Ohio Administrative Code › Title 3745 - Ohio Environmental Protection Agency › Chapter 3745-1 - Water Quality Standards › Section 3745-1-05 - Antidegradation

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1,
			 2024
[Comment: For dates of non-regulatory government publications,
				publications of recognized organizations and associations, federal rules and
				federal statutory provisions referenced in this rule, see rule
				3745-1-03
				of the Administrative Code.]
(A)
			 Definitions.
[Comment: The following definitions are in addition to the
				definitions contained in rule
				3745-1-02 of the
				Administrative Code.]
(1) "Available
			 pollutant assimilative capacity" means the water body pollutant assimilative
			 capacity for a substance, as determined in paragraph (A)(28)(a) of this rule,
			 minus the background pollutant load, or the quantity for a substance as
			 calculated in paragraph (A)(28)(b) of this rule.
(2) "Background pollutant load" means the sum
			 of all upstream pollutant loads of a regulated pollutant and has the same
			 meaning as the background water quality as determined in accordance with
			 paragraph (A)(3) of rule
			 3745-2-05
			 of the Administrative Code.
(3)
			 "Best available demonstrated control technology" means a wastewater treatment
			 capable of meeting the following effluent limitations or design criteria:
(a) For the discharge of sanitary wastewater
			 from facilities using conventional treatment technologies, the effluent
			 limitations in table 5-1 of this rule.
(b) For the discharge of sanitary wastewater
			 from alternative treatment technologies such as lagoon systems, land
			 application and controlled discharge systems, constructed wetland systems or
			 combined sewer overflow control systems effluent limitations shall be developed
			 on a case-by-case basis.
(c) For
			 industrial direct discharges subject to federal effluent guidelines, the
			 facility shall be designed to meet the most stringent of the new source
			 performance standards, best conventional pollutant control technology, best
			 available technology economically achievable and best practicable control
			 technology currently available for the appropriate categorical guidelines of 40
			 C.F.R. 400 to 40 C.F.R. 471.
(d)
			 For categorical industrial indirect dischargers, the facility shall be designed
			 to meet categorical pretreatment standards for existing sources or categorical
			 pretreatment standards for new sources as contained in Chapter 3745-3 of the
			 Administrative Code.
(e) For
			 non-categorical industrial direct or indirect discharges, effluent limitations
			 will be developed based upon best engineering or professional
			 judgment.
(f) For wastewater
			 discharges resulting from clean-up of response action sites contaminated with
			 volatile organic compounds, the facility shall include air-stripping, carbon
			 columns, both, or equivalent treatment capable of achieving final thirty-day
			 average effluent limits of five micrograms per liter or less for each
			 individually regulated volatile organic compound.
(4) "Control document" means any
			 authorization issued by a state or federal agency to any source of pollutants
			 to waters under its jurisdiction that specifies conditions under which the
			 source is allowed to operate.
(5)
			 "Declining fish species" mean those species listed in table 5-2 of this rule.
			 Declining fish species are native species that have declined in distribution
			 across Ohio based on collection records since 1978 compared to historical
			 distributions of fish species.
(6)
			 "Designated uses" mean those uses assigned in this chapter for a water body or segment whether or
			 not those uses are being attained. Specific designated uses are defined in rule
			 3745-1-07
			 of the Administrative Code.
(7)
			 "Director" means the director of the Ohio environmental protection agency, or
			 the director of the Ohio department of agriculture for projects or activities
			 governed under Chapter 903. of the Revised Code.
(8) "Existing uses" mean those uses actually
			 attained in the water body on or after November 28, 1975.
(9) "Existing source" means any treatment
			 works or disposal system, and its associated treatment or production capacity
			 that:
(a) Was built, operational and
			 discharging prior to July 1, 1993.
(b) Was
			 authorized by a permit to install or national pollutant discharge elimination
			 system permit issued after July 1, 1993.
An individual or a collection of several household sewage
				treatment systems does not constitute an existing source.
(10) "High quality waters" mean
			 all surface waters of the state except limited quality waters. Pursuant to
			 division (A)(2) of section
			 6111.12 of the Revised Code,
			 four categories of high quality waters are hereby recognized and described in
			 this paragraph. Categorizations of specific water bodies shall follow the
			 procedures in paragraph (E) of this rule.
(a)
			 "General high quality waters" are wetlands categorized as category 2 or 3 in
			 accordance with rule
			 3745-1-54
			 of the Administrative Code and other surface waters that are not specifically
			 categorized limited quality waters, superior high quality waters, outstanding
			 state waters, or outstanding national resource waters.
