NR 106.117(1)(a)3.3. “Recommencing discharger” means a permitted source that recommences discharge after terminating its operations. NR 106.117(1)(b)(b) The first permit issued by the department to a new source or a new discharger shall contain a schedule of compliance only when necessary to allow a reasonable opportunity to attain compliance with state or federal limitations promulgated after commencement of construction but less than 3 years before commencement of the discharge. NR 106.117 NoteNote: The department recognizes pollution control equipment start-up problems may arise at the commencement of a new discharge. Enforcement discretion may be used in the 90 days following commencement of discharge, in such cases.
NR 106.117(1)(c)(c) For recommencing dischargers, a schedule of compliance shall be included in the permit only when necessary to allow a reasonable opportunity to attain compliance with limitations promulgated less than 3 years before recommencement of the discharge. NR 106.117(2)(2) Schedules for reissued or modified permits. A reissued or modified permit may, when appropriate, include a schedule for compliance with new or more stringent effluent limitations that are established by this chapter. NR 106.117(3)(3) Schedule requirements. A schedule of compliance included in a permit shall meet all of the following conditions: NR 106.117(3)(a)(a) Time for compliance. Any schedule of compliance under this section shall require compliance as soon as possible but may not extend beyond any applicable federal or state statutory deadlines. The schedule also may not extend beyond 5 years from the date that the permit is reissued or modified to include the new or more stringent effluent limitation, except as provided in par. (b) or as provided in other chapters. NR 106.117(3)(b)(b) Great Lakes dischargers. For an existing discharger to the Great Lakes system with a permit that was originally issued before March 23, 1997, if the effluent limitation is based on a secondary value under s. NR 105.03 (25), the permit shall require compliance with the secondary value based limitation within a reasonable period of time, no later than 5 years after permit reissuance or modification to include the limitation. The compliance schedule may allow the permittee additional time to conduct studies for the purpose of revising the secondary value or to develop a criterion if requested by the permittee in accordance with s. NR 106.07 (8). The time period allowed for such studies may not exceed 2 years. In cases where the permittee wishes to conduct a study on the secondary value, the permit also shall contain a reopener clause, requiring a permit modification if the department determines the specified studies demonstrate that a revised limitation is appropriate. Any revised limitation shall be incorporated through a permit modification and a reasonable time period, up to 5 years, may be allowed for compliance, but in no case may the compliance schedule for the revised limitation extend beyond 7 years from the date the secondary value based limitation was initially included in the permit. NR 106.117(3)(c)(c) Interim dates. If a permit establishes a schedule of compliance that exceeds one year from the date of permit reissuance or modification, the schedule shall set forth interim requirements and the dates for their achievement as follows: NR 106.117(3)(c)1.1. The time between dates for the achievement of interim requirements may not exceed one year, except in the case of a schedule for compliance with standards for sewage sludge use and disposal, the time between dates for the achievement of interim requirements shall not exceed 6 months. NR 106.117(3)(c)2.2. If the time necessary for completion of any interim requirement is more than one year and is not readily divisible into stages for completion, the permit shall specify dates for the submission of reports of progress toward completion of the interim requirements and indicate a projected completion date. NR 106.117(3)(d)(d) Pollution and waste minimization measures. The schedule of compliance may require the permittee to evaluate pollution and waste minimization measures as a means for complying with the effluent limitation. NR 106.117(3)(e)(e) Extension beyond permit expiration. If a permit is modified to include a limitation, the schedule of compliance may extend beyond the expiration date of the permit if an interim permit limit that is effective upon the permit’s expiration date is included in the permit. In such cases, the department shall also specify in the permit the final water quality based effluent limit and its effective date. NR 106.117(3)(f)(f) Reporting. No later than 14 days following each interim date and the final date of compliance, the permittee shall notify the department in writing of its compliance or noncompliance with the interim or final requirements or, if par. (c) 2. is applicable, submit progress reports. NR 106.117 NoteNote: An interim permit requirement is not necessarily a numerical effluent limitation.
