NCG210000_Draft Permit Fact Sheet to Public Notice_20230417

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
DIVISION OF ENERGY, MINERAL,AND LAND RESOURCES
FACT SHEET
GENERAL PERMIT NCG210000
NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM
PERMIT TO DISCHARGE STORMWATER
2023 — 2028 Permit Term
1. TYPES OF DISCHARGES COVERED
a. Industrial Activities Covered by this General Permit
This permit applies to all owners or operators,hereafter permittees,which are covered by this
permit as evidenced by receipt of a Certificate of Coverage (COC) by the Environmental
Management Commission to allow the discharge of stormwater to the surface waters of North
Carolina or to a separate storm sewer system conveying discharges to surface waters,from
lumber and wood products (excluding furniture) facilities [SIC 24] including wood chip mills,in
accordance with the terms and conditions set forth herein.
Coverage under this General Permit is applicable to:
• Stormwater point source discharges associated with activities classified Lumber and
Wood Products,Except Furniture [Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)24],including
Wood Chip Mills.
• Stormwater point source discharges from like industrial activities deemed by DEMLR to
be similar to these operations in the process,or the discharges,or the exposure of raw
materials,intermediate products,by-products,final products,or waste products.
Coverage under this General Permit is not applicable to:
• Logging [SIC 2411] or manufacturing Wood Kitchen Cabinets [SIC 2434]; or Wood
Preserving [SIC 2491].
b. Types of Industrial Operations Covered
The industrial activities covered under this General Permit include facilities sch as sawmills and
planing mills,hardwood dimension and flooring mills,shingle mills,cooperage stock mills,
millwork operations,veneer mills,and plywood mills engaged in producing lumber and wood
basic materials;and establishments engaged in manufacturing finished articles made entirely or
mainly of wood or related material,such as wood containers,wood pallets,mobile homes
prefabricated wood buildings,and reconstituted wood products.
The logging industry, SIC 2411,is exempt from permitting as set forth in 40 CFR 122.27 and is not
eligible for coverage under this permit.
When viewed as a class,many of the facilities in this General Permit typically conduct their
activities outdoors. The activities at these facilities that can contribute to stormwater pollution
include storage of raw materials,intermediate products,final products,by-products,waste
products,or chemicals outside; loading and unloading chemicals or hazardous substances,the use
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of un-housed manufacturing and heavy equipment;generation of significant amounts of dust or
particulate; and raw material and chemical spillage or leaks.
c. Characteristics of Discharged Stormwater
DEQ Regional Office staff inspections have identified problems at facilities in the SIC 24 category
particularly at sites with large sawdust piles or mulch piles. Documented cases of oxygen
consuming pollutants,suspended solids content,low pH,metals toxicity,and dissolved solids
have been associated with surface water quality standards violations'. In addition,historical TSS
and Biochemical Oxygen Demand [BODS] data reported by wood chip mills under General Permit
NCG220000 suggest that elevated levels of pollutant in the stormwater discharge can expected
from facilities that have wood chipping operations. Chip mills have been covered under this GP
since 2011.
The Division continues to consider whether leachate from accumulations of small sized woody
materials,such as mulch piles or sawdust piles should be permitted as stormwater or
wastewater. If it is considered wastewater,the leachate discharge may be more appropriate
covered under General Permit NCG2400000 Compost Facilities which has a wastewater
component.
Despite the potential for high absolute concentrations of pollutants in lumber and chip mill type
site discharges,two aspects of the discharges may serve to moderate the impact on receiving
waters. First,discharges are typically associated with rain events. This means that the delivery
of pollutants is not typically continuous,and that receiving waters may have the benefit of
increased flows and increased pollutant dilution at the time of discharge. Second,industry
representatives report that for many sites,and under good conditions,small rain events may be
substantially absorbed by the materials (lumber,chip piles,etc),reducing the discharge volume.
These moderating factors are site specific,and the degree of the impact of the moderating factors
has not been quantifiable.
The draft renewal permit requires baseline sampling of all stormwater discharge outfalls and/or
authorized representative discharge outfalls in accordance with this part.
(a) Grab samples shall be collected,analyzed,and reported for the following parameters:
Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD),and Non-Polar Oil and
Grease. Non-Polar Oil and Grease is only monitored for vehicle or equipment
maintenance areas in which more than 55 Gallons of motor oil and/or hydraulic oil is
used per month.
(b) The total rainfall amount for each sampling event shall be recorded in inches. Total
rainfall shall be determined from an on-site rain gauge, or a regional rain gauge located
within one (1) mile of the facility.
