(1) The purpose of this chapter is to implement a state permit program, applicable to the discharge of waste materials from industrial, commercial, and municipal operations into ground and surface waters of the state and into municipal sewerage systems. However, this regulation does not apply to the following:

(a) The point source discharge of pollutants into navigable waters of the state which are regulated by the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit Program, chapter 173-220 WAC.

(b) The discharge of pollutants into waters of the state which are regulated by the Waste discharge general permit program, chapter 173-226 WAC.

(2) Permits issued under this chapter are designed to satisfy the requirement for discharge permits under the Water Pollution Control Act, chapter 90.48 RCW and to implement applicable pretreatment requirements under section 307 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq.).

(1) It shall be the policy of the department in carrying out the requirements of this chapter, to maintain the highest possible standards to ensure the purity of all waters of the state and to require the use of all known, available and reasonable methods to prevent and control the discharge of wastes into the waters of the state. Notwithstanding that standards of quality established for the waters of the state would not be violated, wastes and other materials shall not be allowed to enter such waters which will reduce the existing quality thereof, except in those situations where it is clear that overriding considerations of public interest will be served.

(2) Consistent with this policy, the discharge of waste materials into municipal sewerage systems which would interfere with, pass through, or otherwise be incompatible with such systems or which would contaminate the sludge will not be permitted.

(3) Consistent with this policy, the department will act to prevent the disposal of wastes that present a risk to human health, including the potential, chronic effects of lifetime exposure to waste materials.

For the purposes of this chapter the following definitions shall be applicable:

(1) "Beneficial uses" shall include, but not be limited to, use for domestic water, irrigation, fish, shellfish, game, and other aquatic life, municipal, recreation, industrial water, generation of electric power, and navigation.

(2) "Dangerous wastes" means any discarded, useless, unwanted, or abandoned nonradioactive substances, including but not limited to certain pesticides, or any residues or containers of such substances which are disposed of in such quantity or concentration as to pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health, wildlife, or the environment because such wastes or constituents or combinations of such wastes:

(a) Have short-lived, toxic properties that may cause death, injury, or illness or have mutagenic, teratogenic, or carcinogenic properties; or

(b) Are corrosive, explosive, flammable, or may generate pressure through decomposition or other means (Hazardous Waste Disposal Act, chapter 70.105 RCW).

(3) "Department" means department of ecology.

(4) "Domestic wastewater" means water carrying human wastes, including kitchen, bath, and laundry wastes from residences, buildings, industrial establishments or other places, together with such groundwater infiltration or surface waters as may be present (submission of plans and reports for construction of wastewater facilities, chapter 173-240 WAC).

(5) "Domestic wastewater facility" means all structures, equipment, or processes required to collect, carry away, treat, reclaim, or dispose of domestic wastewater together with such industrial waste as may be present. In case of subsurface sewage treatment and disposal, the term is restricted to mean those facilities treating and disposing of domestic wastewater only from:

(a) A septic tank with subsurface sewage treatment and disposal and an ultimate design capacity exceeding fourteen thousand five hundred gallons per day at any common point; or

(b) A mechanical treatment system or lagoon followed by subsurface disposal with an ultimate design capacity exceeding three thousand five hundred gallons per day at any common point (submission of plans and reports for construction of wastewater facilities, chapter 173-240 WAC).

(6) "FWPCA" means Federal Water Pollution Control Act as amended by 1981 amendment (33 U.S.C. §466 et seq.).

(7) "General permit" means a permit which covers multiple dischargers within a designated geographical area, in lieu of individual permits being issued to each discharger.

(8) "Industrial wastewater" means water or liquid-carried waste from industrial or commercial processes, as distinct from domestic wastewater. These wastes may result from any process or activity of industry, manufacture, trade or business, from the development of any natural resource, or from animal operations such as feed lots, poultry houses, or dairies. The term includes contaminated stormwater and, also, leachate from solid waste facilities (Submission of plans and reports for construction of wastewater facilities, chapter 173-240 WAC).

