La. Admin. Code tit. 33 § IX-2605

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024

Section IX-2605 - Eligibility

A. Water quality trading authorized under these regulations may not be used to meet technology-based effluent limitations unless expressly authorized by the underlying effluent guidelines.

B. The department may authorize trading under the following scenarios.

1. Point source-to-point source trades are trades between two permitted point sources that require one permittee to reduce the discharge of pollutants below baseline levels required to generate credits, not to include surplus discharge capacity.

2. Point source-to-nonpoint source trades are trades between a permitted point source and a nonpoint source to reduce the discharge of nonpoint source pollutants below baseline levels required to generate credits.

3. Other types of trades may be approved by the department on a case-by-case basis.

C. Water quality parameters eligible for trading include:

1. nutrients (total nitrogen and total phosphorus), sediment (total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, and turbidity), biological oxygen demand, and temperature;

2. other parameters that may be approved by the department on a case-by-case basis, provided it does not cause or contribute to an exceedance of a water quality standard; and

3. persistent bioaccumulative toxics (PBTs) that have the potential to threaten public health will not be considered for trading.

D. Water Bodies Eligible for Trading

1. The department may authorize trading to maintain or improve water quality in non-impaired waters, including but not limited to, trading to offset new or increased discharges.

2. The department may authorize trading where water quality is limited but the waterbody is not subject to a TMDL, to improve water quality and make progress toward attaining water quality standards for impaired waters pending a TMDL, a TMDL alternative, or a state water quality management plan.

3. The department may authorize trading to meet the goals of a TMDL.

E. Credit-generating projects eligible for trading include:

1. installation or modification of facility operations or use of wastewater treatment technologies producing a net environmental benefit, beyond all applicable pollution control obligations, are eligible for point source credit generation;

2. land treatment projects that follow the United States Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Services (USDA-NRCS) Louisiana Field Office Technical Guide and do not conflict with any local, state, and federal requirements;

3. activities in the coastal area as defined by R.S. 49:214.2(4)that are not inconsistent with the Louisiana Coastal Master Plan or any local, state, and federal requirements;

4. other activities or BMP(s) as approved by the department on a case-by-case basis.

F. Regulatory Instruments to Authorize Trading

1. Permits. A WQT plan may be implemented in an LPDES permit in an effort to meet water quality based effluent requirements and/or achieve net reductions of a pollutant, as required by a TMDL or other management strategy. The conditions set forth in the WQT plan that meets the requirements of this Chapter shall be included as enforceable permit condition(s). The permittee is legally responsible for complying with all WQT plan requirements. Registering trades with the department or its designee does not affect the responsibility of a permittee to comply with the terms of its permit;

2. Compliance Schedules. A water quality trade may be implemented as part of a compliance schedule incorporated in a LPDES permit or a department order so long as the trade is consistent with the requirements of LAC 33:IX.1109.D.1, LAC 33:IX.2713, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act [ 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq. and section 502(17)], and 40 C.F.R. 122.47.

La. Admin. Code tit. 33, § IX-2605

Promulgated by the Department of Environmental Quality, Office of the Secretary, Legal Affairs and Criminal Investigations Division, LR 451465 (10/1/2019).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 30:2074(B)(9).