(c) Samples shall be collected from four separate monitoring periods per year unless the
facility is in Tier Two or Tier Three status. A minimum of thirty(30) days must
separate sampling events:
• January 1 -March 31
• April 1 -June 30
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NCG210000 Fact Sheet- NC 2023-2028 Permit Term
• July 1 -September 30,and
• October 1 -December 31.
d. GeographicArea(s) Covered by this General Permit
Discharges covered by this general permit are located at any place within the political boundary
of the State of North Carolina. Discharges located on the Cherokee Indian Tribal Reservation are
subject to permitting by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and are not covered by this
general permit.
e. Receiving Waters
Receiving waters include all surface waters of North Carolina or municipal separate storm sewer
systems conveying stormwater to surface waters.
2. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
(a) Deadlines for Submittal of Discharge Monitoring Reports
Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs) shall be submitted in accordance with quarterly
monitoring. For COCs issued between March 1-31,June 1-30, September 1-30 or Dec 1-31,
sampling shall not commence until the next sampling period following initial issuance of the
COC.
(b) Submittal Process before electronic DMR(eDMR)
Prior to eDMR,samples analyzed in accordance with the terms of this General Permit shall
be reported as follows:
i. Sample results shall be recorded on DMR forms provided by the Director. DMR
forms are available on the DEMLR's website
https:lldeq.nc.govlabout/divisions/energy-mineral-land-resources lnpdes-
industrial-stormwater.)
ii. DMRs shall be signed and certified by a person meeting the Signatory requirements
in H-1 of the NCG210000 permit.
iii. Original,signed DMR forms shall be scanned and uploaded to the eDMR submittal
form,which can be found by typing"deq.nc.gov/SW-Industrial"into a browser
window and hitting"enter."
iv. Then,the original signed DMR Forms shall be mailed or otherwise delivered to the
appropriate Regional Office,which is indicated at the following:
https://deq.nc.gov/contact/regional-offices/.
(c) Submittal Process after electronic DMR(eDMR)
Unless otherwise informed by the Director,permittees are required to register for eDMR
within 30 days of the Certificate of Coverage issuance date. Permittees shall follow the
guidelines for submitting data that are set forth in the Stormwater eDMR User Manual,
available on the Division's website at deq.nc.gov/SW-eDMR. Information about eDMR can
be found by typing"https:[/deq.nc.gov/deq.nc.gov/sw-edmr" into a browser window and
hitting"enter." Until a permittee is registered in eDMR,they shall continue to submit DMRs
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using the DMR Upload Form to upload scanned DMRs and mail original signed DMRs to the
appropriate Regional Office.
(d) Qualitative Monitoring Reports
The permittee shall record the required qualitative monitoring observations on the
Stormwater Discharge Outfall (SDO) Qualitative Monitoring Report form provided by
DEMLR and shall retain the completed forms on site. Qualitative monitoring results shall
not be submitted to DEMLR, except upon DEMLR's specific requirement to do so.Qualitative
Monitoring Report forms are available on DEMLR's website.
https://deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/energy-mineral-and-land-
resources/stormwater/stormwater-pro gram/npdes-industrial-program/general-
industrial-permits. Please note that permittees may use their own forms to record
qualitative monitoring results as long as they include all required items.
3. COMPLIANCE SCHEDULE
The compliance schedule in Part I, Section I-1 advises that the permittee comply with Limitations
and Controls specified for stormwater discharges in accordance with the following schedule:
• Existing Facilities already operating but applying for permit coverage for the first
time: The Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) shall be developed and
implemented within 12 months of the effective date of the COC and updated thereafter on an
annual basis. Secondary containment,as specified in Part B,Section B-8 of this general
permit,shall be accomplished within 12 months of the effective date of the issuance of the
COC.
• New Facilities applying for coverage for the first time: The SWPPP shall be developed
and implemented prior to the beginning of discharges from the operation of the industrial
activity and shall be updated thereafter on an annual basis. Secondary containment,as
specified in Part B,Section B-8 of this general permit,shall be accomplished prior to the
beginning of discharges from the operation of the industrial activity.
• Existing facilities previously permitted and applying for renewal under this General
Permit: All requirements,conditions,limitations,and controls contained in this permit
(except new SWPPP elements in this permit renewal) shall become effective immediately
upon issuance of the COC. New elements of the SWPPP for this permit renewal shall be
developed and implemented within six months of the effective date of this general permit
and updated thereafter on an annual basis. Secondary containment,as specified in Part B,
Section B-8 of this general permit,shall be accomplished prior to the beginning of discharges
from the operation of the industrial activity.
