Vol. 3 No. 1 June 1995
A Newsletter About New Jersey's Water Quality Programs

The Division of Water Quality recently issued 94 draft Interim Individual NJPDES surface water permits to authorize the discharge of stormwater associated with industrial activity. These permits were issued to first time dischargers (not qualifying for a general permit) in an effort to quickly bring them into the permitting process in a phased manner.

Faced with the prospect of regulating 26,000 industries, the division's Bureau of Stormwater Permitting had to devise a permit process that would not burden the regulated community or tax division staff resources. The process emphasizes the use of general permits, a type of standardized permit issued to groups of common dischargers (see "Five new general permits developed for NJPDES program" in this issue). However, the currently available general permits are not suitable for addressing industrial facilities with unique or specific discharge requirements. These facilities still require individual permits or industry-specific general permits. Since the division wanted to implement environmental controls on this type of facility as soon as possible and individual permits can take considerable time to develop, an interim, staged approach was conceived. This approach focuses on the upfront development of a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (Part II of an Individual Permit), a plan which identifies where stormwater may contact industrial activities and methods for either covering or removing the activities, or installing technologies to control them.

Permittees issued an Interim Individual Stormwater Permit will be given three years to develop and implement a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan. During this time, the permittee will review facility operations and develop appropriate management practices for specific areas of the site. After the three year interim period expires, the permittee will be issued a five-year permit which includes the industry specific practices developed during the initial interim period.

This interim permit process accelerates the institution of some environmental controls on industrial activities related to stormwater while, at the same time, provides the division time to work with dischargers in addressing facility specific requirements, including best management practices, for final five-year permits.

If you have any questions about Interim Individual Stormwater Permits, please contact Michael Iucolino of the Bureau of Stormwater Permitting at (609) 633-7021.