Contact: Anne Moore, 218-302-6605, 800-657-3864
Duluth, Minn. -- Businesses, facilities and municipalities conducting activities ranging from boat building to leather tanning to steam electric generating operations have until Aug. 6 to apply for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s (MPCA) industrial stormwater permit.
Others required to apply by this deadline include coal mining/coal mining-related facilities; hazardous waste treatment, storage or disposal; land transportation; ship building and repair yards; leather finishing; air transportation; electronic/electrical equipment and components; and photographic and optical goods.
The newly reissued MPCA Industrial Stormwater Multi-Sector General Permit requires businesses conducting specific industrial activities with the potential to release pollutants to nearby waters to have a permit. The application also offers the opportunity to certify for “no exposure,” a condition which eliminates the need for a permit if on-site controls shelter industrial activities and materials from stormwater exposure.
The agency’s application process was designed to phase in industrial sector-specific applications during a six-month period. Owner/operators in the following industrial sectors may have missed their June 7 permit application deadline and are now out of compliance: timber products; chemical and allied products manufacturing; asphalt paving and roofing materials and lubricant manufacturing; glass, clay, cement, concrete and gypsum products; primary metals; metal mining (ore mining and dressing); oil and gas extraction and refining; mineral mining and dressing; landfills and land application sites; automobile salvage yards: scrap recycling and waste recycling facilities; water transportation; rubber, miscellaneous plastic products and miscellaneous manufacturing industries; and fabricated metal products.
Owner/operators of any facilities which have passed the permit deadline for application should submit an application as soon as they realize the deadline was missed.
The following sectors have until Oct. 5 to complete their application: paper and allied products manufacturing; treatment works; food and kindred products; textile mills, apparel and other fabric products manufacturing; furniture and fixtures; printing and publishing; and transportation equipment and industrial or commercial machinery.
For a complete list of industries potentially affected by the industrial stormwater permit, visit the MPCA’s Web site at www.pca.state.mn.us/water/stormwater/stormwater-i.html. The site also has the online and printable permit applications and instructions, describes sector-specific permit application dates, offers 14 steps to permit compliance, guides permittees through creation of a stormwater pollution-prevention plan, lists a schedule of training and outreach opportunities and includes information about the “no exposure” permit exclusion.
Stormwater generally refers to precipitation, snowmelt and surface runoff as well as drainage to groundwater. It is one of the more common sources of water flowing into Minnesota lakes and streams. Stormwater permit regulations help businesses prevent, reduce or control potential contamination of surface and groundwater resources by restricting contact between pollutants and industrial equipment, machinery, raw materials, products, waste-handling equipment and wastes or by treating the stormwater prior to discharge.
For more information, call the MPCA industrial stormwater program staff at 651-757-2119 or 800-657-3864.