(9) "Interfere with" means a discharge by an industrial user which, alone or in conjunction with discharges by other sources, inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations, or its sludge processes, use or disposal and which is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the POTW's NPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation) or of the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal by the POTW in accordance with the following statutory provisions and regulations or permits issued thereunder (or more stringent state or local regulations): Section 405 of the FWPCA, the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) ( including Title II, more commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and including state regulations contained in any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Subtitle D or the SWDA, the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, and the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act.

(10) "Municipal sewerage system" or "publicly owned treatment works (POTW)" means a publicly owned domestic wastewater facility or a privately owned domestic wastewater facility that is under contract to a municipality.

(11) "NPDES" means National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program under section 402 of FWPCA.

(12) "New source" means any building, structure, facility, or installation from which there is or may be a discharge, the construction of which commenced; after proposal of Pretreatment Standards under section 307(c) of the FWPCA which are applicable to such sources.

(13) "Pass through" means the discharge of pollutants through a municipal sewerage system into waters of the state in quantities or concentrations which are a cause of or significantly contribute to a violation of any requirement of water quality standards for waters of state of Washington, chapter 173-201 WAC, or of the NPDES or state waste discharge permit, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation (section 307 of FWPCA). Failure to obtain approval of an application for a new or increased discharge or change in the nature of the discharge according to WAC 173-216-110(5) would constitute such a violation.

(14) "Person" includes any political subdivision, local, state or federal government agency, municipality, industry, public or private corporation, partnership, association, firm, individual, or any other entity whatsoever.

(15) "Pretreatment" means the reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater prior to or in lieu of discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into a POTW.

(16) "Pretreatment requirements" means any substantive or procedural state, local, or federal requirements or standards developed under chapter 90.48 RCW and sections 307 and/or 402 of the FWPCA.

(17) "Pretreatment standards," "categorical standards," or "standards," means any pollutant discharge limitations, including those developed under section 307 (b) and (c) of the FWPCA and implemented through regulations in 40 C.F.R. Subchapter N, that apply to the discharge of nondomestic wastes to POTWs. This term includes prohibitive discharge limits established pursuant to WAC 173-216-060.

(18) "Subsurface sewage treatment and disposal" means the physical, chemical, or biological treatment and disposal of domestic wastewater within the soil profile by placement beneath the soil surface in trenches, beds, seepage pits, mounds, or fills (Submission of plans and reports for construction of wastewater facilities, chapter 173-240 WAC).

(19) "Waste materials" means any discarded, abandoned, unwanted or unrecovered material(s), except the following are not waste materials for the purposes of this chapter:

(a) Discharges into the ground or groundwater of return flow, unaltered except for temperature, from a groundwater heat pump used for space heating or cooling: Provided, That such discharges do not have significant potential, either individually, or collectively, to affect groundwater quality or uses.

(b) Discharges of stormwater that is not contaminated or potentially contaminated by industrial or commercial sources.

(20) "Waters of the state" means all lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, inland waters, groundwaters, salt waters, and all other waters and water courses within the jurisdiction of the state of Washington.

(21) In the absence of other definitions as set forth herein, the definitions as set forth in 40 C.F.R. Part 403.3 shall be used for circumstances concerning the discharge of waste into sewerage systems.

(1) No waste materials may be discharged from any commercial or industrial operation into waters of the state, or into any municipal sewerage system, nor may waste materials be discharged from any municipal sewerage system into waters of the state, except as authorized pursuant to this chapter, chapter 173-220 or 173-226 WAC.

(2) Any person who constructs or modifies or proposes to construct or modify wastewater facilities must first comply with the regulations for submission of plans and reports for construction of wastewater facilities, chapter 173-240 WAC.

(1) The following discharges are not subject to permits under this chapter:

(a) Discharges to municipal sewerage systems of domestic wastewater from residential, commercial, or industrial structures.

