Florida Administrative Code › 62 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › 62 - Departmental › Chapter 62-620 - WASTEWATER FACILITY AND ACTIVITIES PERMITTING › Section 62-620.100 - Scope/Applicability/References

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
(1) Scope. This chapter sets forth the
				procedures to obtain a permit to construct, modify, or operate a wastewater
				facility or activity which discharges wastes into waters of the State or which
				will reasonably be expected to be a source of water pollution. It also includes
				requirements and procedures for establishing permit limitations and conditions,
				issuance or denial of a permit, extension, renewal or revision of a permit,
				suspension or revocation of a permit, and transfer of a permit to a new owner.
				It contains requirements for monitoring and reporting after the permit is
				issued, and lists the forms needed to apply for a permit and to report the
				results of testing and monitoring required by this chapter.
(2) Applicability.
(a) Where there are conflicts with other
				existing specific or general rules of the Department, the requirements and
				procedures set forth in this chapter shall supersede all other procedures and
				requirements for wastewater facilities or activities.
(b) Requirements in this chapter shall apply
				to domestic or industrial wastewater facilities which discharge wastes into
				waters or which can reasonably be expected to be a source of
				pollution.
(c) The permitting
				procedures of this chapter apply to stormwater discharges regulated under
				Section  403.0885, F.S. It is the intent
				of this chapter as to stormwater discharges to implement the substantive
				requirements of the Federal NPDES stormwater program.
(d) The requirements of this chapter are in
				addition to and not in lieu of the requirements of Part IV of Chapter 373,
				F.S.
(e) This chapter does not
				apply to septic tank drainfield systems and other on-site sewage treatment and
				disposal systems with subsurface disposal if:
1. The system serves the complete wastewater
				needs of an establishment with a design capacity of 10, 000 gallons per day or
				less of domestic wastewater, or
2.
				The system serves the complete wastewater needs of a commercial establishment
				with a design capacity of 5, 000 gallons per day or less of commercial
				wastewater.
(f) For
				information purposes, the systems included in paragraph (e) of this rule, are
				permitted by the State of Florida Department of Health in accordance with the
				requirements of Chapter 64E-6, F.A.C. For these systems the Department shall
				use subsection  64E-6.008(1),
				F.A.C., for determining the estimated volume of sewage from an
				establishment.
(g) This chapter
				does not apply to permitting of wastewater collection systems and transmission
				facilities.
(h) This chapter
				applies to discharges from mobile point sources such as seafood processing
				rigs, seafood processing vessels, aggregate plants, oil and gas exploratory
				drilling rigs, or oil and gas developmental drilling rigs. It does not apply to
				discharges of sewage from vessels regulated by the U.S. Coast Guard under
				section 312 of the CWA.
(i) For
				wastewater facilities which have both an existing Federal NPDES permit for
				which the Department has been granted administrative authority and an existing
				Department-issued permit for the same discharge to surface waters, the
				Department shall, after the implementation of this rule, revise those permits
				by issuing a letter to the permittee combining the two permits into one
				Department-issued permit. The letter revising the permits shall change the
				issuing agency name, include DEP Form
				 62-620.910(10) 
				for reporting monitoring information, contain an expiration date for the
				combined permit, incorporate all of the permit conditions of both permits, and
				state that if there are conflicts between permit conditions, the more stringent
				condition shall supersede the less stringent. The existing permits shall be
				revised as follows:
1. If the permittee has
				either, but not both, a Department-issued construction or operating permit, the
				expiration date of the combined permit shall be based on the earlier of the two
				expiration dates of the Department or the Federal NPDES permit.
2. If the permittee has a Department-issued
				temporary operating permit, the letter combining the permit conditions of both
				permits shall include as an enclosure an Administrative Order setting forth the
				schedule for compliance with the permit conditions.
3. If the permittee has both a
				Department-issued construction permit and a Department-issued operating permit,
				the letter shall combine the Federal NPDES and the Department operating permit
				conditions and establish the expiration date using the earlier of the dates
				from the Federal NPDES or the Department operating permit. The existing
				construction permit shall remain in effect until it expires and shall not be
				renewed or reissued.
(j)
				For wastewater facilities which have a Federal NPDES permit only, the
				Department shall, after implementation of this rule, revise the permit by
				issuing a letter to the permittee. The letter revising the permit shall change
				the name of the issuing agency and include DEP Form
				 62-620.910(10) 
				for reporting monitoring information to the Department.
(k) On the date this rule is implemented,
				applications for renewal of permits to discharge wastes into surface waters
				which have been filed prior to the implementation date with either EPA or the
				Department shall be processed as follows:
1.
				If the application is for renewal of an existing Federal NPDES permit, the
				Department shall, within 60 days of the implementation date of this rule, send
				a letter to the permittee requesting payment of the application processing fee
				set forth in Rule  62-4.050, F.A.C., unless there
				is pending an application for renewal of a Department permit for which the fee
				has been paid. On receipt of the application processing fee the Department
				shall process the application in accordance with Rule
				 62-620.510, F.A.C., and shall
				request additional information necessary to meet the requirements of this
				chapter. The Department shall not require the applicant to submit a new
				application form under this chapter.
2. If the application is for renewal of an
				existing Department permit, the Department shall, within 60 days of the
				implementation date of this rule, send a letter to the permittee advising him
				to amend his application for renewal to meet the requirements of this chapter.
				The Department shall not require the applicant to submit a new application form
				under this chapter. However, the applicant shall provide additional information
				requested by the Department in accordance with Rule 62-620.510, F.A.C., to meet
				the requirements of this chapter.
