Section 140. Public notice of VPA permit action and public comment period

Part III. Public Involvement

A. Draft VPA permits.

1. Every draft VPA permit shall be given public notice, paid for by the owner, by publication once a week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the area affected by the pollutant management activity except for animal feeding operations as defined in 9VAC25-32-10, when the modifications are to the nutrient management plan.

2. Interested persons shall have a period of at least 30 days following the date of the initial newspaper public notice to submit written comments on the tentative decision and to request a public hearing.

3. The contents of the public notice of an application for a VPA permit shall include:

a. The name and address of the applicant. If the location of the pollutant management activity differs from the address of the applicant the notice shall also state the location of the pollutant management activity including storage and land application sites;

b. A brief description of the business or activity conducted at the facility;

c. A statement of the tentative determination to issue or deny a VPA permit;

d. A brief description of the final determination procedure;

e. The address and phone number of a specific person at the state office from whom further information may be obtained; and

f. A brief description of how to submit comments and request a hearing.

B. VPA permit application.

1. Upon receipt of an application for the issuance of a new or modified permit, the department shall notify in writing the locality wherein the pollutant management activity does or is proposed to take place. This notification shall, at a minimum, include:

a. The name of the applicant;

b. The nature of the application and proposed pollutant management activity;

c. The availability and timing of any comment period; and

d. Upon request, any other information known to, or in the possession of, the board or the department regarding the application except as restricted by 9VAC25-32-150.

2. Whenever the department receives an application for a new permit for land application of biosolids or land disposal of treated sewage, stabilized sewage sludge, or stabilized septage, or an application to reissue with the addition of sites increasing acreage by 50% or more of that authorized in the initial permit, the department shall establish a date for a public meeting to discuss technical issues relating to proposals for land application of biosolids or land disposal of treated sewage, stabilized sewage sludge or stabilized septage. The department shall give notice of the date, time, and place of the public meeting and a description of the proposal by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the city or county where the proposal is to take place. Public notice of the scheduled meeting shall occur no fewer than seven nor more than 14 days prior to the meeting. The department shall not issue the permit until the public meeting has been held and comment has been received from the local governing body or until 30 days have lapsed from the date of the public meeting.

3. Following the submission of an application for a new permit for land application of biosolids or land disposal of treated sewage, stabilized sewage sludge, or stabilized septage, the department shall make a good faith effort to notify or cause to be notified persons residing on property bordering the sites that contain the proposed land application fields. This notification shall be in a manner selected by the department. For the purposes of this subsection, "site" means all contiguous land under common ownership, but which may contain more than one tax parcel.

4. Public notice shall not be required for submission or approval of plans and specifications or conceptual engineering reports not required to be submitted as part of the application.

C. Following the submission of an application to add a site that is not contiguous to sites included in an existing permit authorizing the land application of biosolids:

1. The department shall notify persons residing on property bordering such site and shall receive written comments from those persons for a period of 30 days. Based upon written comments, the department shall determine whether additional site-specific requirements should be included in the authorization for land application at the site.

2. An application for any permit amendment to increase the acreage authorized by the initial permit by 50% or more shall be considered a major modification and shall be treated as a new application for purposes of public notice and public hearings. The increase in acreage for the purpose of determining the need for the public meeting is the sum of all acreage that has been added to the permit since the last public meeting, plus that proposed to be added.

D. Before issuing any permit, if the board finds that there are localities particularly affected by the permit, the board shall:

1. Publish, or require the applicant to publish, a notice in a local paper of general circulation in the localities affected at least 30 days prior to the close of any public comment period. Such notice shall contain a statement of the estimated local impact of the proposed permit, which at a minimum shall include information on the specific pollutants involved and the total quantity of each which may be discharged; and

2. Mail, by electronic or postal delivery, the notice to the chief elected official and chief administrative officer and planning district commission for those localities.

Written comments shall be accepted by the board for at least 15 days after any public hearing on the permit, unless the board votes to shorten the period. For the purposes of this section, the term "locality particularly affected" means any locality which bears any identified disproportionate material water quality impact which would not be experienced by other localities.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 12, Issue 20, eff. July 24, 1996; amended, Virginia Register Volume 24, Issue 06, eff. January 1, 2008; Volume 25, Issue 26, eff. September 30, 2009; Volume 29, Issue 24, eff. September 1, 2013; Volume 32, Issue 05, eff. December 2, 2015.

Statutory Authority

§ 62.1-44.15 of the Code of Virginia.