Industrial Storm Water Permitting (327 IAC 15-6, Rule 6)
327 IAC 15-6 [PDF] (Rule 6) has been revised. The revised Rule 6 became effective on November 26, 2003. This general permit rule applies to specific categories of industrial activities that have these activities "exposed" to storm water run-off. By definition in the rule, "storm water discharge exposed to industrial activity means storm water discharge that has been exposed to the manufacturing and processing activities, or raw materials or intermediate products storage areas at an industrial facility. The term includes:
- storm water discharges from industrial plant yards;
- immediate access roads and rail lines used or traveled by carriers of raw materials, manufactured products, waste material, or byproducts used or created by the facility;
- material handling sites;
- refuse sites;
- sites used for the application or disposal of process wastewaters;
- sites used for the storage and maintenance of material handling equipment;
- sites used for residual treatment, storage, or disposal;
- shipping and receiving areas;
- manufacturing buildings;
- storage areas (including tank farms) for raw materials and intermediate and finished products; and
- areas where industrial activity has taken place in the past and significant materials remain and are exposed to storm water."
Equipment maintenance activities can include vehicle or aircraft rehabilitation, mechanical repairs, painting, fueling, and lubrication. Manufacturing buildings can have exposure of pollutants to storm water through the settling of particulate emissions from roof stacks and vents related to processing activities. If a regulated category of facility has any of these areas or activities where storm water is exposed to those activities, a Rule 6 general storm water permit is required. In situations where a facility does not own the property but conducts industrial activity regulated by Rule 6, it is the facility's responsibility to apply for Rule 6 coverage and not the property owner.
However, if a regulated category of facility does not have exposure of storm water to its industrial activities, facility representatives can claim "no exposure" and apply for an exclusion to Rule 6. A U.S. EPA guidance document [PDF] provides the conditions that must be met for a facility to be eligible for a conditional no exposure exclusion. If, after reviewing the federal conditions in the guidance document, a facility representative believes the facility is eligible for the conditional no exposure exclusion, a facility representative can submit a conditional no exposure certification form to IDEM. To verify the no exposure claim, IDEM may inspect the facility. If the IDEM inspection finds that the claim is incorrect, the facility will need to apply for Rule 6 coverage. To maintain the conditional no exposure exclusion, facility representatives must resubmit the certification form once every five years.
Under special circumstances, an individual storm water permit may be required. An individual storm water permit is typically required only if a regulated industrial activity category has established effluent limitations or IDEM determines the storm water discharge will significantly lower water quality. If an individual storm water permit is required, notice will be given to the facility representatives. The individual storm water permit has it's own set of application requirements.
If a Rule 6 permit is required, a facility representative must submit a completed Rule 6 Notice of Intent (NOI) letter form to the following address:
IDEM-Office of Water Quality
Rule 6 Storm Water Coordinator
100 North Senate Avenue, MC 65-40
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2251.
The NOI letter form, which includes the proof of publication and $50 filing fee check or money order, must be submitted within 90 days after receipt of a written notice from IDEM (for facilities already permitted under Rule 6), or at least 90 days prior to starting industrial operations (for newly constructed facilities).
After the NOI letter form is submitted, a facility representative must submit a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan Checklist form within 356 days from the submission date of a timely-submitted NOI letter form. This checklist submittal certifies that the facility has completed and implemented a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWP3) that is consistent with the requirements of 327 IAC 15-6-7. There is additional information from EPA and other sources regarding SWP3 development guidance and SWP3 examples. In addition to developing and implementing a SWP3, a facility representative must collect sampling data from the facility's representative storm water outfalls (those identified in the NOI letter form).
The sampling requirements have changed under the revised version of Rule 6. Under the old rule, facility representatives were required to collect composite and grab storm water samples from three qualified rainfall events (one in the first year of permit coverage and two in the second year), and submit the data to IDEM. After the second year of permit coverage, only the results of visual outfall inspections, twice per year, were required to be submitted. Under revised Rule 6, facility representatives are required to collect grab (no composite) storm water samples from qualified rainfall events each year of the permit, and no visual outfall inspection information is submitted. The listing of required sampling parameters now includes "any pollutant that has the potential to be present in a storm water discharge."
One of the principal purposes for the collection of sampling data is to determine how well the implemented SWP3 is helping to improve the quality of storm water leaving a facility. To promote this purpose, another new rule requirement relates to data comparison. Facility representatives are now required, in the second through fifth year of permit coverage, to compare sampling parameters as part of an annual report submittal to IDEM.
If a facility is closing, the facility ownership is changing, or on-site conditions change that eliminate off-site storm water discharges from the industrial activity areas to waters of the state, facility representatives are required to submit a completed Rule 6 Notice of Termination (NOT) request form to IDEM. Once approved by IDEM, the submittal of an NOT request form will terminate permit coverage for a facility under Rule 6. Therefore, it is required that all industrial activities exposed to storm water run-off have ended prior to the submittal of an NOT request form (except for facilities that only have an ownership change).
Since the rule was revised, IDEM will mail a notification letter to all currently known Rule 6 permittees in early 2004. The notification letter will serve three purposes:
- to let current permit holders know their responsibilities under the revised rule;
- to obtain permit renewal submittals for active facilities that have exceeded the maximum five-year permit duration; and
- to solicit conditional no exposure exclusions or NOT requests for facilities that meet the appropriate conditions.
A new Rule 6 NOI letter will be required every five (5) years, corresponding to the maximum duration for Rule 6 general permits under the revised rule.
To help facility representatives understand the requirements of this new rule, Rule 6 outreach workshops will be held in 2004. The locations and dates for these workshops have not been established yet, but will be provided on this web page as they are scheduled. One regulated category targeted in 2003 for outreach by IDEM was auto salvage. In addition to outreach activities by IDEM, several sources, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) fact sheet, describe storm water pollutant sources and typical management practices that can be used as general background information in understanding storm water pollution prevention.
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