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Permitted-by-Rule Facilities:
Utah Ground Water Quality Protection Program

The following facilities are considered to be permitted-by-rule under the Utah Ground Water Quality Protection Program and are not required to obtain a ground water discharge permit provided they do not cause ground water to exceed ground water quality standards or the applicable class TDS limits.

PBR Facilities

  1. Facilities with effluent or leachate which has been demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Executive Secretary to conform and will not deviate from the applicable class TDS limits, ground water quality standards, protection levels or other permit limits and which does not contain any contaminant that may present a threat to human health, the environment or its potential beneficial uses of the ground water. The Executive Secretary may require samples to be analyzed for the presence of contaminants before the effluent or leachate discharges directly or indirectly into ground water. If the discharge is by seepage through natural or altered natural materials, the Executive Secretary may require samples of the solution be analyzed for the presence of pollutants before or after seepage;
  2. water used for watering of lawns, gardens, or shrubs or for irrigation for the revegetation of a disturbed land area except for the direct land application of wastewater;
  3. application of agricultural chemicals including fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides including but not limited to, insecticides fungicides, rodenticides and fumigants when used in accordance with current scientifically based manufacturer’s recommendations for the crop, soil, and climate and in accordance with state and federal statutes, regulations, permits, and orders adopted to avoid ground water pollution;
  4. water used for irrigated agriculture except for the direct land application of wastewater from municipal, industrial or mining facilities;
  5. flood control systems including detention basins, catch basins and wetland treatment facilities used for collecting or conveying storm water runoff;
  6. natural ground water seeping or flowing into conventional mine workings which re-enters the ground by natural gravity flow prior to pumping or transporting out of the mine and without being used in any mining or metallurgical process;
  7. leachate which results entirely from the direct natural infiltration of precipitation through undisturbed materials;
  8. wells and facilities regulated under the Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program;
  9. land application of livestock wastes, within expected crop nitrogen uptake;
  10. individual subsurface wastewater disposal systems approved by local health departments or large subsurface wastewater disposal systems approved by the Board;
  11. produced water pits, and other oil field waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities regulated by the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining in accordance with Section 40-6-5(3)(d) and R649-9, Disposal of Produced Water;
  12. reserve pits regulated by the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining in accordance with Section 40-6- 5(3)(a) and R649-3-7, Drilling and Operating Practices;
  13. storage tanks installed or operated under regulations adopted by the Utah Solid and Hazardous Waste Control Board;
  14. coal mining operations or facilities regulated under the Coal Mining and Reclamation Act by the Utah Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining (DOGM). The submission of an application for ground water discharge permit under R317-6-6.2.C may be required only if the Executive Secretary, after consideration of recommendations, if any, by DOGM, determines that the discharge violates applicable ground water quality standards, applicable Class TDS limits, or is interfering with a reasonable foreseeable beneficial use of the ground water. DOGM is not required to establish any administrative or regulatory requirements which are in addition to the rules of DOGM for coal mining operations or facilities to implement these ground water regulations;
  15. hazardous waste or solid waste management units managed or undergoing corrective action under R315-1 through R315-14;
  16. solid waste landfills permitted under the requirements of R315-303;
  17. animal feeding operations, as defined in UAC R317-8-3.5(2) that use liquid waste handling systems, which are not located within Zone 1 (100 feet) for wells in a confined aquifer or Zone 2 (250 day time of travel) for wells and springs in unconfined aquifers, in accordance with the Public Drinking Water Regulations UAC R309, and which meet either of the following criteria:
    1. operations constructed prior to the effective date of this rule which incorporated liquid waste handling systems and which are either less than 4 million gallons capacity or serve fewer than 1000 animal units, or,
    2. operations with fewer than the following numbers of confined animals:
      1. 1,500 slaughter and feeder cattle,
      2. 1,050 mature dairy cattle, whether milked or dry cows,
      3. 3,750 swine each weighing over 25 kilograms (approximately 55 pounds),
      4. 18,750 swine each weighing 25 kilograms or less (approximately 55 pounds),
      5. 750 horses,
      6. 15,000 sheep or lambs,
      7. 82,500 turkeys,
      8. 150,000 laying hens or broilers that use continuous overflow watering but dry handle wastes,
      9. 45,000 hens or broilers,
      10. 7,500 ducks, or
      11. 1,500 animal units
  18. animal feeding operations, as defined in UAC R317-8-3.5(2), which do not utilize liquid waste handling systems;
  19. mining, processing or milling facilities handling less than 10 tons per day of metallic and/or nonmetallic ore and waste rock, not to exceed 2500 tons/year in aggregate unless the processing or milling uses chemical leaching;
  20. pipelines and above-ground storage tanks;
  21. drilling operations for metallic minerals, nonmetallic minerals, water, hydrocarbons, or geothermal energy sources when done in conformance with applicable regulations of the Utah Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining or the Utah Division of Water Rights;
  22. land application of municipal sewage sludge for beneficial use, at or below the agronomic rate and in compliance with the requirements of 40 CFR 503, July 1, 1993 edition;
  23. land application of municipal sewage sludge for mine-reclamation at a rate higher than the agronomic rate and in compliance with 40 CFR 503, July 1, 1993 edition;
  24. municipal wastewater treatment lagoons receiving no wastewater from a significant industrial discharger as defined in R317-8-8.2(12); and,
  25. facilities and modifications thereto which the Executive Secretary determines after a review of the application will have a de minimis actual or potential effect on ground water quality.

PBR Facility Responsibility

No facility listed above as permitted by rule may cause ground water to exceed ground water quality standards or the applicable ground water class TDS limits. If the background concentration for affected ground water exceeds the ground water quality standard, the facility may not cause an increase over background. This requirement does not apply to facilities undergoing corrective action under R317-6-6.15A.3.

Permitting a PBR Facility

The submission of an application for a ground water discharge permit may be required by the Executive Secretary for any discharge permitted by rule under R317-6-6.2 if it is determined that the discharge may be causing or is likely to cause increases above the ground water quality standards or applicable class TDS limits under R317-6-3 or otherwise is interfering or may interfere with probable future beneficial use of the ground water.


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