension, Revocation and Renewal of Permits and General Permit Coverage. (11) At least 180 days prior to the expiration of a general permit, a permittee covered by a general permit shall file a notice of intent requesting continued coverage under the general permit, or file an application for an individual permit. If the facility is a POTW or a PWTF that discharges effluent as the result of the treatment of sewage only that has been in operation for 14 years or more, the Department may require the permittee to submit an engineering report that meets the requirements of 314 CMR 5.12(7) at least 180 days prior to the expiration of the permit so that the Department may determine whether the discharge may be adequately controlled under the general permit, or whether an individual permit or alternative general permit is required. (12) In the event that the Department does not reissue a general permit prior to its expiration date, the general permit will be administratively continued and remain in full force and effect as to any particular permittee as follows. The Department may grant coverage under the general permit to any person who submitted a notice of intent requesting coverage under the general permit prior to the expiration date of the permit. The Department may also grant coverage under a general permit to a person who submitted a notice of intent after the expiration of the permit while the permit is administrativelycontinued, if that person meets all other terms and conditions of the permit. Any permittee who was granted coverage prior to the expiration date, or as provided in 314 CMR 5.13(12), will automatically remain covered by the continued permit until the earlier of: (a) Reissuance of the general permit at which time the permittee shall comply with the conditions of the new permit to maintain its authorization to discharge; (b) The permittee's submittal of a written request to terminate general permit coverage to the Department, and the Department’s approval of the request; (c) The Department's issuance of an individual permit or an alternative general permit for the permittee's discharge; or (d) A formal permit decision by the Department not to reissue the general permit, at which time the permittee shall seek coverage under an alternative general permit or apply for an individual permit. (13) Any person who has been granted coverage under a general permit who thereafter seeks to use, sell, distribute or offer for use, sale, or distribution some or all of the effluent from the covered facility as reclaimed water in accordance with 314 CMR 20.00: Reclaimed Water Permit Program and Standards shall apply for an individual permit at least 180 days prior to the date that the use, sale, distribution or offering for sale, use or distribution of the effluent as reclaimed water is proposed to commence. The Department will not authorize the use, sale or distribution of the effluent from a treatment works as reclaimed water under a general permit.