(b) Any industrial or commercial discharge to a municipal sewerage system for which authority to issue permits has been granted to the municipality under RCW 90.48.165.

(c) Any industrial or commercial discharge to a municipal sewerage system operating under, and in compliance with, the applicable requirements of a local pretreatment program approved under section 307 of FWPCA and WAC 173-216-150. In the event of noncompliance, this exemption no longer applies and the discharger is immediately subject to enforcement action under chapter 90.48 RCW for discharging without a waste discharge permit.

(d) Discharges to municipal sewerage systems of wastes from industrial or commercial sources whose wastewater is similar in character and strength to normal domestic wastewater: Provided, That such discharges do not have the potential to adversely affect performance of the system. Examples of this type of discharge sources may include hotels, restaurants, laundries and food preparation establishments.

(e) Discharges for which an NPDES permit from the department is required pursuant to chapter 173-220 WAC.

(f) Discharges which are otherwise subject to the permit requirements of this chapter but which are covered under a general permit issued pursuant to chapter 173-226 WAC.

(g) Discharges of domestic wastewater from a septic tank with subsurface sewage treatment and disposal and an ultimate design capacity less than or equal to fourteen thousand five hundred gallons per day. These systems are governed by on-site sewage disposal systems, chapter 246-272 WAC which is administered by the Washington state department of health.

(h) Discharges of domestic wastewater from a mechanical treatment system or lagoon followed by subsurface disposal with an ultimate design capacity less than or equal to three thousand five hundred gallons per day. These systems are governed by on-site sewage disposal systems, chapter 246-272 WAC which is administered by the Washington state department of health.

(2) A permit is required for any source subject to pretreatment standards promulgated under section 307 of FWPCA, unless exempted under subsections (1)(b) and (c) of this section.

(3) These exemptions shall not relieve any discharger from the requirement to apply all known, available, and reasonable methods to prevent and control waste discharges to the waters of the state, nor the requirement to obtain approval of plans and reports for the construction of wastewater facilities. Nothing herein shall limit the authority of the department to take enforcement action for any unlawful discharge of waste materials or other violations of the Water Pollution Control Act, chapter 90.48 RCW.

(1) The discharge restrictions and prohibitions of dangerous waste regulations, chapter 173-303 WAC shall apply to this chapter.

(2) In addition, the following are prohibited:

(a) The discharge into a municipal sewerage system of substances prohibited from such discharge by section 307 of FWPCA.

(b) All of the following discharges to a municipal sewerage system:

(i) Waste materials that pass through the treatment works untreated or interfere with its operation or performance.

(ii) Any liquids, solids or gases which by reason of their nature or quantity are or may be sufficient either alone or by interaction to cause fire or explosion or be capable of creating a public nuisance or hazard to life or are sufficient to prevent entry into the sewers for their maintenance and repair or be injurious in any other way to the operation of the system or the operating personnel.

(iii) Solid or viscous substances which may cause obstruction to the flow in a sewer or other interference with the operation of the system.

(iv) Any wastewater having a pH less than 5.0 or greater than 11.0 or having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment, or personnel of the system, unless the system is specifically designed to accommodate such discharge and the discharge is authorized by a permit under this chapter.

(v) Wastewater which would cause the influent temperature to exceed 40°C (104°F), unless the system is specifically designed to accommodate such discharge and the discharge is authorized by a permit under this chapter. In any case, any wastewater having a temperature which will interfere with the biological activity in the system is prohibited.

(vi) Any waste materials, including oxygen demanding waste materials (BOD, etc.), released in either a slug load or continuous discharge of such volume or strength as to cause interference to the system.

(vii) Any of the following discharges unless approved by the department under extraordinary circumstances, such as lack of direct discharge alternatives due to combined sewer service or need to augment sewage flows due to septic conditions:

(A) Noncontact cooling water in significant volumes.

(B) Stormwater, and other direct inflow sources.

(C) Wastewaters significantly affecting system hydraulic loading, which do not require treatment or would not be afforded a significant degree of treatment by the system.

