Section 800. Pretreatment program requirements: development and implementation by POTW

A. POTWs required to develop a pretreatment program. Any POTW (or combination of POTWs operated by the same authority) with a total design flow greater than five million gallons per day (mgd) and receiving from industrial users pollutants which pass through or interfere with the operation of the POTW or are otherwise subject to pretreatment standards will be required to establish a POTW pretreatment program unless the director exercises his or her option to assume local responsibilities. The regional administrator or director may require that a POTW with a design flow of five mgd or less develop a POTW pretreatment program if he finds that the nature or volume of the industrial influent, treatment process upsets, violations of POTW effluent limitations, contamination of municipal sludge, violations of water quality standards, or other circumstances warrant in order to prevent interference with the POTW or pass through.

B. Deadline for program approval. POTWs identified as being required to develop a POTW pretreatment program under subsection A of this section shall develop and submit such a program for approval as soon as possible, but in no case later than one year after written notification from the director of such identification. The approved program shall be in operation within two years of the effective date of the permit. The POTW pretreatment program shall meet the criteria set forth in subsection F of this section and shall be administered by the POTW to ensure compliance by industrial users with applicable pretreatment standards and requirements.

C. Incorporation of approved programs in permits. A POTW may develop an appropriate POTW pretreatment program any time before the time limit set forth in subsection B of this section. The POTW's VPDES permit will be reissued or modified to incorporate the approved program as enforceable conditions of the permit. The modification of a POTW's VPDES permit for the purposes of incorporating a POTW pretreatment program approved in accordance with the procedures in 9VAC25-31-830 shall be deemed a minor permit modification subject to the procedures in 9VAC25-31-400.

D. Incorporation of compliance schedules in permits. (Reserved.)

E. Cause for revocation and reissuance or modification of permits. Under the authority of the law and § 402 (b)(1)(C) of the CWA, the director may modify, or alternatively, revoke and reissue a POTW's permit in order to:

1. Put the POTW on a compliance schedule for the development of a POTW pretreatment program where the addition of pollutants into a POTW by an industrial user or combination of industrial users presents a substantial hazard to the functioning of the treatment works, quality of the receiving waters, human health, or the environment;

2. Coordinate the issuance of § 201 construction grant with the incorporation into a permit of a compliance schedule for POTW pretreatment program;

3. Incorporate a modification of the permit approved under § 301(h) or § 301(i) of the CWA;

4. Incorporate an approved POTW pretreatment program in the POTW permit;

5. Incorporate a compliance schedule for the development of a POTW pretreatment program in the POTW permit; or

6. Incorporate the removal credits (established under 9VAC25-31-790) in the POTW permit.

F. POTW pretreatment requirements. A POTW pretreatment program must be based on the following legal authority and include the following procedures. These authorities and procedures shall at all times be fully and effectively exercised and implemented.

1. Legal authority. The POTW shall operate pursuant to legal authority enforceable in federal, state or local courts, which authorizes or enables the POTW to apply and to enforce the requirements of §§ 307(b), (c) and (d), and 402(b)(8) of the CWA and any regulations implementing those sections. Such authority may be contained in a statute or ordinances which the POTW is authorized to enact, enter into or implement, and which are authorized by state law. At a minimum, this legal authority shall enable the POTW to:

a. Deny or condition new or increased contributions of pollutants, or changes in the nature of pollutants, to the POTW by industrial users where such contributions do not meet applicable pretreatment standards and requirements or where such contributions would cause the POTW to violate its VPDES permit.

b. Require compliance with applicable pretreatment standards and requirements by industrial users.

c. Control through permit, or order the contribution to the POTW by each industrial user to ensure compliance with applicable pretreatment standards and requirements. In the case of industrial users identified as significant under 9VAC25-31-10, this control shall be achieved through individual permits or equivalent individual control mechanisms issued to each such user except as follows:

(1)(a) At the discretion of the POTW, this control may include use of general control mechanisms if the following conditions are met. All of the facilities to be covered must:

(i) Involve the same or substantially similar types of operations;

(ii) Discharge the same types of wastes;

(iii) Require the same effluent limitations;

(iv) Require the same or similar monitoring; and

(v) In the opinion of the POTW, be more appropriately controlled under a general control mechanism than under individual control mechanisms.

