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August 5, 2020 DIRECTIONS FOR APPLICANTS FOR AN INDIVIDUAL TPDES PERMIT To apply for a Territorial Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) Individual Permit, you will need to fill out three forms: EPA Forms 1 and 2D, and Fee Form for Individual TPDES Permits, all of which are on the Water Pollution Control Program page of the DPNR website (see link below). You must submit all three forms plus your fee payment for your application to be considered complete. Additionally, you will need to submit a line diagram as requested in Form 2D, which contains an example line diagram to show what is required. A topography map of the site must be submitted as well, showing each component of the system, starting from influent to final effluent discharge location(s), be it a sprinkler system, drip irrigation, mound system, etc. Form 1 is a general information form and is self-explanatory. Form 2D requests more detailed information. If you have questions after reviewing the instructions you may contact Mary Stiehler, Water Program Manager, at 340-774-3320, or via email at mary.stiehler@dpnr.vi.gov. The most detailed information will be the effluent characteristics. We’ll need to look at the estimates for BOD, TSS, pH, fecal coliform (after disinfection using chlorine, UV, or whatever you choose), Temperature, nitrates/nitrites, phosphorous, ammonia as N, and chlorine residual if you choose to disinfect with chlorine. You can get this information from the manufacturer if it is a propriety system, or from testing data from a similar plant with the same setup. On the Fee Form, follow the directions to determine your application fee for a new permit. This will be based on information contained in your permit application. Although the form also has a section for calculating your annual discharge fee, you should not fill out this part of the form when you submit your application. Once you submit the application, it will be reviewed for completeness. If it is considered deficient, you will be sent a list of deficiencies that you must address. Once all deficiencies are addressed and approved by DPNR, your application will be deemed complete and a completeness letter will be sent to you. This letter will be shared with any other division of DPNR that requires it (e.g. Building Permits would require the completeness letter before issuing the permits to construct/install the system). However, this completeness letter is not the permit, and does not approve you to operate and discharge from your system. It only allows you to install the system (though a site inspection may be required to verify proper installation). After your application is deemed complete, a draft permit will be created and will go through peer and legal review. After a draft has been approved internally at DPNR, you will have a chance to review the draft and provide comments (should you have any). Once any issues are resolved, the draft permit must go through public notice. This is a required 30-day period in which a August 5, 2020 brief information sheet about the draft permit and your system is put in a publication of sufficiently wide circulation (usually the newspaper) for two consecutive days. For 30 days after the first publication, anyone may request to review the file and draft permit and provide comments or concerns. They may even request a public hearing, which would delay the notice longer than 30 days, though this is rarely needed. Should there be no public comments, or any comments that cannot be addressed in a simple written response, within the 30-day period, then the final permit may be prepared for signature. Should there be comments that result in a change being made to the permit, you may have another chance to review the changes and provide your own comments as well. Should the changes be significant enough, a second 30-day public notice period may be required. This rarely occurs though. OPERATIONS, TESTING, INSPECTIONS AND REPORTING: Once the final permit is signed, you will be given the original copy, and may begin discharging. However, as you will read in your permit, you will be required to keep your system in proper working order, shown through maintenance and inspection logs. Additionally, you will be required to have your discharge sampled and tested for various characteristics (depending on the type, size, location of your system, etc.) and then fill out a Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) that you file electronically in the NetDMR system. This may be required as often as every month up to every three months, depending on the size of your discharge. Your permit will detail all the requirements of filling out and sending in DMRs, though should you need assistance (including assistance setting up a NetDMR account), please contact Mary Stiehler (contact information below). You will be required to allow DPNR to inspect the system at least once a year to verify the system is working properly and all the operations, maintenance and inspection logs are in order. You will need to have a copy of the permit on the premises at all times as well. DPNR will then write a report to determine if your system is in compliance or not. If not, enforcement action may be taken, with possibilities of fines or revocation of the permit. ANNUAL DISCHARGE FEE: Starting in 2020, you must pay an annual discharge fee based on the discharges you reported for the prior calendar year. The first annual discharge fee is due October 1, 2020. After that, the annual discharge fee will be due March 31st of each year. You will not receive a bill for your annual discharge fee. Instead, determine your annual discharge fee by completing the relevant sections in the Fee Form for Individual TPDES Permit (found on DPNR’s website, link below). Submit your completed form and payment to DPNR at the address given on the form by the due date. If you submit your payment by mail, DPNR will send you a receipt acknowledging your payment and, subsequently, verify your fee payment determination. Please contact Mary Stiehler at Mary.Stiehler@dpnr.vi.gov or (340)774-3320 should you have any questions or concerns. The Water Pollution Control Program page of the DPNR website: https://dpnr.vi.gov/environmental-protection/water-pollution-control-program/