Every five years, the Texas General Permit to Discharge Under the Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System is renewed. We’ve seen with each new permit certain items receive more attention and changes than others. This year is no different. Changes that will and may affect your day to day site operations are as follows:
Dewatering Observations and Evaluation - The TCEQ now requires a dewatering observations and evaluation report be performed at least once per day on the days in which dewatering discharge activities occur (See Part III.F.7). Dewatering is defined as “[t]he act of draining accumulated stormwater or groundwater from building foundations, vaults, trenches, and other similar points of accumulation.” In order for a person to conduct a dewatering observations and evaluation, that person must 1) be knowledgeable of the general permit, 2) be knowledgeable of the construction activities at the site and 3) be knowledgeable of the site’s SWP3. No signature is required on the dewatering report so the person performing the inspection does not need signatory authority.
( If ProTex is developing your SWP3, a sample Dewatering Inspection report will be located in Appendix G of the SWP3.)
A report summarizing the scope of the dewatering discharge observations and evaluations must be completed within 24-hours following the inspection and must include the following:
i. Date of the observations and evaluation;
ii. Name(s) and title(s) of personnel making the observations and evaluation;
iii. Approximate times the dewatering discharge began and ended on the day of inspection. If the dewatering discharge is a continuous discharge that continues after normal business hours, indicate that the discharge is continuous;
iiii. Estimates of the rate (in gallons per day) of discharge on the day of the inspection;
iv. Whether or not any indications of pollutant discharge were observed at the point of discharge (e.g., foam, oil sheen, noticeable odor, floating solids, suspended sediments, or other obvious indicators of stormwater pollution);
v. Major observations, including: the locations of where erosion and discharges of sediment or other pollutants from the site have occurred; locations of BMPs that need to be maintained; locations of BMPs that failed to operate as designed or proved inadequate for a particular location; and locations where additional BMPs are needed.
vi. Actions taken as a result of the dewatering observations and evaluations, including the date of actions taken, must be described within and retained as part of the SWP3.
vii. The names and qualifications of personnel making the report for the permittee may be documented once in the SWP3 rather than being included in each report.
2. Date of action(s) taken as a result of inspections must be retained within the SWP3 - There has always been a requirement for actions taken as a result of inspections to be described within and retained as part of the SWP3. The new permit now requires the date to also be included. PTE recommends the use of a Corrective Action Log (provided by PTE) to record all actions taken as a result of inspections. PTE is also modifying its inspection layout such that when an image is taken requiring action, a box will appear next to the image for you to complete with the date action was taken and space to describe what action was taken. With this being a new requirement added by the TCEQ, PTE believes its an area the TCEQ and cities will focus on when reviewing sites. The SWP3 must be modified based on the results of the inspections with SWP3 revisions made within seven days. The implementation must occur before the next storm event, if practicable. If implementation before the next storm event is impracticable, the changes must be implemented as soon as practicable. As always, your site map must match current conditions and controls. ( If ProTex is inspecting your site(s) additions are made to the report adjacent to any pictures identifying actions needed in order to document actions taken and the date they were taken..)
3. Rain event inspection frequency - For those customers who have PTE perform 14 day inspections with a customer’s representative performing the rain event inspection, the frequency of potential rain event inspections has increased. Under the new rules, if multiple separate rain events occur within a 24-hour period and the total rainfall amount is 0.5 inches or more within that 24 hour period, a rain event inspection must occur.
The biggest change is when there is an extended rain even across a greater than 24-hour period. Under the new rules, if a storm event produces 0.5 inches of rain within a 24-hour period AND the storm continues beyond the initial 24-hour period to produce 0.5 inches or more of rain on subsequent 24-hour periods, there must be an inspection conducted within 24 hours of the first day of the storm event AND within 24 hours after the last day of the storm. In other words, when there is an extended rain event that produces 0.5 inches of rain within the first 24 hours AND produces another 0.5 inches of rain after the initial 24 hours, there must be two rain event inspections performed—one within 24 hours of the first day of rain and another within 24 hours of the end of the storm event.
With the inherent difficulty of determining whether or not a greater than 1” storm event over a period greater than 24 hours occurred mostly within the first 24 hours or was evenly spaced across the greater than 24 hour period, PTE advises its clients that in instances in which there is a greater than 1” rain event over a period greater than 24 hours, two rain inspections should be performed to ensure compliance with the general permit—one within 24 hours of the first day and another within 24 hours after the last day of the storm event.
There are some cities that require rain event inspections performed even if on a seven day inspection schedule. We will have to wait and see whether they update their local ordinances to match the general permit as most just state a rain event inspection must be performed after a 0.5 inch storm event and do not tie the requirement to the general permit’s standard rain event inspection requirement. As a result, we are advising customers who are in those cities and have PTE perform seven day inspections to continue their rain event inspections as before. ProTex does not perform rain event inspections and highly recommends implementing the 7 day inspection schedule, especially now due to these additional rain event requirements.
4. New Pollution Prevention Measures - The TCEQ has added two new pollution prevention measures and modified others: If ProTex is inspecting your site, our inspectors now have enhanced ways to identify trash and portable toilet concerns.
Minimize exposure of wastes at the end of each workday and during storm events - If a waste container does not have a lid and where the container itself is not sufficiently secure enough to prevent the discharge of pollutants absent a cover and could leak, it must be covered by a tarp, plastic sheeting, temporary roof or similar item in order to minimize exposure of wastes to precipitation, stormwater and wind or a similarly effective means designed to minimize the discharge of pollutants (e.g., secondary containment).
Wastes must be cleaned up and disposed of in designated waste containers on days of operation at the site. Waste must be cleaned up immediately if containers overflow. Previous reports may have had images trash with a note that is “should” be picked up for good housekeeping measures. Such captions will now state trash “must” be picked up at the end of each operating day,
Positioning of portable toilets - Portable toilets must be positioned so that they are secure and will not be tipped or knocked over and so that they are located away from surface water in the state and stormwater inlets or conveyances. In practical terms, portable toilets must be secured and must be “located away” from inlets or other conveyances.
Reportable spills - Where a leak, spill, or other release containing a hazardous substance or oil in an amount equal to or in excess of a reportable quantity established under either 40 CFR Part 110, 40 CFR Part 117, or 40 CFR Part 302 occurs during a 24-hour period, you must notify the National Response Center (NRC) at (800) 424-8802 in accordance with the requirements of 40 CFR Part 110, 40 CFR Part 117, and 40 CFR Part 302 as soon as you have knowledge of the release. You must also, within seven (7) calendar days of knowledge of the release, provide a description of the release, the circumstances leading to the release, and the date of the release.
5. Adverse condition exception - There is now an adverse condition exception to inspection requirements. This applies to both dewatering inspections and inspections of all controls. Inspections may be temporarily suspended for adverse conditions. Adverse conditions are conditions that are either dangerous to personnel (e.g., high wind, excessive lightning) or conditions that prohibit access to the site (e.g., flooding, freezing conditions). Adverse conditions that result in the temporary suspension of a permit requirement to inspect must be documented and included as part of the SWP3. Documentation must include:
the date and time of the adverse condition,
names of personnel that witnessed the adverse condition, and
a narrative for the nature of the adverse condition.