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Aquifer Protection Permit (APP) Workshop Information
ADEQ is facilitating a series of workshops intended to assist permit applicants, their consultants and listen to ideas from the public about improving the permitting process with the Aquifer Protection Permit (APP) application. The goal of the series of workshops is to better inform applicants and consultants of the requirements of our program and the rules that apply to our process.
Beginning workshops will cover a general overview of the APP permitting process. Subsequent workshops will address the following subject matter:
- General permit requirements
- Individual permit requirements
- Technical components of APPs including best available demonstrated control technology, hydrogeologic study, monitoring well design and alert levels/aquifer quality limits
- Monitoring and reporting
- Closure and post-posture strategies
- Financial assurance
- How to read and understand permits
- Clean closures and permit releases
Please refer to the schedule below for a summary of the planned workshops, schedule, and specific handout information. Handouts will be posted the week prior to each workshop and participants are required to print out and bring their own handout.
Workshop location:
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
1110 West Washington Street, Room 3175 A&B
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
Unless otherwise noted, subsequent workshops will occur every three weeks. Please note some workshops will be four hours in duration. Workshops will be repeated if there is significant interest due to limited space availability.
Workshop space is limited to 40 participants. Please RSVP to Carrolette Winstead. You will be added to a distribution list to receive information on each workshop. Please note that you will need to register for each workshop separately, as we understand some topics of interest will vary from person to person. If you are outside of Phoenix and wish to participate in the workshop via iLink at our Northern or Southern Regional Office, please indicate as such in your RSVP. If no requests for iLink are received, it will not automatically be available at the regional offices.
Note to Operators: Operator Certification Professional Development Hours (PDHs) are available for this workshop. You will earn two hours, if you attend. Please retain your agenda as your documentation.
General Information
You need to obtain an Aquifer Protection Permit, or APP, if you own or operate a facility that discharges a pollutant either directly to an aquifer or to the land surface or the vadose zone (the area between an aquifer and the land surface) in such a manner that there is a reasonable probability that the pollutant will reach an aquifer.
- See A.R.S. § 49-201(12) for statutory definition of discharge
- A.R.S. §§ 49-241 through 49-252, and A.A.C. R18-9-101 through R18-9-403 for statutes and rules related to APP
The following facilities are considered to be "discharging" and require permits, unless exempted, or the director determines that the facility will be designed, constructed and operated so there will be no migration of pollutants directly to the aquifer or to the vadose zone:
- Surface impoundments, pits, ponds, and lagoons
- Solid waste disposal facilities, except for mining overburden and wall rock that has not been subject to mine leaching operations
- Injection wells
- Land treatment facilities
- Facilities adding pollutants to a salt dome, salt beds, or salt formations, drywells, underground caves, or mines
- Mine tailings piles and ponds
- Mine leaching operations
- Septic tank systems
- Underground water storage facilities (if wastewater-effluent is used)
- Sewage or wastewater treatment facilities
- Wetlands designed and constructed to treat municipal and domestic wastewater for underground storage
ADEQ issues both general and individual APPs. ADEQ will help you determine if the facility qualifies for a general permit or an exemption upon request.
Contacts
Exemptions
There are currently 24 types of facilities specified under A.R.S. § 49-250 as exempt from requiring an APP. In addition, there are four class exemptions and two activities to which the program does not apply.
Closure
"Clean closure" means implementation of all actions specified as closure requirements in a permit and elimination, to the greatest degree practicable, of any reasonable probability of further discharge from the facility and of exceeding aquifer water quality standards at the applicable point of compliance. Clean closure also means post-closure monitoring and maintenance are unnecessary.
Individual Permits (A.R.S. § 49-241)
ADEQ encourages an applicant to schedule a pre-application meeting to discuss issues relevant to permitting, such as groundwater monitoring, design, operations and closure. While not mandatory, this meeting will help the applicant in completing the Individual Permit Application and may result in quicker processing times that may lower application review fees and other costs. Actual processing time is approximately six months, however, incomplete applications often result in delays and the processing time can continue as long as two+ years. Instructions for completing the Individual Permit Application are included on the application form.
Individual Permit Requirements
There are numerous requirements specified in 18 A.A.C. 9, Article 2. However, the following are the most critical:
- BADCT - The applicant must show that the best available demonstrated control technology (BADCT is pronounced 'BADCAT') will be used by the facility.
- The applicant must show that aquifer water quality standards (AWQS) will not be violated in the aquifer at a point of compliance as a result of discharge from the facility. If the level of a pollutant in the aquifer already exceeds the AWQS at the time of permit issuance, the aquifer must not be further degraded.
- Financial and technical capability.
Permit Duration
In most cases, individual permits are issued for the operational life of the facility.
Area-Wide Individual Permits (A.R.S. § 49-243(P))
Area-wide permits may be issued instead of several individual permits to cover facilities under common ownership in a contiguous geographic area. Discharge reduction in the pollutant management area and the demonstration that aquifer water quality standards will not be violated or further degraded can be evaluated collectively for existing facilities. This type of permit is most applicable to large mining and industrial sites with multiple discharging facilities. An applicant must complete an Individual Permit Application.
General Permits
There are currently 45 general permits ranging from permits requiring department notification, to permits authorized by simply meeting the criteria specified in rule.
