N.J. Admin. Code § 7:14A-16.4

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 23, December 2, 2024

Section 7:14A-16.4 - Causes for major modification or revocation and reissuance of a permit

(a) The Department shall issue a major modification or revoke and reissue a permit only for one or more of the causes set forth at (b) below.

(b) The following constitute cause for major modification or revocation and reissuance of a permit:

1. Any material and substantial alteration or addition to the permitted facility, activity, or discharge (including one or more changes in the permittee's residual use or disposal practices) which occurred after permit issuance and which justifies the application of permit conditions that are different or absent from those in the existing permit. A request for a permit modification under this paragraph shall include all information demonstrating that the alterations or additions occurred after permit issuance and therefore this information was not available at the time of permit issuance or renewal;

2. New information which was not available at the time of permit issuance (other than revised regulations, guidance, or test methods) and which would have justified the application of different permit conditions at the time of issuance. A request for consideration under this paragraph shall include all information demonstrating that the information was not available at the time of permit issuance. Such information includes, but is not limited to, the following:

i. Information showing a need for additional flow;

ii. Effluent testing indicating that the cumulative effects on the environment are unacceptable or are in violation of applicable standards; or

iii. Any toxic pollutant that a permittee begins or expects to begin to use or manufacture as an intermediate or final product or by-product which was not reported in the permit application under 7:14A-4.2. A permittee subject to this subparagraph shall amend its permit application to list those pollutants;

3. A change in the regulation or standard on which the issued permit was based by subsequent rule amendment or by judicial decision upon which no further appeals may be taken. The Department may provide for a schedule of compliance in accordance with 7:14A-6.4 in order for the permittee to meet such regulations or standards;

4. An act of God, strike, flood, or other events over which the permittee has little or no control and for which there is no reasonably available remedy which the Department has determined warrants the modification of a compliance schedule. However, in no case shall a compliance schedule be modified to extend beyond an applicable State or Federal statutory deadline;

5. A complete and timely request filed by the permittee for any of the variances listed in 7:14A-11.7;

6. Incorporation of an applicable toxic effluent standard or prohibition under Section 307(a) of the Federal Act (see 7:14A-13.2 through 13.4);

7. Inclusion or modification of an effluent limitation or parameter pursuant to a permit "reopener" condition as follows:

i. For effluent limitations, including those limitations necessary to implement a TMDL or watershed management plan adopted in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:15-7, pursuant to 7:14A-6.2(a)10;

ii. For surrogate parameters, pursuant to 7:14A-13.7 or 13.10;

iii. For making a determination of reasonable potential to cause or contribute to an exceedance of the Surface Water Quality Standards, pursuant to 7:14A-13.5;

iv. For action levels associated with a specific effluent limitation that have been exceeded, pursuant to 7:14A-13.18;

v. For limitations based on narrative Surface Water Quality Standards, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:14A-13.7;

vi. For residual use or disposal, pursuant to 7:14A-20.5;

vii.

(Reserved)

viii. For modification of effluent standards when Whole Effluent Toxicity data obtained by the Department shows toxicity at levels that exceed applicable effluent standards, as specified in N.J.A.C. 7:9-5.7(a); or

ix. For issuance of a facility wide permit, requiring pollution prevention at a facility, to incorporate a pollution prevention plan or to require more stringent effluent levels based on pollutant prevention strategies or technologies applicable to that facility or industry, in accordance with Section 48 of the Pollution Prevention Act, 13:1D-35, and its implementing regulations, specifically, 7:1K-7.1(c);

8. The filing of a complete request from a permittee who qualifies for effluent limitations on a net basis under 7:14A-13.4(k) or when a permittee is no longer eligible for net limitations as provided for in 7:14A-13.4(k) (see the information requirements contained in 40 CFR 122.45(g) );

9. Establishment of a compliance schedule for development of a pretreatment program in accordance with 7:14A-6.4(c) and N.J.A.C. 7:14A-19;

10. Failure of the State to notify, as required by Section 402(b)(3) of the Federal Act, another state whose waters may be affected by a discharge from the State;

11. The level of discharge of any pollutant which is not limited in the permit exceeds the level which can be achieved by the technology based treatment requirements appropriate to the permittee under 7:14A-13.2 through 13.4;

12. Establishment of a "notification level" as provided in 7:14A-6.2(b)2;

13. Modification of a schedule of compliance to reflect the time lost during construction of an innovative or alternative facility, in the case of a POTW which has received a grant under Section 202(a)(3) of the Federal Act or public loan moneys for the costs to modify or replace facilities constructed with a grant for innovative and alternative wastewater technology under Section 202(a)(2) of the Federal Act. In no case shall a compliance schedule be modified to extend beyond an applicable State or Federal statutory deadline. For a permit modification under this paragraph a permittee shall submit all information detailing the reasons for time lost during construction and why such loss of time was not the fault of the permittee;

14. Correction of technical mistakes, such as errors in calculation, or mistaken interpretations of law or rules, made in determining permit conditions. For a permit modification under this paragraph, when the request is initiated by a permittee, the permittee shall cite the location of the alleged error or interpretation, denote what the correction should be and provide a detailed basis for the correction including any applicable regulatory citations or calculations;

15. Inability to achieve effluent limitations when the discharger has installed the treatment technology considered by the Department in setting effluent limitations imposed under section 402(a)(1) of the Federal Act and has properly operated and maintained the facilities. The limitations in the modified permit shall reflect the level of pollutant control actually achieved but shall not be less stringent than required by a subsequently promulgated effluent limitations guideline;

16. Inclusion of a plan or compliance schedule for the management of septage or sludge in accordance with the Statewide Sludge Management Plan;

17. Existence of cause for revocation under 7:14A-16.6 where the Department determines that modification or revocation and reissuance is instead appropriate;

18. When the proposed automatic transfer of a permit includes one or more of the causes for a major modification under this section;

19. For changes in permit issuance and renewal schedules to better manage the Department's workload and optimize its resource and to facilitate issuing permits on a watershed basis;

20. For substitution of ambient monitoring for compliance monitoring in order to gather data for issuing permits on a watershed basis; or

21. For a small MS4, to include an effluent limitation requiring implementation of one or more control measures (or component(s) thereof) when:

i. The permit recognizes under 7:14A-25.7(b) that another governmental entity or the Department was responsible for implementing the measure(s), or component(s) thereof; and

ii. The other governmental entity or the Department does not implement the measure(s), or component(s) thereof.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:14A-16.4

Administrative correction.
See: 29 New Jersey Register 3822(a).
In (b)5, substituted "A complete and timely request filed by the permittee for" for "The Department's approval of"; in (b)7viii, amended N.J.A.C. references; and rewrote (b)8.
Amended by R.2004 d.47, effective 2/2/2004.
See: 35 New Jersey Register 169(a), 35 New Jersey Register 1331(a), 36 New Jersey Register 813(a).
In (b), added new 21.