3. The existing Federal NPDES permit and
				Department-issued permit, for which application for renewal was timely, shall
				remain in effect, as revised under paragraph (i), of this rule, until
				processing has been completed on the renewal in accordance with Rule
				 62-620.335, F.A.C., and this
				subsection.
(l) If a
				pending application is for the initial issuance or substantial revision of a
				Federal NPDES permit, the Department shall follow the procedures set forth in
				subparagraph (k)1., above, and the application shall be processed under this
				chapter. If a pending application is for the initial issuance or substantial
				revision of a Department permit, the Department shall follow the procedures set
				forth in subparagraph (k)2., above, and the application shall be processed
				under this chapter. In either case, the Department shall not require the
				applicant to submit a new application form under this chapter.
(m) A permit authorizing a discharge solely
				to ground water shall remain in effect until the expiration date in the permit.
				If a permit application is being processed on the date this rule is
				implemented, the Department shall follow the procedures set forth in
				subparagraph (k)2., above, and the application shall be processed under the
				requirements of this chapter. The Department shall not require the applicant to
				submit a new application form under this chapter.
(n) If an application for renewal of a permit
				is filed in accordance with Rule
				 62-4.090, F.A.C., within 180
				days of implementation of this rule chapter, it shall be deemed to be a timely
				application for the purposes of the existing permit remaining in effect until
				processing has been completed on the application under Rule 62-620.335,
				F.A.C.
(o) Conditional exclusion
				for "no exposure" of industrial activities and materials to stormwater.
				Discharges composed entirely of stormwater are not stormwater discharges
				associated with industrial activity if there is "no exposure" of industrial
				materials and activities to precipitation and/or runoff, and the discharger
				satisfies the conditions in subparagraphs (o)1. through (o)3., of this rule.
				"No exposure" means that all industrial materials and activities are protected
				by a storm resistant shelter to prevent exposure to precipitation and/or
				runoff. Industrial materials or activities include, but are not limited to,
				material handling equipment or activities, industrial machinery, raw materials,
				intermediate products, by-products, final products, or waste products. Material
				handling activities include the storage, loading and unloading, transportation,
				or conveyance of any raw material, intermediate product, final product or waste
				product.
1. Qualification. To qualify for this
				exclusion, the operator of the discharge must:
a. Provide a storm resistant shelter to
				protect industrial materials and activities from exposure to precipitation and
				runoff,
b. Submit to the Department
				a completed and signed Form
				 62-620.910(17),
				entitled "No Exposure Certification for Exclusion from NPDES Stormwater
				Permitting, " effective 2-17-09, incorporated by reference and made part of
				this chapter, certifying that there are no discharges of stormwater
				contaminated by exposure to industrial materials and activities from the entire
				facility, except as provided in subparagraph (o)2., of this rule. This form may
				be obtained by writing the Department of Environmental Protection, NPDES
				Stormwater Notices Center, Mail Station #2510, 2600 Blair Stone Road,
				Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400, or from the Department's website. The
				completed and signed Form
				 62-620.910(17),
				and certification fee as required by subparagraph
				 62-4.050(4)(d) 
				3., F.A.C., must be submitted either by mail to: Department of Environmental
				Protection, NPDES Stormwater Notices Center, Mail Station #2510, 2600 Blair
				Stone Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400; or electronically using the
				Department's Interactive Notice of Intent (iNOI) at
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/water/stormwater/npdes/
,
c. Renew the certification every 5
				years on or before the expiration of each 5 year interval by filing a new
				completed and signed Form
				 62-620.910(17) 
				effective 2-17-09, and certification fee as required by subparagraph
				 62-4.050(4)(d) 
				3., F.A.C., either by mail to the Department of Environmental Protection, NPDES
				Stormwater Notices Center, Mail Station #2510, 2600 Blair Stone Road,
				Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400 or electronically using the Department's
				Interactive Notice of Intent (iNOI) at
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/water/stormwater/npdes/
,
d. Allow the Department or its
				agents to inspect the facility to determine compliance with the "no exposure"
				conditions; and,
e. For facilities
				that discharge through a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4), submit a
				copy of the certification of "no exposure" to the MS4 operator, as well as
				allow inspection and public reporting by the MS4 operator.
2. Industrial materials and activities not
				requiring storm resistant shelter. To qualify for this exclusion, storm
				resistant shelter is not required for:
a.
				Drums, barrels, tanks, and similar containers that are tightly sealed, provided
				those containers are not deteriorated and do not leak ("Sealed" means banded or
				otherwise secured and without operational taps or valves),
b. Adequately maintained vehicles used in
				material handling; and,
c. Final
				products, other than products that would be mobilized in stormwater discharge
				(e.g., rock salt).
3.
				Limitations. This conditional exclusion from stormwater permitting under this
				chapter and/or Chapter 62-621, F.A.C., is not available:
a. For stormwater discharges from
				construction activities,
b. For
				individual outfalls. The exclusion is available on a facility-wide basis only,
c. If circumstances change and
				industrial materials or activities become exposed to precipitation and/or
				runoff, the conditions for this exclusion no longer apply. In such cases, the
				discharge becomes subject to enforcement for un-permitted discharge. Any
				conditionally excluded discharger who anticipates changes in circumstances
				should apply for and obtain permit authorization prior to the change of
				circumstances; and,
d.
				Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, the Department retains the
				authority to require permit authorization (and deny this exclusion) upon making
				a determination that the discharge causes or contributes to the violation of an
				applicable water quality standard, including designated
				uses.