(b) To be covered by the general control mechanism, the significant industrial user must file a written request for coverage that identifies its contact information, production processes, the types of wastes generated, the location for monitoring all wastes covered by the general control mechanism, any requests in accordance with 9VAC25-31-840 E 2 for a monitoring waiver for a pollutant neither present nor expected to be present in the discharge, and any other information the POTW deems appropriate. A monitoring waiver for a pollutant neither present nor expected to be present in the discharge is not effective in the general control mechanism until after the POTW has provided written notice to the significant industrial user that such a waiver request has been granted in accordance with 9VAC25-31-840 E 2. The POTW must retain a copy of the general control mechanism, documentation to support the POTW's determination that a specific significant industrial user meets the criteria in subdivisions 1 c (1) (a) (i) through (v) of this subsection, and a copy of the user's written request for coverage for three years after the expiration of the general control mechanism. A POTW may not control a significant industrial user through a general control mechanism where the facility is subject to production-based categorical pretreatment standards or categorical pretreatment standards expressed as mass of pollutant discharged per day or for industrial users whose limits are based on the Combined Wastestream Formula or Net/Gross calculations (9VAC25-31-780 E and 9VAC25-31-870).

(2) Both individual and general control mechanisms must be enforceable and contain, at a minimum, the following conditions:

(a) Statement of duration (in no case more than five years);

(b) Statement of nontransferability without, at a minimum, prior notification to the POTW and provision of a copy of the existing control mechanism to the new owner or operator;

(c) Effluent limits, including Best Management Practices, based on applicable general pretreatment standards in this part, categorical pretreatment standards, local limits, and the law;

(d) Self-monitoring, sampling, reporting, notification and recordkeeping requirements, including an identification of the pollutants to be monitored (including the process for seeking a waiver for a pollutant neither present nor expected to be present in the discharge in accordance with 9VAC25-31-840 E 2, or a specific waiver pollutant in the case of an individual control mechanism), sampling location, sampling frequency, and sample type, based on the applicable general pretreatment standards in this part, categorical pretreatment standards, local limits, and the law;

(e) Statement of applicable civil and criminal penalties for violation of pretreatment standards and requirements; and any applicable compliance schedules, which may not extend beyond applicable federal deadlines.

(f) Requirements to control slug discharges, if determined by the POTW to be necessary.

d. Require:

(1) The development of a compliance schedule by each industrial user for the installation of technology required to meet applicable pretreatment standards and requirements; and

(2) The submission of all notices and self-monitoring reports from industrial users as are necessary to assess and ensure compliance by industrial users with pretreatment standards and requirements, including but not limited to the reports required in 9VAC25-31-840.

e. Carry out all inspection, surveillance and monitoring procedures necessary to determine, independent of information supplied by industrial users, compliance or noncompliance with applicable pretreatment standards and requirements by industrial users. Representatives of the POTW shall be authorized to enter any premises of any industrial user in which a discharge source or treatment system is located or in which records are required to be kept under 9VAC25-31-840 O to ensure compliance with pretreatment standards. Such authority shall be at least as extensive as the authority provided under § 308 of the CWA.

f. Obtain remedies for noncompliance by any industrial user with any pretreatment standard and requirement. All POTWs shall be able to seek injunctive relief for noncompliance by industrial users with pretreatment standards and requirements. All POTWs shall also have authority to seek or assess civil or criminal penalties in at least the amount of $1,000 a day for each violation by industrial users of pretreatment standards and requirements.

Pretreatment requirements which will be enforced through the remedies set forth in this subdivision, will include but not be limited to, the duty to allow or carry out inspections, entry, or monitoring activities; any rules, regulations, or orders issued by the POTW; any requirements set forth in individual control mechanisms issued by the POTW; or any reporting requirements imposed by the POTW or this part. The POTW shall have authority and procedures (after informal notice to the discharger) to immediately and effectively halt or prevent any discharge of pollutants to the POTW which reasonably appears to present an imminent endangerment to the health or welfare of persons. The POTW shall also have authority and procedures (which shall include notice to the affected industrial users and an opportunity to respond) to halt or prevent any discharge to the POTW which presents or may present an endangerment to the environment or which threatens to interfere with the operation of the POTW. The director shall have authority to seek judicial relief and may also use administrative penalty authority when the POTW has sought a monetary penalty which the director believes to be insufficient.

g. Comply with the confidentiality requirements set forth in 9VAC25-31-860.

