Industrial Wastewater
 Announcements!
NEW!
Important update to Generic Permit For Pollutant
Discharges to Surface Waters of the State from the Application of
Pesticides
On March 28, 2011, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a continuation of a stay of
their 2009 ruling in Nat’l Cotton Council v. Envtl. Prot. Agency,
553 F.3d 927 (6th Cir. 2009), delaying the need to obtain a National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for discharges
of pesticides to waters of the U.S., until October 31, 2011.
The Department’s rule establishing a NPDES pesticide generic
permit (NPDES PGP) to cover the discharge of pesticides to waters of
the state is effective on April 14, 2011. However, due to the Sixth
Circuit Court of Appeals’ continuation of the stay of their ruling,
discharges of pesticides to surface waters of Florida are not
required to have NPDES permits until October 31, 2011. While the
Department’s generic permit is effective, as stated in section
403.088(1)(a), Florida Statutes, the Department’s generic permit is
only necessary if NPDES permit coverage is required under the Clean
Water Act. Since a NPDES permit will not be required until October
31, 2011, coverage under the NPDES PGP is not required and the terms
of the NPDES PGP do not need to be implemented until October 31,
2011. Consequently, those entities that are required to submit a
Notice of Intent (NOI) for coverage under the NPDES PGP, do not need
to submit the NOI until October 30, 2011. Further, conditions of the
permit such as adverse incident reporting and record keeping do not
need to be implemented until October 31, 2011.
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"Never, no never, did nature say one thing and wisdom say another."
–Edmund Burke (1729-1797), British Statesman. |
In Florida, all wastewater that is not defined as domestic wastewater is considered industrial wastewater. Since Florida is among our nation’s most populous and fastest growing states, industrial wastewater permitting is increasingly important for protection of our state’s most precious natural resource—water.
Sources of industrial wastewater include manufacturing, commercial
businesses, mining, agricultural production and processing, and
wastewater from cleanup of petroleum and chemical contaminated sites.
Industrial wastewater discharged under NPDES permits may be subject to
federal Effluent Limitations Guidelines (ELG). In addition, all
industrial wastewater discharges in Florida must provide reasonable
assurance of meeting Florida’s Water Quality Standards for surface water
or ground water in order to receive a discharge permit.
The Department of Environmental Protection's Industrial Wastewater
Program issues permits to facilities and activities that discharge to
surface waters and ground waters of the state. Industrial wastewater
that discharges to domestic wastewater treatment facilities, however, is
regulated under the Industrial Pretreatment component of the
Department’s Domestic Wastewater Program.
The Department is authorized by USEPA to issue permits for discharge
to surface waters under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES). Permits for discharge to ground waters are issued by the
Department under state statutes and rules. Industrial wastewater permits
are issued by the district offices, with two exceptions. NPDES permits
for steam electric power plants are issued by the Industrial Wastewater
Section in the Tallahassee office. Industrial wastewater permitting for
the phosphate industry is handled by the Phosphogypsum Management
Section located in Tampa. For More Information: Please browse
our industrial waste water topics listed on the right hand side for more
information. If you still have any general questions about industrial
wastewater and rule development please contact the Industrial Wastewater
Section in Tallahassee at 850-245-8589. For permitting questions related
to a specific project or area of the state, you may wish to contact the
appropriate District Office.
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