Virginia Law

A. Any owner seeking coverage under this general permit that is required to submit a registration statement shall submit a complete VPDES general permit registration statement in accordance with this section, which shall serve as a notice of intent for coverage under the VPDES general permit for discharges from groundwater remediation of contaminated sites, dewatering activities of contaminated sites, and hydrostatic tests.

B. Owners of the following types of proposed or existing discharges are not required to submit a registration statement to apply for coverage under this general permit:

1. Short term projects (14 consecutive calendar days or less in duration) including:

a. Emergency repairs;

b. Dewatering projects;

c. Utility work and repairs in areas of known contamination;

d. Tank placement or removal in areas of known contamination;

e. Pilot studies or pilot tests, including aquifer tests; and

f. New well construction discharges of groundwater;

2. Hydrostatic testing of petroleum and natural gas storage tanks, pipelines, or distribution system components; and

3. Hydrostatic testing of water storage tanks, pipelines, or distribution system components.

Owners of these types of discharges are authorized to discharge under this permit immediately upon the permit's effective date of March 1, 2023.

Owners shall notify the department's regional office in writing within 14 days of the completion of the discharge. The notification shall include the owner's name and address, the type of discharge that occurred, the physical location of the discharge work, and the receiving stream. If the discharge is to a municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4), the owner shall also notify the MS4 owner within 14 days of the completion of the discharge.

Owners of these types of discharges are not required to submit a notice of termination of permit coverage at the completion of the discharge.

C. Deadlines for submitting registration statements.

1. New facilities. Any owner proposing a new discharge shall submit a complete registration statement at least 30 days prior to the date planned for commencing operation of the new discharge or a later submittal date established by the department, unless exempted by subsection B of this section.

2. Existing facilities.

a. Any owner covered by an individual VPDES permit who is proposing to be covered by this general permit shall submit a complete registration statement at least 240 days prior to the expiration date of the individual VPDES permit.

b. Any owner that was authorized to discharge under the expiring petroleum contaminated sites, groundwater remediation, and hydrostatic tests VPDES general permit that is not exempted under subsection B of this section and that intends to continue coverage under this general permit shall submit a complete registration statement to the department at least 30 days prior to the expiration date of the existing permit or a later submittal established by the department.

D. Late registration statements. Registration statements will be accepted after the expiration date of the permit, but authorization to discharge will not be retroactive.

E. The required registration statement shall contain the following information:

1. Facility name and mailing address, owner name and mailing address, telephone number, and email address (if available);

2. Facility street address (if different from mailing address) or location (if the facility location does not have a mailing address);

3. Facility operator (local contact) name, address, telephone number, and email address (if available) if different than owner;

4. Nature of business conducted at the facility;

5. Type of petroleum or natural gas products, or chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents causing or that caused the contamination;

6. Identification of activities that will result in a point source discharge from the site;

7. Whether a site characterization report for the site has been submitted to the Department of Environmental Quality;

8. Characterization or description of the wastewater or nature of contamination including all related analytical data;

9. The latitude and longitude in decimal degrees (six digits - ten-thousandths place) of the discharge point and identification of the waterbody into which the discharge will occur. For linear projects, the latitude and longitude in decimal degrees (six digits - ten-thousandths place) of all the proposed discharge points along the project length and the associated waterbody for each discharge point;

10. The frequency with which the discharge will occur (i.e., daily, monthly, continuously);

11. An estimate of how long each discharge will last;

12. An estimate of the total volume of wastewater to be discharged;

13. An estimate of the average and maximum flow rate of the discharge;

14. A diagram of the proposed wastewater treatment system identifying the individual treatment units;

15. A USGS 7.5 minute topographic map or equivalent computer generated map that indicates the receiving waterbody name, the discharge point, the property boundaries, as well as springs, other surface waterbodies, drinking water wells, and public water supplies that are identified in the public record or are otherwise known to the applicant within a 1/2 mile radius of the proposed discharge or discharges;

16. A determination of whether the facility will discharge to an MS4. If the facility discharges to an MS4, the facility owner must notify the owner of the MS4 of the existence of the discharge information at the time of registration under this permit and include that notification with the registration statement. The notice shall include the following information: the name of the facility, a contact person and telephone number, the location of the discharge, the nature of the discharge, and the facility's VPDES general permit number;

17. Whether central wastewater facilities are available to the site, and if so, whether the option of discharging to the central wastewater facility has been evaluated and the results of that evaluation;

18. Whether the facility currently has any permit issued by the department or general permit issued as a regulation by the board, and if so, the permit number;

19. Any pollution complaint number or Voluntary Remediation Program (VRP) information associated with the project;

20. A statement as to whether the material being treated or to be discharged is certified as a hazardous waste under the Virginia Hazardous Waste Management Regulations (9VAC20-60);

21. State Corporation Commission entity identification number if the facility is required to obtain an entity identification number by law; and

22. The following certification:

"I certify under penalty of law that this document and all attachments were prepared under my direction or supervision in accordance with a system designed to assure that qualified personnel properly gather and evaluate the information submitted. Based on my inquiry of the person or persons who manage the system or those persons directly responsible for gathering the information, the information submitted is to the best of my knowledge and belief true, accurate, and complete. I am aware that there are significant penalties for submitting false information including the possibility of fine and imprisonment for knowing violations. I do also hereby grant duly authorized agents of the Department of Environmental Quality, upon presentation of credentials, permission to enter the property for the purpose of determining the suitability of the general permit."

F. The registration statement shall be signed in accordance with 9VAC25-31-110.

G. The registration statement shall be delivered by either postal or electronic mail to the DEQ regional office serving the area where the facility is located. Following notification from the department of the start date for the required electronic submission of Notices of Intent to discharge forms (i.e., registration statements), as provided for in 9VAC25-31-1020, such forms submitted after that date shall be electronically submitted to the department in compliance with this section and 9VAC25-31-1020. There shall be at least a three-month notice provided between the notification from the department and the date after which such forms must be submitted electronically.