2. Procedures. The POTW shall develop and implement procedures to ensure compliance with the requirements of a pretreatment program. At a minimum, these procedures shall enable the POTW to:

a. Identify and locate all possible industrial users which might be subject to the POTW pretreatment program. Any compilation, index or inventory of industrial users made under this subdivision shall be made available to the regional administrator or department upon request.

b. Identify the character and volume of pollutants contributed to the POTW by the industrial users identified under subdivision 2 a of this subsection. This information shall be made available to the regional administrator or department upon request.

c. Notify industrial users identified under subdivision 2 a of this subsection, of applicable pretreatment standards and any applicable requirements under §§ 204(b) and 405 of the CWA and subtitles C and D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (42 USC § 6901 et seq.). Within 30 days of approval pursuant to 9VAC25-31-800 F 6, of a list of significant industrial users, notify each significant industrial user of its status as such and of all requirements applicable to it as a result of such status.

d. Receive and analyze self-monitoring reports and other notices submitted by industrial users in accordance with the self-monitoring requirements in 9VAC25-31-840.

e. Randomly sample and analyze the effluent from industrial users and conduct surveillance activities in order to identify, independent of information supplied by industrial users, occasional and continuing noncompliance with pretreatment standards. Inspect and sample the effluent from each significant industrial user at least once a year except as otherwise specified below.

(1) Where the POTW has authorized the industrial user subject to a categorical pretreatment standard to forego sampling of a pollutant regulated by a categorical pretreatment standard in accordance with 9VAC25-31-840 E the POTW must sample for the waived pollutant(s) at least once during the term of the categorical industrial user's control mechanism. In the event that the POTW subsequently determines that a waived pollutant is present or is expected to be present in the industrial user's wastewater based on changes that occur in the user's operations, the POTW must immediately begin at least annual effluent monitoring of the user's discharge and inspection.

(2) Where the POTW has determined that an industrial user meets the criteria for classification as a nonsignificant categorical industrial user, the POTW must evaluate, at least once per year, whether an industrial user continues to meet the criteria in 9VAC25-31-10.

(3) In the case of industrial users subject to reduced reporting requirements under 9VAC25-31-840 E, the POTW must randomly sample and analyze the effluent from industrial users and conduct inspections at least once every two years. If the industrial user no longer meets the conditions for reduced reporting in 9VAC25-31-840 E, the POTW must immediately begin sampling and inspecting the industrial user at least once a year.

f. Evaluate whether each such significant industrial user needs a plan or other action to control slug discharges. For industrial users identified as significant prior to November 14, 2005, this evaluation must have been conducted at least once by October 14, 2005; additional significant industrial users must be evaluated within one year of being designated a significant industrial user. For purposes of this subsection, a slug discharge is any discharge of a nonroutine, episodic nature, including but not limited to an accidental spill or noncustomary batch discharge that has a reasonable potential to cause interference or pass through, or in any other way violate the POTWs regulating local limits or permit conditions. The results of such activities shall be available to the department upon request. Significant industrial users are required to notify the POTW immediately of any changes at its facility affecting potential for a slug discharge. If the POTW decides that a slug control plan is needed, the plan shall contain, at a minimum, the following elements:

(1) Description of discharge practices, including nonroutine batch discharges;

(2) Description of stored chemicals;

(3) Procedures for immediately notifying the POTW of slug discharges, including any discharge that would violate a prohibition under 9VAC25-31-770 B, with procedures for follow-up written notification within five days; and

(4) If necessary, procedures to prevent adverse impact from accidental spills, including inspection and maintenance of storage areas, handling and transfer of materials, loading and unloading operations, control of plant site run-off, worker training, building of containment structures or equipment, measures for containing toxic organic pollutants (including solvents), and measures and equipment necessary for emergency response.

g. Investigate instances of noncompliance with pretreatment standards and requirements, as indicated in the reports and notices required under 9VAC25-31-840, or indicated by analysis, inspection, and surveillance activities described in subdivision 2 e of this subsection. Sample taking and analysis and the collection of other information shall be performed with sufficient care to produce evidence admissible in enforcement proceedings or in judicial actions.