4. BASIS FOR CONTROLS AND LIMITATIONS
a. Stormwater Discharges
The conditions of this general permit have been designed using best professional judgment to
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achieve water quality protection through compliance with the technology-based standards of the
Clean Water Act(Best Available Technology [BAT] and Best Conventional Pollutant Control
Technology[BCT]). Where the Director determines that a water quality violation has occurred
and water quality-based controls or effluent limitations are required to protect the receiving
waters,coverage under the general permit shall be terminated and an individual permit will be
required. Based on a consideration of the appropriate factors for BAT and BCT requirements,and
a consideration of the factors discussed below in this fact sheet for controlling pollutants in
stormwater discharges associated with the activities as described in Item 1 (Types of Discharge
Covered),this permit retains a set of requirements for developing and implementing SWPPPs,
and specific requirements for monitoring and reporting on stormwater discharges.
The permit conditions reflect the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) and North Carolina's
pollution prevention approach to stormwater permitting. The quality of the stormwater
discharge associated with an industrial activity will depend on the availability of pollutant
sources. This renewal permit still reflects DEMLR's position that implementation of Best
Management Practices (BMPs) and traditional stormwater management practices which control
the source of pollutants meets the definition of BAT and BCT. The permit conditions are not
numeric effluent limitations,but rather are designed to be flexible requirements for developing
and implementing site specific plans to minimize and control pollutants in the stormwater
discharges associated with the industrial activity.
Title 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 122.44(k)(2) authorizes the use of BMPs in lieu of
numeric effluent limitations in NPDES permits when the agency finds numeric effluent limitations
to be infeasible. The agency may also impose BMP requirements which are "reasonably
necessary"to carry out the purposes of the Act under the authority of 40 CFR 122.44(k)(3). The
conditions of the renewal permit are retained under the authority of both of these regulatory
provisions. The pollution prevention requirements (BMP requirements) in this permit operate as
limitations on effluent discharges that reflect the application of BAT/BCT. The basis is that the
BMPs identified require the use of source control technologies which,in the context of these
general permits,are the best available of the technologies economically achievable (or the
equivalent BCT finding).
All facilities covered by this general permit must prepare,retain,implement,and (at a minimum
of annually) update a SWPPP. The term"pollution prevention" distinguishes this source
reduction approach from traditional pollution control measures that typically rely on end-of-pipe
treatment to remove pollutants in the discharges. The plan requirements are based primarily on
traditional stormwater management,pollution prevention and BMP concepts,providing a flexible
basis for developing site-specific measures to minimize and control the amounts of pollutants
that would otherwise contaminate the stormwater runoff.
The pollution prevention approach adopted in the SWPPP in this renewal permit still focuses on
two major objectives: 1)to identify sources of pollution potentially affecting the quality of
stormwater discharges associated with industrial activity from the facility; and 2)to describe and
ensure that practices are implemented to minimize and control pollutants in stormwater
discharges associated with industrial activity from the facility and to ensure compliance with the
terms and conditions of the permit.
DEMLR believes that it is not appropriate at this time to require a single set of effluent limitations
or a single design or operational standard for all facilities which discharge stormwater associated
with industrial activity. This permit instead establishes a framework for the development and
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implementation of a site-specific SWPPP. This framework provides the necessary flexibility to
address the variable risk for pollutants in stormwater discharges associated with the industrial
activities that are addressed by this permit,while ensuring procedures to prevent stormwater
pollution at a given facility are appropriate given the processes employed,engineering aspects,
functions,costs of controls,location,and age of facility(as discussed in 40 CFR 125.3). This
approach allows flexibility to establish controls which can appropriately address different
sources of pollutants at different facilities.
Basis for coverage: The federal NPDES program rules at 40CFR122.26(b)(14) specifically define
the industrial activities that are subject to regulation for storm water discharges associated with
industrial activity. These rules at 40CFR122.26(b)(14)(ii) and (xi) capture SIC Major Group 24.
Lumber and Wood Products, Except Furniture,but including chip mills is listed industrial activity
in SIC 24 and is subject to NPDES stormwater permitting. The General Permit covers all on-site
activities and features associated with Lumber and Wood Products,Except Furniture,but
including chip mills manufacturing activity. Also covered are stormwater runoff flows from on-
site vehicle and equipment maintenance areas.
b. Storm water Benchmarks
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD): Benchmark for COD is equal to 120 mg/1 (not applicable to
vehicle maintenance area discharges),consistent with all other General Permits employing COD.
COD is one measure of organic pollutants in stormwater and is generally found at levels three to
five times the BODS levels in domestic wastewater. NCDEQ has selected a multiplier of four in
comparison to the standard BODS benchmark of 30 mg/l. DEQ standard BODS benchmark is
based on the Secondary Treatment Regulations specified in Code of Federal Regulations,40 CFR
133. The regulation defines the minimum level of effluent quality attainable by secondary
wastewater treatment as 30 mg/l. There has been no change to this benchmark since 2008
permit.
