62.1-44.19:15 - New or expanded facilities
§ 62.1-44.19:15. New or expanded facilities.
A. An owner or operator of a new or expanded facility shall comply with theapplicable requirements of this section as a condition of the facility'scoverage under the general permit.
1. An owner or operator of a facility authorized by a Virginia PollutantDischarge Elimination System permit first issued before July 1, 2005, thatexpands his facility to discharge 100,000 gallons or more per day, or anequivalent load directly into tidal waters, or 500,000 gallons or more perday, or an equivalent load, directly into nontidal waters shall demonstrateto the Department that he has acquired waste load allocations sufficient tooffset any increase in his delivered total nitrogen and delivered totalphosphorus loads resulting from any expansion beyond his waste loadallocations or permitted design capacity as of July 1, 2005, and will installstate-of-the-art nutrient removal technology at the time of the expansion.
2. An owner or operator of a facility authorized by a Virginia PollutantDischarge Elimination System permit first issued before July 1, 2005, thatexpands his facility to discharge 100,000 gallons or more per day up to andincluding 499,999 gallons per day, or an equivalent load, directly intonontidal waters, shall demonstrate to the Department that he has acquiredwaste load allocations sufficient to offset any increase in his deliveredtotal nitrogen and delivered total phosphorus loads resulting from anyexpansion beyond his permitted capacity as of July 1, 2005, and will install,at a minimum, biological nutrient removal technology at the time of theexpansion.
3. An owner or operator of a facility authorized by a Virginia PollutantDischarge Elimination System permit first issued before July 1, 2005, thatexpands his facility to discharge 40,000 gallons or more per day up to andincluding 99,999 gallons per day, or an equivalent load, directly into tidalor nontidal waters, shall demonstrate to the Department that he has acquiredwaste load allocations sufficient to offset any increase in his deliveredtotal nitrogen and delivered total phosphorus loads resulting from anyexpansion beyond his permitted capacity as of July 1, 2005.
4. An owner or operator of a facility authorized by a Virginia PollutantDischarge Elimination System permit first issued on or after July 1, 2005, todischarge 40,000 gallons or more per day, or an equivalent load, shalldemonstrate to the Department that he has acquired waste load allocationssufficient to offset his delivered total nitrogen and delivered totalphosphorus loads, and will install (i) at a minimum, biological nutrientremoval technology at any facility authorized to discharge up to andincluding 99,999 gallons per day, or an equivalent load, directly into tidaland nontidal waters, or up to and including 499,999 gallons per day, or anequivalent load, to nontidal waters; and (ii) state-of-the-art nutrientremoval technology at any facility authorized to discharge 100,000 gallons ormore per day, or an equivalent load, directly into tidal waters, or 500,000gallons or more per day, or an equivalent load, directly into nontidal waters.
5. An owner or operator of a facility treating domestic sewage authorized bya Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit with a dischargegreater than 1,000 gallons per day up to and including 39,999 gallons per daythat has not commenced the discharge of pollutants prior to January 1, 2011,shall demonstrate to the Department that he has acquired waste loadallocations sufficient to offset his delivered total nitrogen and deliveredtotal phosphorus loads prior to commencing the discharge, except when thefacility is for short-term temporary use only or when treatment of domesticsewage is not the primary purpose of the facility.
B. Waste load allocations required by this section to offset new or increaseddelivered total nitrogen and delivered total phosphorus loads shall beacquired in accordance with this subsection.
1. Such allocations may be acquired from one or a combination of thefollowing:
a. Acquisition of all or a portion of the waste load allocations from one ormore permitted facilities in the same tributary;
b. Acquisition of nonpoint source load allocations through the use of bestmanagement practices acquired through a public or private entity acting onbehalf of the land owner. Such best management practices shall achievereductions beyond those already required by or funded under federal or statelaw, or the Virginia tributaries strategies plans, and shall be installed inthe same tributary in which the new or expanded facility is located andincluded as conditions of the facility's individual Virginia PollutantDischarge Elimination System permit; or
c. Acquisition of allocations in accordance with the terms of the generalpermit or through such other means as may be approved by the Department on acase-by-case basis.
2. The Board shall give priority to allocations acquired in accordance withsubdivisions B 1 a and B 1 b. The Board shall approve allocations acquired inaccordance with subdivision B 1 c only after the owner or operator hasdemonstrated that he has made a good faith effort to acquire sufficientallocations in accordance with subdivisions B 1 a and B 1 b and that suchallocations are not reasonably available taking into account timing, cost,and other relevant factors.
3. Notwithstanding the priority provisions in subdivision B 2, the Board maygrant a waste load allocation in accordance with subdivision B 1 c to anowner or operator of a facility authorized by a Virginia Pollution Abatementpermit to land apply domestic sewage if (i) the Virginia Pollution Abatementpermit was issued before July 1, 2005; (ii) the waste load allocation doesnot exceed such facility's permitted design capacity as of July 1, 2005;(iii) the waste treated by the existing facility is going to be treated anddischarged pursuant to a Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systempermit for a new discharge; and (iv) the owner or operator installsstate-of-the-art nutrient removal technology at such facility. Suchfacilities cannot generate credits or waste load allocations, based upon theremoval of land application sites, that can be acquired by other permittedfacilities to meet the requirements of this article.
C. Until such time as the Board finds that no allocations are reasonablyavailable in an individual tributary, the general permit shall provide forthe acquisition of allocations through payments into the Virginia WaterQuality Improvement Fund established in § 10.1-2128. Such payments shall bepromptly applied to achieve equivalent point or nonpoint source reductions inthe same tributary beyond those reductions already required by or fundedunder federal or state law or the Virginia tributaries strategies plans. Thegeneral permit shall base the cost of each pound of allocation on (i) theestimated cost of achieving a reduction of one pound of nitrogen orphosphorus at the facility that is securing the allocation, or comparablefacility, for each pound of allocation acquired; or (ii) the average cost ofreducing two pounds of nitrogen or phosphorus from nonpoint sources in thesame tributary for each pound of allocation acquired, whichever is higher.Upon each reissuance of the general permit, the Board may adjust the cost ofeach pound of allocation based on current costs and cost estimates.
(2005, cc. 708, 710; 2007, c. 27; 2010, c. 288.)