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Water Quality Variance Rulemaking

A water quality variance is a temporary change in a state's water quality standard for a specific pollutant and its relevant criteria, allowing a particular discharger to deviate from meeting a water quality-based effluent limit. As the agency delegated to implement the Clean Water Act, the MPCA may grant variances through the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System/State Disposal System (NPDES/SDS) permit program. Because of this delegation, MPCA must assess a variance using the same conditions and criteria that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses.

The MPCA is planning rule amendments to address inconsistencies in water quality variance rules. Currently variance provisions are in several different rules and the procedures under which a variance is granted are also different. The MPCA may grant variances to the water quality standards in Minnesota Rules chapters 7050 and 7052 and the effluent discharge restrictions in 7053. The inconsistencies in the rules can be confusing to the regulated community, and make it difficult for the MPCA to maintain consistency and comply with federal restrictions on the issuance of variances. The MPCA is also planning these amendments so the revised rule is consistent with EPA’s application of variances and 40 Code of Federal Regulations § 131.10(g). The EPA is required to review variances from Minnesota’s water quality standards, and consistency with federal requirements will reduce delay in EPA’s review and approval and subsequent permit issuance.

The MPCA is proposing to align the state-wide water quality variance conditions in chapters 7050 and 7053 with Minn. R. 7052.0280. Chapter 7052 rules were adopted in 1997-1998 to satisfy the requirements of EPA’s Great Lakes Initiative, a comprehensive plan to restore the health of the Great Lakes. Chapter 7052 rules are already aligned with the federal requirements and apply to variance requests from water quality standards in the Lake Superior Basin. The intent of the rule amendment is to be consistent with federal criteria, and to streamline review of variances by clarifying the conditions under which a Permittee may request a variance.

More information on variances is available on the Water Quality Variance web page.

Current Minnesota Statutes and Rules

Minnesota Statutes:

Chapter 115.03, subdivision 1(e)

Minnesota Rules:

Chapter 7050: Waters of the State
Chapter 7053: State Waters Discharge Restrictions

Tentative schedule

Task	Date(s)
Publish Request for Comments (RFC)	October 2012
Stakeholder engagement	Pending - stakeholder meetings to be determined
Publish Dual Notice of proposed rules	September 2013
Final adoption of rules: no hearing with a hearing	~3 months after Dual Notice ~6 months after Dual Notice