Total Suspended Solids (TSS) Benchmark for TSS is equal to 100 mg/1 (applicable to vehicle
maintenance area discharges) and is based on the median concertation derived from the National
Urban Runoff Program (NURP) study in 1983 and serves as a benchmark in most other industrial
stormwater permits with TSS monitoring. The lower TSS benchmark for ORW, HQW,trout,and
Primary Nursery Area (PNA) waters of 50 mg/1 reflects half that standard value and was set to
flag potential problems in discharges to waters with much lower TSS water quality standards (20
mg/1 for HQW and ORW, 10 mg/1 for trout and PNA). There has been no change to this
benchmark since 2008 permit.
Non Polar Oil&grease (by EPA Method 1664 (SGT-HEM)J: Benchmark for Non Polar Oil and
Grease is equal to 15 mg/1 (applicable to vehicle maintenance areas) is consistent with other
States'benchmarks and/or limits for total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and reflects a value
normally only associated with significant oil contamination. Specifying EPA Method 1664 with
the silica gel treatment step (SGT-HEM) in the permit ensures a cost-effective way to estimate
TPH (as opposed to gas chromatographic analysis)
5. REQUESTED VARIANCES OR ALTERNATIVES TO REQUIRED STANDARDS
There are no requested variances or alternatives to required standards. Facilities requesting
variances to required standards will not be covered under this General Permit but will instead be
required to seek coverage under an individual permit.
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6. THE ADMINISTRATIVE RECORD
The administrative record,including application,draft permits,fact sheet,public notice,
comments received,and additional information is available by writing to:
Stormwater Program
Division of Energy,Mineral,and Land Resources (DEMLR)
1612 Mail Service Center
Raleigh,North Carolina 27699-1612
Electronic copies of the documents listed above are available on our Laserfiche online repository,
or by emailing [e-mail].
7. STATE CONTACT
Additional information about the renewal permit may be obtained between the hours of 8:00 AM
and 5:00 PM Monday through Friday by contacting Brittany Cook at [e-mail].
8. SCHEDULE OF PERMIT ISSUANCE
Draft Permit Public Notice- Statewide Notice to publish:April 17, 2023
Draft available on-line:April 17, 2023
Comment Period Ends: May 17, 2023
Permit Scheduled to Issue- No later than: June 1, 2023
Effective: June 1, 2023
10 PROCEDURES FOR THE FORMULATION OF FINAL DETERMINATIONS
a. Comment Period
DEMLR proposes to issue an NPDES General Permit for the above described stormwater
discharges. These determinations are open to comment from the public.
Interested persons are invited to submit written comments on the renewal permit or on DEMLR's
proposed determinations to the following address:
Stormwater Program
Division of Energy,Mineral,and Land Resources
Attn: Brittany Cook
1612 Mail Service Center
Raleigh,North Carolina 27699-1612
OR: [e-mail]
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All comments received within thirty(30) days following the date of public notice are considered
in the formulation of final determinations.
b. Public Meeting
The Director may hold a public meeting if there is a significant degree of public interest in a
proposed permit or group of permits. Public notice of such a meeting will be circulated in
newspapers in the geographical area of the discharge and to those on the DEMLR's mailing list at
least thirty (30) days prior to the meeting.
c. Appeal Hearing
An applicant whose permit is denied, or is granted subject to conditions they deem unacceptable,
shall have the right to a hearing before the Commission upon making written demand to the
Office of Administrative Hearing(OAH) within 30 days following issuance or denial of the permit.
d. Issuance of a Permit When no Hearing is Held
If no public meeting or appeal hearing is held,after review of the comments received,and if the
DEMLR's determinations are substantially unchanged,the permit will be issued and become
effective on the first day of the month following the issuance date.This will be the final action of
DEMLR.
If a public meeting or appeal hearing is not held,but there have been substantial changes,public
notice of DEMLR's revised determinations will be made. Following a 30-day comment period,the
permit will be issued and will become effective on the first day of the month following the
issuance date.This will be the final action of DEMLR unless a public meeting or appeal hearing is
grant
'Scott Sawmill Case (Yadkin County,WSRO). Sawdust pile leachate resulted in impacts to stream
and 2/5/2007 NOV with recommendations for enforcement action for Removal of Use and Oils,
deleterious substances, colored or other wastes.
Mulch Master facility under NCG210366 (Wake County,RRO): 5/14/2004 DWQ samples
recorded BODS levels of 3000 MG/L in mulch pile leachate and 290 mg/1 instream about 100
yards for the discharge from this site. Facility has since relocated to Warren County.
Carolina Bark facility under NCG210360 (Northampton Co.,RRO): 10/2003 DWQ sample
recorded pH of 3.2. Further sampling in March 2008 suggested aluminum toxicity. Significant
removal of use impacts in the adjoining receiving water.
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