§ 87.210. Effluent limitations.
(a) Approval and incorporation into permit. The pollution abatement plan for the pollution abatement area must be approved by the Department and incorporated into the permit as an effluent limitation.
(b) Implementation of best management practices. The best management practices (BMP) in the pollution abatement plan shall be implemented as specified in the plan.
(c) Pre-existing discharges.
(1) Except as provided in subsection (d), the following effluent limits apply to pre-existing discharges:
Parameter Effluent Limit Total Iron May not exceed baseline loadings (as determined by this subchapter). Total Manganese May not exceed baseline loadings (as determined by this subchapter). Acidity, Net May not exceed baseline loadings (as determined by this subchapter). Suspended Solids During remining and reclamation, may not exceed baseline loadings (as determined by this subchapter). Prior to bond release, the pre-existing discharge must meet the applicable standards for suspended solids or settleable solids in § 87.102 (relating to hydrologic balance: effluent standards). (2) A pre-existing discharge is exempt from meeting standards in § 87.102 for suspended solids and settleable solids when the Department determines that the standards are infeasible or impractical based on the site-specific conditions of soil, climate, topography, steep slopes or other baseline conditions provided that the operator demonstrates that significant reductions of suspended solids and settleable solids will be achieved through the incorporation of sediment control BMPs into the pollution abatement plan as required under subsection (a).
(d) In-stream requirements.
(1) If the Department determines that it is infeasible to collect samples for establishing the baseline pollutant levels under paragraph (4) and that remining will result in significant improvement that would not otherwise occur, the permit applicant shall establish an in-stream baseline concentration at a suitable point downstream from the remining operation, unless the Department waives the sampling requirement under paragraph (5) and the numeric effluent limitations in subsection (c)(1) do not apply.
(2) The in-stream baseline period must include, at a minimum, twice monthly monitoring for a minimum of a 1-year period and must adequately represent the seasonal range and median pollutant concentrations.
(3) Upon issuance of a surface mining permit, the operator shall continue, at a minimum, monthly monitoring of pollutant concentrations at the in-stream monitoring point referenced in paragraph (1), and make a determination as to whether or not there has been degradation of in-stream water quality.
(i) This determination shall be made on a quarterly basis and for each year defined as each consecutive 12-month period.
(ii) The operator is not required to treat individual pre-existing sources of pollution except as may be needed to maintain the in-stream baseline concentration.
(iii) Unless the operator can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Department that the degradation was the result of factors that are not related to the remining, the operator shall treat one or more pre-existing pollutional discharges or undertake other pollution abatement measures to restore or improve the in-stream pollutant concentration to its baseline conditions.
(4) Pre-existing discharges for which it is infeasible to collect samples for determination of baseline pollutant levels include, but are not limited to:
(i) Discharges that exist as a diffuse groundwater flow that cannot be assessed by the collection of samples.
(ii) A base flow to a receiving stream that cannot be monitored separate from the receiving stream.
(iii) A discharge on a steep or hazardous slope that is inaccessible for sample collection.
(iv) A number of pre-existing discharges so extensive that monitoring of individual discharges is infeasible.
(5) When in-stream monitoring is not indicative of the impact of remining, the in-stream monitoring requirement may be waived by the Department. In-stream monitoring is not indicative of the impact of remining in circumstances including, but not limited to, the following:
(i) Remining sites in drainage areas exceeding 10 square miles.
(ii) Remining sites in watersheds where there are other influences on the in-stream water quality that make it impossible to establish the cause of water quality changes.
(iii) Remining sites where the Q7-10 stream flow is zero.
(e) Limits. Pollutants for which there are not effluent limitations established in § 87.102 may be eligible for limits established under this subchapter.
(f) Applicability of standards. Section 87.102 applies to a pre-existing discharge that is:
(1) Intercepted by surface mining activities.
(2) Commingled with waste streams from operational areas for the purposes of water treatment.
(g) Cessation of applicability of standards. Section 87.102 does not apply to a pre-existing discharge described in subsection (f) when the pre-existing discharge is no longer intercepted by surface mining activities or is no longer commingled with waste streams from operational areas for the purposes of water treatment.
(h) Bond release. The effluent limitations in this subchapter apply to pre-existing discharges until bond release under the procedures in Chapter 86 (relating to surface and underground coal mining: general).
Authority The provisions of this § 87.210 issued under section 5 of The Clean Streams Law (35 P.S. § 691.5); sections 4(a) and 4.2 of the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act (52 P.S. § § 1396.4(a) and 1396.4b); and section 1920-A of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P.S. § 510-20).
Source The provisions of this § 87.210 adopted October 21, 2016, effective October 22, 2016, 46 Pa.B. 6780.
Cross References This section cited in 25 Pa. Code § 87.207 (relating to treatment of discharges).
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