Indiana Administrative Code › Title 327 - WATER POLLUTION CONTROL DIVISION › Article 5 - INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER PRETREATMENT PROGRAMS AND NPDES › Rule 3 - Procedures for the Issuance of NPDES Permits › Section 3-4.1 - Determination on variances from water quality standards and effluent limitations based on such variances; procedures

Current through July 10, 2024
Authority: IC 13-14-8; IC 13-14-9; IC 13-15-1-2; IC
				  13-15-2-1; IC 13-15-4-3; IC 13-18-3
Affected: IC 4-21.5-3; IC 13-11-2-132; IC 13-15-4-1; IC
				  13-15-5; IC 13-15-6; IC 13-18-4; IC 13-18-7; IC 13-23-13; IC 13-24-1; IC
				  13-25-5
Sec. 4.1.
(a) The
				commissioner shall consider and make a written determination on a request for a
				variance from a water quality standard as provided in
				327 IAC
				2-1-8.8 or
				327
				IAC 2-1.5-17.
(b) Requirements for a variance application
				shall be as follows:
(1) An application for a
				variance for a substance may be submitted at any time during the period
				beginning on the date an application is submitted for the issuance, reissuance,
				or modification of a NPDES permit and ending ninety (90) days following the
				effective date of the new, renewed, or modified NPDES permit, when the WQBEL
				for the substance will be or is more restrictive in the renewed, or modified
				NPDES permit than in the existing permit. The applicant may petition the
				commissioner for up to an additional ninety (90) day period to submit an
				application for a variance. If the variance application is submitted prior to
				the issuance, reissuance, or modification date of the permit, the permit
				limitations for a substance for which a variance application is submitted will
				not be issued until such time that the commissioner makes the variance
				determination. Notwithstanding these time frames and procedures, an applicant
				that is seeking a variance from a water quality standard used to derive a WQBEL
				contained in an issued or modified NPDES permit must appeal the issuance of the
				permit or modification in accordance with IC 4-21.5 and IC 13-15-6, if
				applicable, if the variance request is submitted after the issuance date of the
				permit to be eligible for a stay of the WQBELs for the substance for which the
				variance is being requested.
(2)
				The complete variance application shall contain the information that the
				commissioner determines to be necessary to satisfy the requirements contained
				in
				327 IAC
				2-1-8.8 or
				327
				IAC 2-1.5-17. The application shall contain the
				following:
(A) Except for variances governed
				under clause (B), the variance application shall contain the following:
(i) An identification of control
				methodologies in practice for similar waste streams and processes by similar
				facilities which achieve a level of control greater than the level currently
				achieved by the applicant, including those determined by the applicant not to
				be technically feasible for the applicant. Pollution prevention measures may be
				identified and submitted as part of the application. As used in this section,
				"pollution prevention" means changes in production process technologies,
				materials, processes, operations, or procedures to reduce or eliminate the
				source of the pollutant.
(ii) An
				identification, listed under item (i), of the methodologies determined by the
				applicant not to be technically feasible and documentation supporting
				infeasibility.
(iii) A ranking of
				those feasible methodologies from greater to lesser overall control
				effectiveness by:
(AA) the reduction in
				pollutant concentrations; and
(BB)
				the reduction in loadings (percent pollutant removed).
(iv) An evaluation for each feasible
				methodology that includes reasonably foreseeable:
(AA) adverse or beneficial environmental
				impacts resulting from the proposed methodology, including net impacts on the
				receiving water;
(BB) impacts to
				the aquatic community, wildlife, and plant life;
(CC) impacts on rare, threatened, or
				endangered species;
(DD) impacts
				resulting from the discharge of toxic contaminants;
(EE) energy impacts (BTU and kWH);
(FF) risks to human health; and
(GG) impacts to other media, including air or
				land.
(v) For a facility
				required to obtain a municipal permit as defined in IC 13-11-2-132, an
				evaluation for each feasible methodology that includes the following:
(AA) An affordability analysis of total and
				annualized costs that measures the financial impact of the methodology on the
				user fees and taxes imposed on the residential and nonresidential users paying
				for the methodology, using, at a minimum, appropriate measures of debt and
				financial management conditions in the community.
