South Carolina Code of Regulations › Chapter 61 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL › Subchapter 61-67 - STANDARDS FOR WASTEWATER FACILITY CONSTRUCTION › Section 61-67.67.300 - Construction Permits

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 6, June 28, 2024
A. General Requirements.
1. Facilities needing a construction permit
			 include: Main Sewers, Wastewater Collection and Transmission Systems, Pump Stations
			 and Force Mains, Wastewater Treatment Facilities, and Components. Activities not
			 requiring a construction permit include replacement of a component (same or
			 similar), as long as there is no change in capacity, routine maintenance, and the
			 construction of buildings. However, for all other modifications, including
			 relocation of sewers and revisions to existing construction permits, the Department
			 shall be contacted for a decision on whether or not a construction permit is
			 required.
2. Service connections which
			 shall contribute more than five (5) percent of the existing wastewater treatment
			 facility's design capacity, or fifty thousand (50,000) gpd, shall be approved by the
			 Department. This approval is for the additional flow and not for the physical work
			 or materials.
3. Individual service
			 connections as defined in the regulation may require Department approval prior to
			 connecting to a sewer system if the wastewater treatment facility receiving the flow
			 from the individual service connection is under a tap moratorium imposed by the
			 Department.
4. Double residential
			 service connections are not considered main sewers and shall, therefore, not require
			 a construction permit from the Department. However, the common line shall be owned,
			 operated and maintained by the same entity that owns the main sewer system that the
			 common line is tying onto. Other double service connections shall be reviewed by the
			 Department on a case-by-case basis, to determine if a construction permit is
			 required and to confirm ownership requirements are met.
5. Individual pressure connections to force mains
			 are considered collectors and shall require that a construction permit be issued by
			 the Department, unless the entity owning the sewer system is a Delegated Review
			 Program entity with an approved Alternative Sewer Management Plan.
6. When the proposed system is located off the
			 applicants property, easements or documentation of recorded easements, excluding
			 encroachment permits and navigable waters easements, are required to be submitted to
			 the Department prior to permitting for all applicants with the exception of public
			 entities or other applicants that have the right of eminent domain.
7. No construction permit shall be issued for a
			 wastewater treatment facility, including effluent disposal lines, unless the
			 applicable effluent disposal permit has been issued. Construction may commence only
			 if:
a) the applicable effluent disposal permit has
			 not been appealed, or
b) the applicable
			 effluent disposal permit becomes effective in a manner which would not require a
			 change to the construction permit.
8. Proposed sewer systems shall connect to
			 existing systems with available capacity or to another proposed sewer system, with
			 available capacity (including considerations of infiltration and inflow), which has
			 already received a construction permit from the Department. Where a construction
			 permit has been issued on the downstream components though not yet operational, a
			 construction permit on the proposed sewer system may be issued, but the approval to
			 place in operation shall not be issued until all downstream components have received
			 an approval to place in operation.
a. Downstream
			 Sewer Systems. Construction permits shall not be issued in cases where adequate
			 capacity in the downstream components of the wastewater facilities is not available
			 to handle the design flow of the proposed project. Adequate capacity for sewer lines
			 and pump stations means that the existing sewer facilities, including the wastewater
			 treatment facility receiving the wastewater, have the capacity as currently
			 permitted. If a downstream treatment system were issued a permit to construct, but
			 construction could not commence consistent with subsection 67.300.A.7, then the
			 wastewater treatment facility permit would not be considered "currently permitted."
			 An evaluation of available capacity may be made based on factors such as flow
			 projections from previously permitted projects (including considerations of
			 infiltration and inflow).
b. Downstream
			 Treatment Systems. For public and private entities, available capacity in wastewater
			 treatment facilities may be based on its effluent disposal permit capacity (i.e.,
			 capacity may be advanced where the effluent disposal capacity is greater than the
			 actual facility capacity to treat and dispose of wastewater). This advancing of
			 capacity is acceptable unless actual flows exceed the permit flow limits of the
			 existing wastewater treatment facility or the facility has violated other limits
			 that have led to Department's issuance of an order to remedy the problems (and the
			 problem has not been corrected). For facilities seeking to have capacity advanced,
			 the Department may require an agreement with the permittee to detail the conditions
			 of advancing capacity. The permitted flow at a wastewater treatment facility may be
			 adjusted based on a review of Discharge Monitoring Reports data or other data
			 collected by independent sources to address issues such as infiltration and
			 inflow.
c. Exceptions. A construction
			 permit may be issued for a sewer system and/or pretreatment system where the
			 downstream components have yet to be issued a construction permit, or do not
			 presently have adequate capacity if:
(1) a
			 preliminary engineering report has been submitted to and approved by the Department
			 for the upgrade of the downstream facilities. The preliminary engineering report
			 shall include target dates for submitting plans, starting construction and
			 completing construction for the necessary upgrade to the downstream
			 facilities;
(2) for a private entity,
			 excluding industrial facilities, financial assurance (e.g., an escrow account),
			 which includes adequate funds to complete the upgrade of the downstream facilities,
			 has been established; and
(3) the
			 increase to the effluent disposal permit has been issued and has not been appealed
			 (or either the period to appeal has lapsed without appeal, or the appeal has been
			 resolved to sustain the permit) for the wastewater treatment facility so that there
			 is adequate permit capacity available for the proposed sewer system.
