The Maryland Department of the Environment is proposing to reissue the General Permit for Storm Water Discharges from Industrial Activities, General Permit No. 12-SW. The Department will hold public hearings to receive oral testimony concerning the proposed permit on November 26 and 30, 2012 Written comments concerning the draft permit will also be accepted on or before January 4, 2013.
One of the important aspects of the proposed permit is how it will address new stormwater discharges to impaired waters. Part I.C.6 of the permit requires any new discharger to demonstrate its ability to comply with 40 CFR 122.4(i) (prohibiting the issuance of permits to new dischargers that will cause or contribute to the violation of water quality standards) prior to coverage under the permit. To satisfy the requirements of 40 CFR 122.4(i), an operator must (a) eliminate all exposure to stormwater of the pollutant(s) for which the waterbody is impaired, and document no exposure and retain such documentation with the SWPPP; or (b) demonstrate that the pollutant for which the waterbody is impaired is not present at the site, and retain documentation of this finding with the SWPPP; or (c) submit data to the
Department documenting that the pollutant discharge will not cause or contribute to an excursion of water quality standards because the discharge will meet in-stream water quality standards at the point of discharge or because there are sufficient remaining wasteload allocations in an approved TMDL and the discharge is controlled at least as stringently as similar discharges subject to that TMDL.