Most permit conditions are listed under 18 A.A.C. 9, Article 3. However, A.R.S. § 49-245.01 and 49-245.02 list specific permit conditions for:
- Facilities that manage stormwater regulated by the Clean Water Act
- Certain vadose zone injection wells, subsurface discharges, and point source discharges to waters of the United States from man made bodies of water associated with golf courses, parks and residential common areas containing groundwater, stormwater, reclaimed wastewater or a combination of these.
Types of General Permits
The following Type 2, 3, and 4 General Permits are available to download in PDF format.
- Type 1 General Permits. No notification is required, however, best management practices (BMPs) must be followed to reduce or prevent the discharge of pollutants.
- Type 2 General Permits require a Notice of Intent (NOI) and a Supplemental Notice of Intent
- Type 3 General Permits require a Notice of Intent and a Supplemental Notice of Intent
- Type 4 General Permits require a Notice of Intent
- Agricultural General Permits. No notification is required; however, BMPs must be followed to reduce or prevent the discharge of pollutants.
General Permit Renewal and Permit Transfer
Type 2 and 3 general permits need to be periodically renewed (See Discharge Authorization Renewal Form for details). Type 4 general permits are valid for the operational life of the facility.
Permit Renewal Forms
Permit Transfer Forms (to be completed by the buyer)
Notices of Intent (NOIs), Supplemental NOIs and Fees
Type 2 General Permits
Type 3 General Permits
Type 4 General Permits - Engineering Review
Aquifer Protection Permit Fees (A.A.C. R18-14-101 through R18-14-108 and A.R.S. § 49-241.02)
The statutory authority governing fees for applications under the APP program was amended twice in 2010. In the Second Regular Session, the Legislature passed permanent changes to the statutory authority governing fees (Laws 2010, Chapter 265, House Bill 2767). For more information, please view our Draft and Proposed Rules page for the status of any rulemaking related to House Bill 2767. In the Seventh Special Session, the Legislature passed a temporary measure, allowing ADEQ to increase fees in fiscal year 2010-2011 for services in fiscal year 2010-2011. (Laws 2010, Chapter 290, section 5, House Bill 2007, amended by Laws 2010, Second Regular Session, Chapter 290, section 2, House Bill 2586).
The initial fee for an individual APP application is $1,000 for individual permits, amendments to individual permits, clean closures and other approvals (services subject to an hourly rate fee). ADEQ charges a flat fee for general permits, Determinations of Applicability ($1000) and Subdivision Approvals (See Engineering Review). Initial fees and flat fees are paid when the application is submitted. For all services subject to an hourly rate fee, final billing or refund is based on the number of hours ADEQ technical staff spend in processing the permit or clean closure approval at $122 per hour. Applicants must pay a fee for the service even if the department denies the application or if the applicant withdraws the application.
Pursuant to House Bill 2007, the new maximum fees for processing, issuing or denying permit action applications are specified inA.A.C. R18-14-108 and listed in the following table.
Maximum Fees for Aquifer Protection Permits,
Modifications/Amendments or Clean Closures
(effective July 01, 2010)
|
|
Application/Request Type
|
Maximum Fee
|
| Individual or area-wide APP
|
$200,000
|
| Complex modification to an individual or area-wide APP | $200,000
|
| Clean closure of a facility without an APP | $70,000
|
| Standard modification to an individual or area-wide APP | $50,000
|
Each permit action application submitted by the applicant is subject to a maximum fee.
The maximum fee specified in the table above applies for any pending APP application submitted to ADEQ before July 01, 2010 and supersedes any maximum fee specified by ADEQ in any letter dated before July 01, 2010.
An applicant may request that the department waive the applicable maximum fee for processing an application for a permit action. Upon doing so, the applicant agrees to pay the total direct cost which the department incurs to process the application (A.R.S. § 49-241.02(C)).
Registration Fees (A.R.S. § 49-242
Facilities with individual permits and existing facilities are generally subject to annual registration fees ranging from $25 to $8,500 per year based on the discharge or influent rate in gallons per day. For a site with more than one permit, the annual registration fee is calculated first with the fee for the permit with the greatest discharge plus up to $1,000 for each additional permit for facilities on the site - not including general permits. For example, if a site has facilities covered the following permits:
- Permit A - flows of 10,000,000 gallons per day
- Permit B - flows of 5,000,000 gallons per day
- Permit C - flows of 10,000 gallons per day
The annual registration fee is $8,500 for Permit A; $1,000 for Permit B and $100 for Permit C or $9,600 per year.
Amendments to A.R.S. § 49-242 (pursuant to Laws 2010, Seventh Special Session, Chapter 290, section 5, House Bill 2007, amended by Laws 2010, Second Regular Session, Chapter 290, section 2, House Bill 2586)
Effective July 1, 2010, A.A.C. R18-14-108(B) establishes a one time increase of the annual registration fee for fiscal year 2011 as follows:
| Increased Fee Required for Annual Registration per A.R.S. § 49-242 |
|
Gallons of Permitted Discharge or Influent per Day |
Fee |
| 3000 to 9999 |
$25 |
| 10,000 to 99,999 |
$150 |
| 100,000 to 999,999 |
$1,500 |
| 1,000,000 to 9,999,999 |
$2,500 |
| 10,000,000 or more |
$4,000 |
In July 2010, ADEQ will issue invoices to permittees of record for these one-time annual registration increases.
Temporary Permits and Emergency Waivers
Temporary permits (A.A.C. R18-9-A210) and emergency waivers (A.R.S. § 49-251) are available under specific circumstances.
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