NR 106.117 NoteNote: Compliance schedule provisions for TMDL-based limits, technology-based limits, and phosphorus limits may differ from the requirements of this section. These provisions may be found in ss. NR 212.75 (5), 205.14, and 217.17, respectively NR 106.117 HistoryHistory: Cr. Register, August, 1997, No. 500, eff. 9-1-97; CR 03-050: renum. from NR 106.17 Register February 2004 No. 578, eff. 3-1-04; CR 17-002: r. and recr. Register April 2018 No. 748, eff. 5-1-18. NR 106.14NR 106.14 Analytical methods and laboratory requirements. NR 106.14(1)(1) Methods used for analysis of samples shall be those specified in ch. NR 219 unless alternative methods are specified in the WPDES discharge permits. Where more than one approved analytical method for a pollutant exists, the department may specify in the permit which method shall be used. NR 106.14(2)(2) The permittee shall submit, with all monitoring results, appropriate quality control information, as specified by the department. NR 106.14(3)(3) The permittee shall report numerical values for all monitoring results greater than the limit of detection, as determined by a method specified by the department, unless analyte-specific instructions in the WPDES permit specify otherwise. The permittee shall appropriately identify all results greater than the limit of detection but less than the limit of quantitation. NR 106.14 HistoryHistory: Cr. Register, February, 1989, No. 398, eff. 3-1-89; renum. NR 106.14 to be (1), cr. (2) and (3), Register, August, 1997, No. 500, eff. 9-1-97. NR 106.145NR 106.145 Mercury regulation. This section provides an alternative means of regulating mercury in WPDES permits through the establishment of alternative mercury effluent limitations and other requirements and is intended as a supplement to the authority and procedures contained in other sections of this chapter. For purposes of this section, an alternative mercury effluent limitation represents a variance to water quality standards specified in chs. NR 102 to 105. NR 106.145(1)(1) Findings. On November 1, 2002, the department finds all of the following: NR 106.145(1)(a)(a) Requiring all dischargers of mercury to remove mercury using wastewater treatment technology to achieve discharge concentrations necessary to meet water quality standards would result in substantial and widespread adverse social and economic impacts. NR 106.145(1)(b)(b) Representative data on the relatively low concentrations of mercury in wastewater are difficult to obtain due to specialized sample collection methods required and the precision and sensitivity of laboratory analyses. NR 106.145(1)(c)(c) Appropriate mercury source reduction activities are environmentally preferable to wastewater treatment technology in many cases because wastewater treatment for mercury produces a sludge or other resultant wastewater stream that can be as much or more of an environmental liability than the untreated effluent. NR 106.145(2)(2) Determining the necessity for mercury effluent limitations. NR 106.145(2)(a)(a) The department shall determine whether a mercury effluent limitation is necessary using the procedures in s. NR 106.05. NR 106.145(2)(bm)(bm) For the determination under par. (a), the department shall use representative data that meet the sampling and analysis requirements of subs. (9) and (10). NR 106.145(3)(a)(a) In this paragraph, “major municipal discharge” and “minor municipal discharge” have the meanings specified in s. NR 200.02 (7) and (8). If an applicant in any of the categories specified in this subsection does not have sufficient discharge data that meet the criteria of sub. (2) at the time of application for permit reissuance, the reissued permit shall require the permittee to monitor and report mercury at the following frequency and location: NR 106.145(3)(a)1.1. Monthly influent and effluent for a major municipal discharge with an average flow rate greater than or equal to 5 million gallons per day. NR 106.145(3)(a)2.2. Once every 3 months influent and effluent for a major municipal discharge with an average flow rate greater than or equal to one million gallons per day but less than 5 million gallons per day. NR 106.145(3)(a)3.3. Once every 3 months influent and effluent for a minor municipal discharge if there are 2 or more exceedances in the last 5 years of the high quality sludge mercury concentration of 17 mg/kg specified in s. NR 204.07 (5). NR 106.145(3)(a)4.4. Monthly effluent for an industrial discharge that the department determines is likely to contribute net discharges of mercury to the environment or if sludge or biosolids mercury concentrations indicate a source of mercury. NR 106.145(3)(a)5.5. Once every 3 months effluent for an industrial discharge with an average flow rate, excluding noncontact cooling water as defined in s. NR 205.03 (21), of more than 100,000 gallons per day and the department has no information on mercury concentrations in similar discharges. The department may exempt discharges in this category if the department determines that there is little risk that the effluent will contain mercury. NR 106.145 NoteNote: Any permittee who believes that a significant portion of the mercury in its effluent originates from its intake of surface water is encouraged to provide results of intake monitoring.