h. Comply with the public participation requirements of the Code of Virginia and 40 CFR Part 25 in the enforcement of national pretreatment standards. These procedures shall include provisions for at least annual public notification, in a newspaper of general circulation that provides meaningful public notice within the jurisdiction(s) served by the POTW of industrial users which, at any time during the previous 12 months were in significant noncompliance with applicable pretreatment requirements. For the purposes of this provision, a significant industrial user (or any industrial user that violates subdivision 2 h (3), (4) or (8) of this subsection is in significant noncompliance if its violation meets one or more of the following criteria:

(1) Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which 66% or more of all of the measurements taken during a six-month period exceed (by any magnitude) a numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous limits, as defined by 9VAC25-31-10;

(2) Technical Review Criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those in which 33% or more of all of the measurements for each pollutant parameter taken during a six-month period equal or exceed the product of the numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous limits, as defined by 9VAC25-31-10; multiplied by the applicable TRC (TRC = 1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oil, and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH);

(3) Any other violation of a pretreatment standard or requirement as defined by 9VAC25-31-10 (daily maximum, long-term average, instantaneous limit, or narrative standard) that the control authority POTW determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass through (including endangering the health of POTW personnel or the general public);

(4) Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to human health, welfare or to the environment or has resulted in the POTW's exercise of its emergency authority under subdivision 1 f of this subsection to halt or prevent such a discharge;

(5) Failure to meet, within 90 days after the schedule date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in a local control mechanism or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction, or attaining final compliance;

(6) Failure to provide, within 45 days after the due date, required reports such as baseline monitoring reports, 90-day compliance reports, periodic self-monitoring reports, and reports on compliance with compliance schedules;

(7) Failure to accurately report noncompliance; or

(8) Any other violation or group of violations that may include a violation of Best Management Practices which the POTW determines will adversely affect the operation or implementation of the local pretreatment program.

3. Funding. The POTW shall have sufficient resources and qualified personnel to carry out the authorities and procedures described in subdivisions 1 and 2 of this subsection. In some limited circumstances, funding and personnel may be delayed where (i) the POTW has adequate legal authority and procedures to carry out the pretreatment program requirements described in this section, and (ii) a limited aspect of the program does not need to be implemented immediately (see 9VAC25-31-810 B).

4. Local limits. The POTW shall develop local limits as required in 9VAC25-31-770 C 1, using current influent, effluent and sludge data, or demonstrate that they are not necessary.

5. The POTW shall develop and implement an enforcement response plan. This plan shall contain detailed procedures indicating how a POTW will investigate and respond to instances of industrial user noncompliance. The plan shall, at a minimum:

a. Describe how the POTW will investigate instances of noncompliance;

b. Describe the types of escalating enforcement responses the POTW will take in response to all anticipated types of industrial user violations and the time periods within which responses will take place;

c. Identify (by title) the official or officials responsible for each type of response; and

d. Adequately reflect the POTW's primary responsibility to enforce all applicable pretreatment requirements and standards, as detailed in subdivisions 1 and 2 of this subsection.

6. The POTW shall prepare and maintain a list of its significant industrial users. The list shall identify the criteria in the definition of significant industrial user in Part I (9VAC25-31-10 et seq.) of this chapter which are applicable to each industrial user and, where applicable, shall also indicate whether the POTW has made a determination pursuant to subdivision 3 of that definition that such industrial user should not be considered a significant industrial user. This list shall be submitted to the department pursuant to 9VAC25-31-810 as a nonsubstantial program modification pursuant to 9VAC25-31-900 D. Modifications to the list shall be submitted to the department pursuant to 9VAC25-31-840 I 1.

G. A POTW that chooses to receive electronic documents must satisfy the requirements of 40 CFR Part 3 (electronic reporting).

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 12, Issue 20, eff. July 24, 1996; amended, Virginia Register Volume 14, Issue 09, eff. March 1, 1998; Errata, 14:12 VA.R. 1937 March 2, 1998; Errata, 14:17 VA.R. 2477 May 11, 1998; amended, Virginia Register Volume 16, Issue 25, eff. September 27, 2000; Volume 18, Issue 09, eff. February 15, 2002; Volume 22, Issue 24, eff. September 6, 2006; Volume 28, Issue 10, eff. February 15, 2012.

Statutory Authority

§ 62.1-44.15 of the Code of Virginia; § 402 of the federal Clean Water Act; 40 CFR Parts 122, 123, 124, 403, and 503.