(BB) The economic impacts, including the
				total cost and cost effectiveness of pollutant removal of the
				methodology.
(CC) The ability of
				ratepayers within the community to afford the added costs.
(DD) The ability of the public facility to
				obtain debt financing.
(vi) For a facility required to obtain a
				NPDES permit that is not a municipal permit as defined in IC 13-11-2-132, an
				evaluation for each feasible methodology that includes the following:
(AA) An affordability analysis of total and
				annualized costs that measures the financial impact of the methodology to
				determine whether the facility can afford the methodology based upon reasonable
				measures of financial health and available capital.
(BB) The economic impacts, including the
				total cost and cost effectiveness of pollutant removal of the
				methodology.
(CC) The impact of
				costs on applicant's goods or services.
(DD) Information regarding the relative price
				of goods or services in the same market as the applicant.
(EE) The overall impact of the application of
				the methodology on employment within the facility.
(vii) An explanation of why information
				sought under items (i) through
(vi)
				is not necessary or appropriate for inclusion in the specific variance
				application.
(viii) Any other
				relevant information requested by the commissioner.
(B) The following procedures shall be used to
				evaluate variance applications for discharges that occur as a result of actions
				listed in item (i):
(i) The procedures in
				this clause apply to an applicant that requests a variance from a water quality
				standard used to derive a water quality-based effluent limitation (WQBEL)
				contained in an NPDES permit for a specific substance where the necessity for
				the variance is a short term, temporary discharge resulting from the dredging
				of contaminated sediments from a waterbody, and is any of the following:
(AA) A response action pursuant to the
				Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)
				as amended.
(BB) A corrective
				action pursuant to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) as
				amended.
(CC) An action pursuant to
				similar federal or state authorities, including, but not limited to, the
				following:
(aa) An underground storage tank
				(UST) corrective action under IC 13-23-13.
(bb) A remediation of petroleum releases
				under IC 13-24-1.
(cc) A voluntary
				remediation under IC 13-25-5.
(dd)
				An abatement or correction of any polluted condition under IC 13-18-7.
(ii) The
				application for a variance requested under this clause shall contain the
				following:
(AA) Identification of the
				substance for which a variance is being requested and information documenting
				the concentrations of the substance projected to be present in the
				discharge.
(BB) Document
				predredging environmental conditions.
(CC) Document the expected environmental
				benefits of the project.
(DD)
				Identification of the methodologies that potentially could be used to reduce
				the concentration of the substance in the discharge or eliminate the need for
				variance. Methodologies to be evaluated shall include, but not be limited to:
(aa) relocation of the discharge
				location;
(bb) discharge to a
				POTW;
(cc) alternate dredging
				methodologies; or
(dd) control
				methodologies used in practice for similar wastestreams.
(EE) An identification of the methodologies
				identified under subitem (DD) determined by the applicant not to be technically
				feasible and documentation supporting the infeasibility.
(FF) A ranking of those feasible
				methodologies from greater to lesser effectiveness by:
(aa) the reduction in pollutant
				concentrations; and
(bb) the
				increase in percent removal.
(GG) An evaluation for each feasible
				methodology that includes reasonably foreseeable adverse or beneficial
				environmental impacts resulting from the methodology, including the net impacts
				on the receiving water. This evaluation shall include:
(aa) impacts to the aquatic community,
				wildlife, and plant life;
(bb)
				impacts on rare, threatened, or endangered species;
(cc) impacts resulting from the discharge of
				toxic contaminants;
(dd) energy
				impacts (BTU and kWH);
(ee) risks
				to human health; and
(ff) impacts
				to other media, including air or land.
(HH) Documentation of the costs associated
				with implementing each feasible methodology.
(II) Upon request by the applicant, the
				commissioner may determine that one (1) or more of the requirements in subitems
				(AA) through (HH) is not necessary or appropriate for inclusion in the variance
				application. This request submitted by the applicant shall explain why such
				information is not necessary or appropriate for inclusion.
(JJ) Any other relevant information requested
				by the commissioner.