9. Prior to the issuance of
			 a construction permit for a collection system, including pump stations and force
			 mains, to serve more than one (1) parcel of deeded property (e.g., subdivisions,
			 condominiums), with the exception of industrial facilities, the project owner shall
			 provide the Department with documentation that the collection system, including the
			 pump stations and force mains, shall be owned, operated and maintained by a public
			 entity. An exception can be made where there are several platted properties with a
			 common owner in an area (e.g., hospital complex) where there is not a reasonable
			 expectation that the project area would later serve different owners. Proposals by
			 private entities shall be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The Department may
			 evaluate the capability of reliable system operation in its evaluation.
10. Average flow projections for all domestic
			 wastewater facilities shall be based on the type of facility to be served, as stated
			 in 61-67 Appendix A, unless otherwise justified by the applicant and approved by the
			 Department.
11. Peak hourly flow
			 projections shall be at least two and one half (2.5) times the average daily flow
			 projection, unless otherwise justified by the applicant and approved by the
			 Department. Where actual data are available, the Department may require its use in
			 determining a peaking factor.
12. All
			 sewers shall be constructed with a minimum of three (3) feet of cover, unless
			 justified by the applicant and approved by the Department (e.g., use of ductile iron
			 pipe may have cover less than three (3) feet).
13. Sewer lines, manholes, pump stations, force
			 mains, and wastewater treatment facilities shall be located more than one hundred
			 (100) feet from a public water supply well. Sewer lines, manholes, pump stations,
			 and force mains shall be located at least twenty (20) feet from any other potable
			 well, as defined in Regulation Regulation
			 61-71. Wastewater treatment
			 facilities shall be located at least one hundred (100) feet from any other potable
			 well, as defined in Regulation Regulation
			 61-71. Special designs may be
			 considered which shall provide equivalent protection to the well when this
			 requirement is not achievable.
14. When
			 sewers are proposed adjacent to any existing or proposed potable water supply
			 facilities, the following requirements apply:
a.
			 Potable Water Supply Interconnections. There shall be no physical connections
			 between a public or private potable water supply system and a sewer, or appurtenance
			 thereto which may permit the passage of any sewage or polluted water into the
			 potable supply. No potable water pipe shall pass through or come into contact with
			 any part of a sewer manhole.
b.
			 Horizontal and Vertical Separation from Potable Water Mains. Sewers shall be laid at
			 least ten (10) feet horizontally from any existing or proposed potable water main.
			 The distance shall be measured edge to edge. In cases where it is not practical to
			 maintain a ten (10) foot separation, the Department may allow deviation on a
			 case-by-case basis, if supported by data from the design engineer. Such deviation
			 may allow installation of the sewer closer to a potable water main, provided that
			 the potable water main is in a separate trench or on an undisturbed earth shelf
			 located on one side of the sewer and at an elevation so the bottom of the potable
			 water main is at least eighteen (18) inches above the top of the sewer.
c. Crossings. Sewers crossing potable water mains
			 shall be laid to provide a minimum vertical separation of eighteen (18) inches
			 between the outside of the potable water main and the outside of the sewer. This
			 shall be the case where the potable water main is either above or below the sewer.
			 Whenever possible, the potable water main shall be located above the sewer main.
			 Where a new sewer line crosses a new potable water main, a full length of pipe shall
			 be used for both the sewer line and potable water main and the crossing shall be
			 arranged so that the joints of each line shall be as far as possible from the point
			 of crossing and each other. Where a potable water main crosses under a sewer,
			 adequate structural support shall be provided for the sewer line to prevent damage
			 to the potable water main while maintaining line and grade.
d. Force Mains. There shall be at least a ten (10)
			 foot horizontal separation between sanitary sewer force mains and potable water
			 mains. There shall be an eighteen (18) inch vertical separation at crossing as
			 required in subsection67.300.A.14.b and subsection67.300.A.14.c.
e. Special Conditions. When it is impossible to
			 obtain the distances specified in subsection67.300.A.14.b, subsection67.300.A.14.c,
			 and subsection67.300.A.14.d the Department may allow an alternative design. Any
			 alternative design shall:
(1) maximize the
			 distances between the sewer line and the potable water main and the joints of
			 each;
(2) use pipe materials which meet
			 the requirements as specified in Regulation Regulation
			 61-58.4(D)(1)(D)(1)for
			 the sewer line; and
(3) allow enough
			 distance to make repairs to one of the lines without damaging the other.
f. Sewer Manholes. No potable water
			 pipe shall pass through or come into contact with any part of a sewer
			 manhole.
15.
			 [Reserved]
16. The construction permits
			 issued by the Department shall be effective for a period of up to two (2) years to
			 initiate construction from the issuance date, and up to three (3) years to complete
			 construction from the issuance date. If there is adequate justification the
			 Department may grant longer time frames when issuing the permit for initiating and
			 completing construction. Once permitted, the Department will consider requests to
			 extend dates for initiating and completing construction. Projects for which the
			 construction permit has been expired for more than one (1) year are considered new
			 projects and therefore must include a new application submittal.
17. Materials and installation for all gravity
			 sewer lines and force mains shall comply with commonly accepted design standards
			 such as ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials), ANSI (American National
			 Standard), AWWA (American Water Works Association) or other design standards as
			 approved by the Department.
18. If a
			 proposed wastewater system requires construction in State navigable waters and the
			 Department determines that a permit shall be issued for the construction in
			 navigable waters, considerations of the navigable waters permit process may be
			 incorporated into the review for the wastewater construction permit.
19. If a proposed wastewater system requires
			 construction within one of the eight coastal counties (Horry, Georgetown, Berkeley,
			 Charleston, Dorchester, Colleton, Beaufort, and Jasper) Coastal Zone consistency
			 review shall be provided by the Department's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource
			 Management (OCRM) as part of the wastewater construction permit process, unless a
			 general certification applicable to the project from OCRM has already been
			 provided.