(1) Any person not exempt under WAC 173-216-050, who proposes to discharge waste materials into waters of the state or into a municipal sewerage system, must file an application with the department at least sixty days prior to discharging, or in the case of an expiring permit, at least sixty days prior to the expiration of the permit.

(2) Applications for permits shall be on forms as prescribed by the department.

(3) The applicant must pay applicable fees pursuant to Wastewater discharge permit fees, chapter 173-224 WAC.

(4) The requirement for a permit application will be satisfied, if the discharger files:

(a) A completed permit application;

(b) When applicable, signature of approval by an authorized representative of the municipal sewerage system; and

(c) Any other information determined as necessary by the department.

(5) The application shall be signed in case of:

(a) Corporations, by a principal executive officer of at least the level of vice president;

(b) A partnership, by a general partner;

(c) A sole proprietorship, by the proprietor;

(d) A municipal, state, federal, or other public facility, by either a principal executive officer or ranking elected official.

(6) In the case of application by a corporation, the principal executive officer shall personally examine the application and certify its truth, accuracy, and completeness.

(1) Any information submitted pursuant to this chapter may be claimed as confidential by the applicant. Any such claim must be asserted at the time of application or notification by placing the words "confidential business information" or similar words, on each page containing such information. If no claim is made, the department may make the information available to the public without further notice. Claims of confidentiality for the following information will be denied:

(a) Name and address of applicant;

(b) Description of proposal;

(c) Description of proposed receiving waters;

(d) Description of quality and quantity of receiving water; and

(e) Description of project's environmental impacts as provided in the State Environmental Policy Act, chapter 43.21C RCW;

(f) Description of quantity and characteristics of the effluent.

(2) Claims of confidentiality will be handled in accordance with the provisions of Disclosure—Campaign finances—Lobbying—Records, chapter 42.17 RCW, Public records, chapter 173-03 WAC, and Request for certification of records as confidential—Procedure, RCW 43.21A.160.

(1) The applicant shall publish notice for each application in such a manner to inform and seek comments from interested and potentially interested persons.

(2) The public notice shall be in a form provided by the department and shall include at least the following:

(a) Name, address, and phone number of the office of the department issuing the public notice;

(b) Name and address of the applicant, and if different, of the facility or activity to be permitted;

(c) Brief description of the applicant's activities or operations which result in the discharge described in the application (e.g. municipal waste treatment plant, steel manufacturing, drainage from mining activities);

(d) A brief description of the discharge point(s);

(e) A statement of any tentative determination to issue or deny a permit for the discharge described in the application;

(f) A brief description of the procedures for the formulation of final determinations, including the thirty-day comment period required by subsection (6) of this section and any other means by which interested persons may influence or comment upon those determinations; and

(g) Address and phone number of the office of the department at which interested persons may obtain further information.

(3) Circulation of public notice shall include at least publishing once each week for two consecutive weeks, at applicants' expense, a public notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county of the proposal. The department shall also, in the case of a discharge into a municipal sewerage system, notify the municipality of the intent to issue or deny a permit.

(4) The department may require the following additional public notification requirements:

(a) Mailing the notice to persons who have expressed an interest in being notified;

(b) Mailing the notice to other state agencies and local governments with a regulatory interest in the proposal;

(c) Posting the notice on the premises.

(5) The public notification requirements do not apply for permit renewal, if there are no increases in volume or changes in characteristics of discharge beyond those previously authorized.

(6) The public notice shall include a statement that any person may express their views in writing to the department within thirty days of the last date of publication.

(7) Any person submitting written comment or any other person may, upon request, obtain a copy of the department's final decision.

(8) The applicant shall provide the department with an affidavit of publication.

(9) The department shall add the name of any person, upon request, to a mailing list to receive copies of notices for all applications within the state or within a geographical area.

(1) Any interested person may request a public hearing with respect to permit applications for which notice is required pursuant to WAC 173-216-090. Any such request for a public hearing shall be filed within the thirty-day period prescribed in WAC 173-216-090(6) and shall indicate the interest of the party filing such request and the reasons why a hearing is warranted.

