NCG010000_Smith-Gardner Comments_20240422

DocuSign Envelope ID: 3F45BA18-DD60-4B4A-8B89-B3CEF38FFFE3
SMITH GARDNER
ENGINEERS
April 22, 2024
ABBRESS TEL WEB
14 N. Boylan Avenue, Raleigh NC 27603 919.828.0577 www.smithgardnerinc.com
Mr. Paul Clark
Water Supply Watershed Protection Coordinator
Department of Environmental Quality
Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources Stormwater Program
1612 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699
RE: NCGol00oo Permit Renewal
Public Participation Period
Dear Mr. Clark:
Smith Gardner, Inc. (S+G) would like to provide commentary on the proposed changes to the
General Construction General Permit (NCG010000 Permit) which was issued by the North
Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) Division of Energy, Mineral, and
Land Resources (DEMLR) on April 1, 2019 and expired April 1, 2024 as it relates to the
Landfill Activities General Permit (NCG120000). Within Part I of the 2019 NCG0100000
Permit, the following statement was included:
"This permit shall not apply to land -disturbing activities that are covered under the
NC602OOOO (Mining Activities% permit or the NCG 120000 (Landfill Activities% permit.
Following issuance of the 2019 Permit, DEMLR released a statement on their website
stating:
"Please note that there is an error in the first paragraph if Part l - NCGO1O000 Permit
Coverage on Page 1 of 26, there it says "This permit shall not apply to land -disturbing
activities that are covered under... NCG12OOOO /Landfill Activities% permit." This Statement is
not accurate. Land disturbing activities at facilities with coverage under NCG 120000 are
normally subject to Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan requirements in conjunction,
require coverage under NCGO1OOOO, in addition to the industrial NPDES permit. The
NCGO1OOOO General Permit will be revised to correct the error upon next issuance. "
We would like for the Department to reconsider this response and allow landfill facilities,
which include landfill and soil borrow operations to transition to the NCG120000 (NCG12
Permit) following initial construction and site stabilization. This would require landfill
facilities to be designed in accordance with the North Carolina Sedimentation Pollution
Control Act of 1973 and construction activities to be constructed and monitored in
accordance with the NCG01 Permit requirements. Following construction, defined as (1) new
and/or expansion construction of landfill capacity, and (2) new and/or expansion construction
of on -site borrow areas, facility operations should be allowed to close out the NCG01 Permit
and transition to NCG12 Permit, upon stabilization of perimeter controls (all controls outside

DocuSign Envelope ID: 3F45BA18-DD60-4B4A-8B89-B3CEF38FFFE3
Mr. Paul Clark
April 22, 2024
Page 2of2
the limits of landfill and/or borrow area operations). This would allow landfill facilities to be
regulated similar to mine sites, which are monitored in accordance with NCG020000 and
remain exempt from the NCG01 Permit.
It is common for landfills to be developed and completed in "cells" or "phases", and
construction of these sites could take years/decades from initial to final construction.
Requiring a landfill to maintain both NCG01 and NCG12 monitoring requirements through
this duration is redundant and confusing.
S+G supports the continued regulating of all construction activities in accordance with the
NC1301 Permit, which would the support continued design and approval of erosion control
plans, as these are critical to the protection of the environment and ensuring compliance
with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) rules and regulations.
Upon approval, site construction should be implemented in accordance with the approved
permit and should be monitored and maintained in accordance with the requirements of the
NC1301 Permit. As the site transitions to operations, completed construction should be
closed out using a Notice of Termination (NOT) process once perimeter controls are stable.
Using this process, the landfill, once operational would provide qualitative and quantitative
monitoring in accordance with the NCG12 Permit, which is tailored specifically for landfill
operations and not construction.
S+G believes the current interpretation proposed in the revised 2024 NCG01 Permit extends
beyond the intent of the NPDES regulations. Providing a clear path to allow these facilities to
transition from construction to operation will provide a clear path for monitoring and
maintaining the site in compliance with NPDES. As such we request DEMLR reconsider their
current interpretation and provide a path to transition from construction to operations, while
eliminating redundancy between permits.
Sincerely,
SMITH GARDNER, INC.
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W. Michael Brinchek, P.E.
Vice President/Senior Project Manager
mike(asmithgardnerinc.com
EDocuSigned by:
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Matthew . ones E.I.
Staff Engineer
mac(asmithgardnerinc.com