NR 106.145(3)(a)6.6. The department may reduce monitoring frequency from monthly to once every 3 months for discharges described in subds. 1. and 4. after at least 12 representative results have been generated. NR 106.145(3)(b)(b) The department may require mercury monitoring for other discharges not included in one of the categories specified in par. (a) if the department has a reasonable expectation that the discharge includes significant quantities of mercury. NR 106.145(3)(c)(c) Permittees shall collect and analyze samples according to the requirements in subs. (9) and (10). NR 106.145(4)(4) Alternative mercury effluent limitation eligibility. NR 106.145(4)(a)(a) When the department makes a determination of the necessity for a water quality based effluent limitation for mercury under sub. (2), the department shall determine if an alternative mercury effluent limitation is justified based on information submitted by the permittee in an alternative mercury effluent limitation application. NR 106.145(4)(b)(b) The department may not establish an alternative mercury effluent limitation for a new discharge to waters in the Great Lakes system, as defined in s. NR 102.12 (1), unless the proposed discharge is necessary to alleviate an imminent and substantial danger to the public health or welfare. For the purposes of this section, a new discharger is any building, structure, facility or installation from which there is or may be a discharge of pollutants, as defined in s. NR 200.02 (4), the construction of which commenced after November 1, 2002. An existing discharger that relocates its outfall after November 1, 2002 may not be considered a new discharger for purposes of this paragraph. Relocation includes the diversion of a discharge from a land treatment system or systems to a surface water. NR 106.145(4)(c)(c) The term of an alternative mercury effluent limitation may not extend beyond the term of the permit. NR 106.145(4)(d)(d) An alternative mercury effluent limitation may be renewed using the procedures and requirements in subs. (5) to (8). An alternative mercury effluent limitation may not be renewed if the permittee did not substantially comply with all of the mercury-regulation conditions of the previous permit. NR 106.145(5)(5) Calculation of an alternative mercury effluent limitation. NR 106.145(5)(a)(a) An alternative mercury effluent limitation shall equal the upper 99th percentile of representative daily discharge concentrations as calculated under s. NR 106.05 (4) (a), except as provided in par. (c). NR 106.145(5)(b)(b) The alternative mercury effluent limitation shall be expressed as a daily maximum concentration. NR 106.145(5)(c)(c) An alternative mercury effluent limitation may not be greater than the alternative mercury effluent limitation contained in the previous permit, unless the permittee demonstrates that the previous alternative mercury effluent limitation was based on monitoring that did not represent actual discharge concentrations. NR 106.145(6)(6) Department action on alternative mercury effluent limitation applications. NR 106.145(6)(a)(a) The department shall establish an alternative mercury effluent limitation for a discharger when all of the following have been met: NR 106.145(6)(a)1.1. The information provided in the alternative mercury effluent limitation application described in sub. (8) supports establishing the alternative mercury effluent limitation. NR 106.145(6)(a)2.2. The permittee and the department agree upon the alternative mercury effluent limitation and the specific permit language requiring implementation of the pollution minimization program described in sub. (7). NR 106.145(6)(b)(b) If the information provided in the alternative mercury effluent limitation application does not support establishing an alternative mercury effluent limitation or if the department and the permittee cannot agree on the alternative mercury effluent limitation and the specific permit language incorporating the pollutant minimization program, the department shall include the water quality based effluent limitation or limitations in the permit. This paragraph does not prohibit the department from seeking and the applicant providing supplemental information after the initial application is submitted. NR 106.145(6)(c)(c) If the department grants an alternative mercury effluent limitation, the permit shall require monitoring subject to the data quality requirements of subs. (9) and (10), at the following locations: NR 106.145(6)(c)2.2. Influent and sludge or biosolids for major and minor municipal discharges. NR 106.145(7)(a)(a) If the department grants an alternative mercury effluent limitation under sub. (6), the reissued permit shall require the permittee to implement a pollutant minimization program as defined in s. NR 106.04 (5) and detailed for mercury in this subsection. NR 106.145(7)(b)(b) If the reissued permit requires monthly data generation under sub. (3) (a) 1. or 4., the permit shall contain a special condition that triggers a pollutant minimization program if the first 24 months of data demonstrate that a limit will be necessary under sub. (2). The permit shall also require that the permittee do all of the following: NR 106.145(7)(b)1.1. Submit to the department within 36 months of permit reissuance a pollutant minimization program plan meeting the requirements specified in this subsection. NR 106.145(7)(b)2.2. Implement the pollutant minimization program following submittal of the plan. NR 106.145(7)(b)3.3. Submit the first annual status report required in par. (g) within 48 months of permit reissuance. NR 106.145(7)(c)(c) For municipal permittees, a pollutant minimization program shall consist of all of the following elements: NR 106.145(7)(c)2.2. Activities to help educate the general public, health professionals, school teachers, laboratory personnel or other professionals about ways to reduce use of mercury-containing products, recycle mercury-containing products and prevent spills. NR 106.145(7)(c)3.3. A program for collecting mercury from the permittee’s sewer system users. This program may be independently operated by the permittee, jointly by the permittee and others or by another governmental unit. NR 106.145(7)(c)4.4. Other activities that the department, in consultation with the permittee, deems appropriate for the individual permittee’s circumstances. NR 106.145(7)(d)(d) For industrial permittees, a pollutant minimization program may consist of any of the following elements: NR 106.145(7)(d)3.3. Substitution of raw materials or chemical additives with low-mercury alternatives. NR 106.145(7)(e)(e) In assessing the appropriate elements for a pollutant minimization program, the department may consider any of the following: NR 106.145(7)(e)3.3. The level of mercury in the effluent, influent and biosolids or sludge. NR 106.145(7)(e)5.5. The environmental costs and benefits of the pollutant minimization program elements. NR 106.145(7)(e)6.6. The characteristics of the community in which the discharger is located. NR 106.145(7)(e)8.8. The opportunities available for support from or cooperation with other organizations. NR 106.145(7)(e)9.9. The actions the discharger has taken in the past to reduce mercury use or discharges.
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