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PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 02-1063

NOTICES

Proposed Revisions to Pennsylvania General NPDES Permit for Discharges from Gasoline Contaminated Groundwater Remediation Systems (PAG-5)

[32 Pa.B. 2947]

   Under the authority of The Clean Streams Law (35 P. S. §§ 691.1--691.1001) and sections 1905-A, 1917-A and 1920-A of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. §§ 510-5, 510-17 and 510-20), the Department of Environmental Protection (Department) is proposing to revise its General NPDES Permit for Discharges from Gasoline Contaminated Ground Water Remediation Systems (PAG-5) for reissuance of the General Permit for another 5 years. The current General Permit was scheduled to expire on June 12, 2002; however, by notice published at 32 Pa.B. 2947 (June 15, 2002), the expiration date was extended to December 12, 2002. The current General Permit will continue to be in force until formally revised following the public review process. The General Permit will continue to be not applicable to discharges to waters designated as ''special protection'' under 25 Pa. Code Chapter 93 (relating to water quality standards). Discharges are required to be covered through an individual permit.

   This notice provides the public and all affected parties with a summary of changes being proposed to the general permit and seeks public comments on several program areas and/or issues. The Department will consider all input received in making the final permit documents.

   The following paragraphs summarize proposed major revisions to the General Permit (PAG-5):

   1.  General Edit/Update--The revisions provide a general edit/update of all permit documents (notice of intent (NOI), instructions, fact sheet, the General Permit, discharge monitoring reports and other reporting forms) to reflect the Department's current organization and publication standards.

   2.  The Department is proposing to reissue the revised General Permit as ''General NPDES Permit for Discharges from Petroleum Products Contaminated Groundwater Remediation Systems.'' This will allow the Department to use the revised General Permit to deal with discharges from all petroleum product contaminated groundwater remediation systems--not just limited to gasoline contaminated groundwater as in the current permit. The definitions of ''petroleum product'' and ''petroleum product contaminated groundwater remediation system'' have been added in the proposed permit. The Department will make the proposed name change when it issues the final General Permit.

   3.  To be consistent with the proposed change under item #2, the revised permit documents include appropriate additions and/or other changes to the current permit to address nongasoline contaminated discharges from activities and operations handling petroleum products other than gasoline. Two separate tables provide proposed effluent limitations, monitoring and reporting requirements for the gasoline and nongasoline contaminated remediation systems respectively.

   4.  Prior Compliance History Review--The revisions now add a ''Prior Compliance History Review'' information requirement block on the NOI. The NOI and instructions have been revised to require permittee submission of a self-certification of prior compliance history status with all permits issued by the Department. This is a standard the Department requirement for all NPDES permits and is being added to the permit documents as they are reviewed and revised.

   5.  General Information Form (GIF)--The revisions require completion and submission of the GIF with the permit applications (NOIs). This is a standard Department requirement for all NPDES permits.

   6.  Proposal to revoke and reissue permit coverage for all current PAG-5 permit holders--The Department, by this notice, also proposes to revoke the existing general permit and to issue the revised general permit. This action will terminate coverage for all current General Permit holders, who will have three options: accept the new permit terms and apply for coverage as described below, apply for an individual permit or indicate to the Department that no permit is needed because the activity or operation creating a discharge has ceased.

   The Department will be mailing individual notifications of this draft general permit to each permittee of record for a 30-day comment period. The Department will consider all comments received from the general public and current permittees as part of the overall revision of the General Permit.

   Upon publication and issuance of the final permit, each current permittee will receive a notice from the Department to indicate to the Department its choice to: (1) continue its permit coverage under the final permit; (2) submit an application for an individual permit; or (3) agree to a statement that the activity or operation creating the discharge at its facility has ceased. This information will be provided in a self-addressed postcard provided by the Department. Current permittees will have 60 days to send the postcard back to the Department indicating their choice. If the postcard is not received by the Department in that period, the current permittee will be considered to be discharging without a permit.

   No new NOI or permit application fee would be required of a current permittee unless the current permittee decides to apply for an individual permit.

   The proposed permit document package is available from the Bureau of Water Supply and Wastewater Management, P. O. Box 8467, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8467, (717) 783-3795, e-mail trutroutma@state.pa.us, www.dep.state.pa.us directLINK ''participate''; scroll down to ''Proposals Open for Comment''; then choose ''Other Proposals.''

   The Department invites public comments on the proposed revisions. Comments must be submitted within 30 days from the date of the publication of this notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. If there is significant public interest or if requested, the comment period may be extended at the discretion of the Department for an additional 15-day period. Only the comments received within the specified period will be considered in the formulation of the final documents for this General Permit. If significant issues of public interest are raised, the Department may schedule a public meeting or hearing. Written comments should be submitted at the previous address. The comments will also be accepted by e-mail to pparikh@state.pa.us. Comments will not be accepted by facsimile or on voice mail.

   Persons with a disability may use the AT&T Relay Service, (800) 654-5984 (TDD users) or (800) 654-5988 (voice users). Following the specified comment period, the Department will review all submitted comments, prepare a written comments and response document and prepare final documents package for this permit. An availability of the final permit documents will be announced in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. Anyone wishing to also receive a copy of the final documents may request them by contacting the previous address or telephone numbers.

DAVID E. HESS,   
Secretary

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 02-1063. Filed for public inspection June 14, 2002, 9:00 a.m.]


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