R 323.2210
R 323.2210 Items permitted to be discharged without permit.
Cite as Mich. Admin. Code R 323.2210
Rule 2210. A person may discharge the following without a permit that would otherwise
be required by part 31 if the discharge meets the requirements of R 323.2204:
(a) Sanitary sewage in either of the following circumstances if the sanitary sewage is not
mixed with other waste:
(i) The discharge is less than 1,000 gallons per day and the disposal system is approved
by the county, district, or city health department that has jurisdiction in accordance with
either the requirements of the local sanitary code or the provisions of the publication
entitled “Michigan Criteria for Subsurface Sewage Disposal,” April 1994. Copies of the
publication may be obtained without charge at the time of adoption of these rules from the
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Drinking Water and Radiological
Protection Division, P.O. Box 30630, Lansing, Michigan 48909.
(ii) The discharge is less than 6,000 gallons per day, the disposal system is designed and
constructed in accordance with the provisions of the publication entitled “Michigan Criteria
for Subsurface Sewage Disposal,” April 1994, and the system is approved by the county,
district, or city health department that has jurisdiction. Copies of the publication may be
obtained without charge at the time of adoption of these rules from the Michigan
Department of Environmental Quality, Drinking Water and Radiological Protection
Division, P.O. Box 30630, Lansing, Michigan 48909.
(b) Controlled application of any of the following:
(i) An authorized substance to suppress dust. The following are authorized substances:
(A) Water.
(B) Calcium chloride.
(C) Lignosulfate products.
(D) Emulsified asphalt or resin stabilizers.
(E) Vegetable by-products.
(ii) A deicing substance.
(iii) A substance for a natural resource or right-of-way maintenance program.
(iv) A substance for a domestic activity.
(v) A commercially manufactured pesticide or fertilizer for its intended use.
(c) Stormwater, other than from a secondary containment facility, when discharged
through surface infiltration.
(d) Stormwater from a secondary containment facility that does not contain leaks or spills
if the stormwater is inspected to ensure it meets the standards established in R 323.2222.
(e) Water from a well used temporarily for dewatering at a construction
site if the water pumped does not create a site of environmental contamination under part
201.
(f) A discharge from an animal feeding operation that has less than 5,000 animal units if
the discharge is determined by the director of the department of agriculture or his or her
designated representative, to be in accordance with generally accepted agricultural and
management practices, as defined in Act No.93 of the Public Acts of 1981, as amended,
being §§286.471 to 286.474 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, and known as the Michigan
right to farm act. For purposes of this rule, 5,000 animal units is equal to 5,000 head of
slaughter or feeder cattle, 3,500 mature dairy cattle, 12,500 swine weighing more than 25
kilograms or approximately 55 pounds, 50,000 sheep or lambs, 2,500 horses, 275,000
turkeys, 150,000 laying hens or broilers, or 25,000 ducks. An animal feeding operation is
a lot or facility, or series of lots or facilities under 1 ownership which are adjacent to one
another or which use a common area or system for the disposal of wastes, that meets both
of the following conditions:
(i) Animals, other than aquatic animals, have been, are, or will be stabled or confined and
fed or maintained for a total of 45 calendar days or more in any 12-month period.
(ii) Crops, vegetation, forage growth, or postharvest residues are not sustained in the
normal growing season over the portion of the lot or facility where animals are confined.
(g) Less than 50 gallons of wastewater per day from a commercial animal care facility.
(h) Observation or monitoring well development or evacuation water.
(i) Potable water used for a domestic or domestic equivalent activities other than sanitary
sewage disposal.
(j) Step test or pump test water from any of the following:
(i) A potable well or well used to develop a potable water supply.
(ii) A well producing water that meets state or federal criteria for use as potable water.
(iii) A test well where the quality of the test well discharge water is equal to or better than
the background groundwater quality of the aquifer receiving the discharge.
(k) Exfiltration from sanitary sewer collection systems.