(2) The department shall hold a hearing if it determines there is a significant public interest.

(3) Any hearing held pursuant to this subsection shall be held at a time and place deemed appropriate by the department.

(4) Public notice of any hearing held pursuant to this section shall be circulated at least as widely as was the notice of the application.

(5) Procedures for the circulation of public notice for hearings held shall include at least the following:

(a) Notice shall be published, at the applicant's expense, in at least one newspaper of general circulation within the area of the discharge;

(b) Notice shall be sent to all persons who received a copy of the notice given under WAC 173-216-090;

(c) Notice shall be mailed to any person upon request;

(d) Notice shall be given at least thirty days in advance of the hearing.

(6) The contents of public notice of any hearing held pursuant to this section shall include at least the following:

(a) Name, address, and phone number of the office of the department holding the public hearing;

(b) The purpose of the hearing;

(c) Name and address of the applicant;

(d) A brief description of the point(s) of discharge;

(e) Information regarding the time and location for the hearing;

(f) A brief description of the nature of the hearing;

(g) A concise statement of the issues raised by the persons requesting the hearing, when applicable;

(h) A brief reference to the public notice issued for each application, including identification number and date of issuance; and

(i) Address and phone number of premises at which interested persons may obtain information.

(1) Any permit issued by the department shall specify conditions necessary to prevent and control waste discharges into the waters of the state, including the following, whenever applicable:

(a) All known, available, and reasonable methods of prevention, control, and treatment;

(b) Pretreatment requirements;

(c) Requirements pursuant to other laws, including the state's Hazardous Waste Disposal Act, chapter 70.105 RCW, the Solid waste management—Recovery and recycling, chapter 70.95 RCW, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, Public Law 95.190 or any other applicable local ordinances, state, or federal statute, to the extent that they pertain to the prevention or control of waste discharges into the waters of the state;

(d) Any conditions necessary to meet applicable water quality standards for surface waters or to preserve or protect beneficial uses for groundwaters;

(e) Requirements necessary to avoid conflict with a plan approved pursuant to section 208(b) of FWPCA;

(f) Any conditions necessary to prevent and control pollutant discharges from plant site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or raw material storage;

(g) Any appropriate monitoring, reporting and record keeping requirements as specified by the department, including applicable requirements under sections 307 and 308 of FWPCA;

(h) Schedules of compliance, including those required under sections 301 and 307 of FWPCA, which shall set forth the shortest reasonable time period to achieve the specified requirements; and

(i) Prohibited discharge requirements as contained in WAC 173-216-060.

(2) The permits shall be for a fixed term, not exceeding five years.

(3) Representatives of the department shall have the right to enter at all reasonable times in or upon any property, public or private, for the purpose of inspecting and investigating conditions relating to the pollution or the possible pollution of any waters of the state. Reasonable times shall include normal business hours, hours during which production, treatment, or discharge occurs, or times when the department suspects a violation requiring immediate inspection. Representatives of the department shall be allowed to have access to, and copy at reasonable cost, any records required to be kept under terms and conditions of the permit, to inspect any monitoring equipment or method required in the permit and to sample the discharge, waste treatment processes, or internal waste streams.

(4) The permittee shall at all times be responsible for the proper operation and maintenance of any facilities or systems of control installed by the permittee to achieve compliance with the terms and conditions of the permit. Where design criteria have been established, the permittee shall not permit flows or waste loadings to exceed approved design criteria or approved revisions thereto.

(5) A new application, or supplement to the previous application, shall be submitted, along with required engineering plans and reports, whenever a new or increased discharge or change in the nature of the discharge is anticipated which is not specifically authorized by the current permit. Such application shall be submitted at least sixty days prior to any proposed changes.