(b) "Superior high quality waters" are
			 surface waters that possess exceptional ecological values and that have been so
			 categorized pursuant to paragraph (E) of this rule. Except as provided in this
			 rule, exceptional ecological values shall be assessed based upon a combination
			 of the presence of threatened or endangered species and a high level of
			 biological integrity. The following factors shall be considered in determining
			 exceptional ecological value: providing habitat for Ohio or federal endangered
			 species; providing habitat for Ohio threatened species; harboring stable
			 populations of a declining fish species that coincide with the presence of
			 suitable habitat for that species, or that coincide with an essential migration
			 path between areas of suitable habitat for that species; and displaying a level
			 of biological integrity equivalent to the exceptional warmwater habitat index
			 of biotic integrity or invertebrate community index criteria values listed in
			 rule
			 3745-1-07
			 of the Administrative Code.
Water bodies that exhibit a pattern of biological integrity
				equivalent to index of biotic integrity and, where applicable, invertebrate
				community index scores of fifty-six or greater at most sites are characteristic
				of a near-pristine aquatic habitat. Such waters, as well as other ecologically
				unique water bodies that have essentially undisturbed native faunas, but for
				which the biological criteria in rule
				3745-1-07
				of the Administrative Code do not apply, may be considered as possessing
				exceptional ecological values without the presence of threatened or endangered
				species.
(c) "Outstanding
			 state waters" are waters that have special significance for the state because
			 of their exceptional ecological values or exceptional recreational values, and
			 that have been so categorized pursuant to paragraph (E) of this rule. To
			 qualify on the basis of exceptional ecological values they must meet the
			 qualifications for superior high quality waters and be further distinguished as
			 being demonstratively among the best waters of the state from an ecological
			 perspective. To qualify on the basis of exceptional recreational values they
			 must provide outstanding or unique opportunities for recreational boating,
			 fishing or other personal enjoyment.
(d) "Outstanding national resource waters"
			 are surface waters that have a national ecological or recreational
			 significance, and that have been so categorized pursuant to paragraph (E) of
			 this rule. National ecological significance may include providing habitat for
			 populations of federal endangered or threatened species or displaying some
			 unique combination of biological characteristics in addition to those factors
			 listed in paragraph (A)(10)(b) of this rule. National recreational significance
			 may include designation in the national wild and scenic river system.
(11) "Land application and
			 controlled discharge system" means an innovative technology for the treatment
			 of sewage that balances land application of treated wastewater with controlled
			 discharges of wastewater under conditions that minimize stress on the aquatic
			 environment. The system shall be designed to allow a discharge during winter
			 months and required land application of the wastewater during summer
			 months.
(12) "Limited quality
			 waters" mean wetlands categorized as category 1 in accordance with rule
			 3745-1-54
			 of the Administrative Code and other surface waters of the state specifically
			 designated in rules
			 3745-1-08
			 to
			 3745-1-30
			 of the Administrative Code as limited resource water, nuisance prevention,
			 limited warmwater habitat, or modified warmwater habitat.
(13) "Mass discharge limit" means for an
			 existing source:
(a) The average thirty-day
			 mass limit specified in the national pollutant discharge elimination system
			 permit.
(b) The
			 product of the average concentration limit specified in the permit and the
			 permitted discharge flow, if no average mass limit is specified.
(c) The product of an average concentration
			 value derived from the maximum concentration limit specified in the permit
			 using derivation methods established in the total maximum daily load procedures
			 and the permitted discharge flow, if no average concentration or mass limit is
			 specified.
(14) "Minimal
			 degradation alternative" means an alternative, other than the applicant's
			 preferred alternative, including pollution prevention alternatives, that would
			 result in a lesser lowering of water quality.
(15) "Mitigative technique alternative" means
			 an alternative, other than the applicant's preferred alternative, or other
			 on-site or off-site control measures designed to offset all or part of the
			 lowering of water quality, preferably within the same watershed.
(16) "Modification of a facility" means:
(a) The addition of new wastewater or sources
			 of pollutants to an existing source, including the addition of new industrial
			 users.
(b) Any
			 other physical change at the facility from which the discharge is generated
			 that increases the capacity of that facility to discharge a pollutant or
			 results in the discharge of a pollutant not previously discharged, excluding
			 the following:
(i) Routine repair,
			 maintenance and replacement of existing equipment.
(ii) Increases in hours or rates of operation
			 and the use of alternative fuels or raw materials that can be implemented
			 without any physical changes to the facility.
(iii) Physical changes designed to restore
			 previously existing production or treatment capacity.
An expansion of the wastewater treatment system is not
				considered a modification of the facility.
(17) "Net increase" means:
(a) For a new source, any level of a
			 regulated pollutant discharged to waters of the state as a result of the
			 activity subject to this rule.
(b) For
			 an existing source:
(i) The amount by which
			 the sum of the following exceeds zero:
(a) The
			 increase in the mass discharge limit attributable to the activity subject to
			 this rule.