(l) Wastewater from a heat pump that has a heat exchange capacity of 300,000 Btu per
hour or less if there is no chemical additive to the system.
(m) Wastewater from a portable power washer when used in either of the following
circumstances:
(i) By the occupant of a household for washing buildings, vehicles, or other surfaces
associated with the domestic occupation of the household.
(ii) By a commercial operator or in a commercial or industrial setting to remove
nonpolluting substances from vehicles or surfaces when no additives are used and the
washing process does not add significant pollutants to the water.
(n) Swimming pool drainage and backwash water discharged in accordance with sections
12521 to 12534 of Act No. 368 of the Public Acts of 1978, as amended, being §§333.12521
to 333.12534 of the Michigan Compiled Laws.
(o) Water treatment filter backwash water if disposal is in accordance with plans and
specifications approved by the department under Act No. 399 of the Public Acts of 1976,
as amended, being §325.1001 et seq. of the Michigan Compiled Laws, and known as the
safe drinking water act.
(p) Carpet cleaning wastewater discharged by a noncommercial operator or by a
commercial operator at a site receiving wastewater from not more than 1 location where
carpet cleaning has occurred.
(q) Less than 10,000 gallons per day of noncontact cooling water that does not contain
additives if the source of the cooling water is any of the following:
(i) A municipal water supply.
(ii) A water supply meeting state or federal criteria for use as potable water.
(iii) Another source of water meeting the standards of R 323.2222.
(iv) Another source approved by the department.
(r) Land application of process sludge from a wastewater treatment facility treating
sanitary sewage when applied in accordance with applicable state and federal law.
(s) Land application of process sludge from an industrial or commercial wastewater
treatment facility when authorized under R 299.4101 to R 299.4922, the administrative
rules implementing part 115.
(t) Placement of other solid waste on the ground when authorized under part 115. This
provision does not apply to the disposal of wastewater generated through the operation of
a facility licensed under part 115.
(u) Wastewater associated with an environmental response activity described in any of
the following paragraphs if the discharge is to the plume of groundwater contamination,
including an area 100 feet hydraulically upgradient of the edge of the plume, and any
additive used in the treatment process that is not part of the contamination plume meets the
standards of R 323.2222:
(i) A pump test discharge that does not change the physical dimensions of the plume in
groundwater or, if the dimensions are changed, the changes are accounted for in the design
of the final groundwater remediation plan.
(ii) A remedial investigation, feasibility study, or remedial action discharge that is at or
below the residential criteria authorized by section 20101a(1)(a) of the act, if applicable,
or section 21304(a) of the act, if applicable.
(iii) A discharge for a remedial investigation, feasibility study, or remedial action above
the residential criteria authorized by section 20101a(1)(a) of the act, if applicable, or
section 21304(a) of the act, if applicable, if a remediation investigation, feasibility study,
or remediation plan has been approved by the department division that has compliance
oversight. The remediation plan shall indicate that the treatment system is designed and
will be operated so that contaminated groundwater will eventually meet the appropriate
land use-based cleanup criteria authorized by section 20120a(1)(a) to (d) of the act, if
applicable, or section 21304(a) of the act, if applicable.
(v) Precipitation and snow melt drainage off vehicles discharged through a general
purpose floor drain in a parking structure in which maintenance activities do not occur.
(w) A discharge that has been specifically authorized by the department under a permit if
the permit was not issued under this part.
(x) A discharge that occurs as the result of placing waste materials on the ground in
compliance with a designation of inertness issued under part 115 or leaving contaminated
materials in place in compliance with part 201 or 213.
(y) A discharge that has been determined by the department to have an insignificant
potential to be injurious based on volume and constituents. In making the determination,
the department shall follow the public notice and comment procedures of R 323.2117 and
R 323.2119. The department may establish criteria, limitations, or conditions applicable to
the discharge to ensure that it meets the terms of this subdivision.