(6) In the event the permittee is unable to comply with any of the permit terms and conditions due to any cause, the permittee shall:

(a) Immediately take action to stop, contain, and cleanup unauthorized discharges or otherwise stop the violation, and correct the problem;

(b) Immediately notify the department of the failure to comply; and

(c) Submit a detailed written report to the department within thirty days, unless requested earlier by the department, describing the nature of the violation, corrective action taken and/or planned, steps to be taken to prevent a recurrence, and any other pertinent information.

(7) In the case of discharge into a municipal sewerage system, the department shall consider in the final permit documents the requirements of the municipality operating the system.

(8) Permits for domestic wastewater facilities shall be issued only to a public entity, except in the following circumstances:

(a) Facilities existing or approved for construction with private operation on or before the effective date of this chapter, until such time as the facility is expanded;

(b) Facilities that serve a single nonresidential, industrial, or commercial establishment. Commercial/industrial complexes serving multiple owners or tenants and multiple residential dwelling facilities such as mobile home parks, apartments, and condominiums are not considered single commercial establishments for the purpose of the preceding sentence.

(c) Facilities that are owned by nonpublic entities and under contract to a public entity shall be issued a joint permit to both the owner and the public entity.

(1) A permit is automatically transferred to a new owner or operator if:

(a) A written agreement between the old and new owner or operator containing a specific date for transfer of permit responsibility, coverage, and liability is submitted to the department; and

(b) The department does not notify the permittee of the need to modify, or revoke and reissue the permit.

(2) Unless a permit is automatically transferred according to subsection (1) of this section, a permit may be transferred only if modified or revoked and reissued to identify the new permittee and to incorporate such other requirements as determined necessary by the department.

Use of registered or accredited laboratories:

(1) Except as established in subsection (3) of this section, monitoring data submitted to the department in accordance with this chapter shall be prepared by a laboratory accredited under the provisions of chapter 173-50 WAC no later than July 1, 1993, for all state permittees with a permitted average flow rate greater than five million gallons per day.

These requirements are effective and binding on all permittees under the authority of rule, regardless of whether they have been included as conditions of a permit.

(2) Except as established in subsection (3) of this section, monitoring data submitted to the department in accordance with this chapter shall be prepared by a laboratory registered or accredited under the provisions of chapter 173-50 WAC no later than July 1, 1994, for all state permittees not covered under subsection (1) of this section.

These requirements are effective and binding on all permittees under the authority of rule, regardless of whether they have been included as conditions of a permit.

(3) The following parameters need not be accredited or registered:

(a) Flow;

(b) Temperature;

(c) Settleable solids;

(d) Conductivity, except that conductivity shall be accredited if the laboratory must otherwise be registered or accredited;

(e) pH, except that pH shall be accredited if the laboratory must otherwise be registered or accredited;

(f) Turbidity, except that turbidity shall be accredited if the laboratory must otherwise be registered or accredited; and

(g) Parameters which are used solely for internal process control.

(1) Any permit issued under this chapter can be modified, suspended, or revoked, in whole or in part by the department for the following causes:

(a) Violation of any permit term or condition;

(b) Obtaining a permit by misrepresentation or failure to fully disclose all relevant facts;

(c) A material change in quantity or type of waste disposal;

(d) A material change in the condition of the waters of the state; or

(e) Nonpayment of permit fees assessed pursuant to RCW 90.48.610.

(2) The department may modify a permit, including the schedule of compliance or other conditions, if it determines good and valid cause exists, which includes promulgation or revisions of categorical standards.

(3) Any permit issued under this chapter shall remain in effect until terminated in writing by the department, except that continuation of an expired permit (pursuant to RCW 90.48.200), shall terminate upon coverage under a general permit issued pursuant to chapter 173-226 WAC.

For a given facility, permit requirements under this chapter and NPDES permit requirements under Water Pollution Control Act, RCW 90.48.260, shall under normal circumstances, be contained in a single permit document.

Qualified cities, towns, and other municipal corporations who administer a local permit program shall fulfill the requirements of chapter 173-208 WAC and 40 C.F.R. Part 403.