(b) All
			 other contemporaneous increases or decreases attributable to other pollutant
			 sources affecting the surface water segments under consideration and which are
			 stipulated as a condition of the applicant's permit and which shall occur
			 during the term of the applicant's permit.
(ii) For heat, bacteria and any other
			 regulated pollutant which, though not measurable as a mass level is nonetheless
			 susceptible to determinations of net increase, the amount by which the sum of
			 the following exceeds zero:
(a) The increase
			 in an authorized discharge level attributable to the activity subject to this
			 rule.
(b) All
			 other contemporaneous increases or decreases attributable to other pollutant
			 sources affecting the surface water segments under consideration and which are
			 stipulated as a condition of the applicant's permit and which shall occur
			 during the term of the applicant's permit.
(18) "New source" means any
			 treatment works or disposal system other than an existing source, excluding new
			 domestic sewage sources and industrial users tributary to a publicly owned
			 treatment works. A new treatment works built to serve a home or homes with
			 individual systems is considered a new source.
(19) "Non-degradation alternative" means an
			 alternative, other than the applicant's preferred alternative, including
			 pollution prevention alternatives, that would result in the elimination of the
			 need to lower water quality.
(20)
			 "Permit modification" means an application filed by the permit holder pursuant
			 to paragraph (D) of rule
			 3745-33-04 of the
			 Administrative Code.
(21)
			 "Permitted discharge flow" means the discharge flow specified in the national
			 pollutant discharge elimination system permit, or permit to install application
			 if not specified in a national pollutant discharge elimination system permit,
			 and shall be representative of the typical wastewater flow to be discharged by
			 a facility when the wastewater facility is operating at full capacity, and
			 considering, where applicable, discharge flows during wet weather
			 events.
(22) "Pollution prevention
			 alternative" means the use of source reduction techniques in order to reduce
			 risk to public health, safety, welfare and the environment and, as a second
			 preference, the use of environmentally sound recycling to achieve these same
			 goals. Pollution prevention avoids cross-media transfers of waste or pollutants
			 and is multi-media in scope; it addresses all types of waste and environmental
			 releases to the air, water and land.
(23) "Regulated pollutant" means any
			 parameter for which water quality criteria have been adopted in, or developed
			 pursuant to, Chapter 3745-1 of the Administrative Code with the exception of
			 biological criteria, and any other parameter that may be limited in a national
			 pollutant discharge elimination system permit as a result of new source
			 performance standards, best conventional pollutant control technology, best
			 available technology economically achievable or best practicable control
			 technology currently available for the appropriate categorical guidelines of 40
			 C.F.R. 400 to 40 C.F.R. 471. For the purposes of this rule, pH and dissolved
			 oxygen are not considered "regulated pollutants."
(24) "Remaining available pollutant
			 assimilative capacity" means the available pollutant assimilative capacity for
			 a substance minus the load already allocated to existing national pollutant
			 discharge elimination system permits for dischargers in the water body segment
			 receiving the allocation. This term is not used in the application of
			 antidegradation for lake Erie.
(25)
			 "State resource water" is a designation of high quality waters that is being
			 replaced by the categories of high quality waters described in paragraph
			 (A)(10) of this rule. All water body segments currently designated state
			 resource waters in rules
			 3745-1-08
			 to
			 3745-1-30
			 of the Administrative Code are categorized in this rule as general high quality
			 waters, unless they are specifically listed in tables 5-4 to 5-7 of this rule.
			 Waters designated state resource waters in rules
			 3745-1-08
			 to
			 3745-1-30
			 of the Administrative Code are subject to the considerations of paragraph
			 (C)(5)(d) of this rule.
(26)
			 "Threatened species" mean those species listed in table 5-3 of this rule. A
			 threatened species is an indigenous species whose survival in Ohio is not in
			 immediate jeopardy, but to which a threat exists. Continued or increased stress
			 will result in its becoming endangered.
(27) "Total maximum daily load procedures"
			 mean the procedures for calculating wasteload allocations adopted in Chapter
			 3745-2 of the Administrative Code.
(28) "Water body pollutant assimilative
			 capacity" means the total maximum allowable load of a substance for a specific
			 water body segment and is calculated as:
(a)
			 For a stream, the water quality criteria for a substance multiplied by the
			 total applicable flow at the end of the segment being studied. The applicable
			 flow is determined using the total maximum daily load procedures.
(b) For a lake, a value equal to the
			 permitted discharge flow times Y, where Y equals eleven times the water quality
			 criteria for a substance minus ten times the background concentration for the
			 substance.
Water body pollutant assimilative capacity for a lake can also
				be determined by any alternative method which the director determines to be
				appropriate and consistent with the total maximum daily load procedures.