Virginia Law

A. Duty to comply. The permittee shall comply with all conditions of the permit. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to relieve the surface water withdrawal permit holder of the duty to comply with all applicable federal and state statutes, regulations, standards and prohibitions. Any permit noncompliance is a violation of the law and is grounds for enforcement action, permit suspension, cancellation, revocation, modification or denial of a permit renewal application.

B. Duty to mitigate. The permittee shall take all reasonable steps to (i) avoid all adverse environmental impact which could result from the activity, (ii) where avoidance is impractical, minimize the adverse environmental impact, and (iii) where impacts cannot be avoided, provide mitigation of the adverse impact on an in-kind basis.

C. Permit action.

1. A permit may be modified, revoked, suspended, cancelled, reissued, or terminated as set forth in this chapter.

2. If a permittee files a request for permit modification, suspension or cancellation, or files a notification of planned changes, or anticipated noncompliance, the permit terms and conditions shall remain effective until the request is acted upon by the department. This provision shall not be used to extend the expiration date of the effective permit.

3. Permits may be modified, revoked and reissued or terminated upon the request of the permittee, or upon department initiative to reflect the requirements of any changes in the statutes or regulations.

D. Inspection and entry. Upon presentation of credentials and upon consent of the owner or custodian, any duly authorized agent of the department may, at reasonable times and under reasonable circumstances:

1. Enter upon any permittee's property, public or private, and have access to, inspect and copy any records that must be kept as part of the permit conditions;

2. Inspect any facilities, operations or practices including monitoring and control equipment regulated or required under the permit.

E. Duty to provide information. The permittee shall furnish to the department, within a reasonable time, any information which the department may request to determine whether cause exists for modifying, reissuing, suspending and cancelling the permit, or to determine compliance with the permit. The permittee shall also furnish to the department, upon request, copies of records required to be kept by the permittee. This information shall be furnished to the department pursuant to § 62.1-244 of the Code of Virginia.

F. Monitoring and records requirements.

1. Monitoring shall be conducted according to approved methods as specified in the permit or as approved by the department.

2. Measurements taken for the purpose of monitoring shall be representative of the monitored activity.

3. The permittee shall retain records of all monitoring information, including all calibration and maintenance records and all original strip chart or electronic recordings for continuous monitoring instrumentation, copies of all reports required by the permit, and records of all data used to complete the application for the permit, for a period of at least three years from the date of the expiration of a granted permit. This period may be extended by request of the department at any time.

4. Records of monitoring information shall include:

a. The date, exact place and time of measurements;

b. The name of the individuals who performed the measurements;

c. The date the measurements were compiled;

d. The name of the individuals who compiled the measurements;

e. The techniques or methods supporting the information such as observations, readings, calculations and bench data used; and

f. The results of such techniques or methods.

G. Permit conditions become applicable.

1. Permit conditions become applicable in a surface water management area upon notice by the department to each permittee by mail, by electronic or postal delivery, or cause notice of that to be published in a newspaper of general circulation throughout the area.

2. The department shall notify each permittee by mail or cause notice of that to be published in a newspaper of general circulation throughout the surface water management area when the declaration of water shortage is rescinded.