Water Quality Permits

Permits Viewable Online

• Discharge Permits—UPDES Municipal, Industrial, Storm Water, or Construction
• Groundwater Permits
• Operating Permits—Large Underground Disposal and Treatment Systems
• Operating Permits—Wastewater Treatment Facilities
• Public Notices: Water Quality
• Underground Injection Control (UIC) Permits

Permitting

Facilities that produce, treat, dispose of, or otherwise discharge waste water may need permits from the Division of Water Quality. The Environmental Protection Agency has delegated authority to Utah to administer its own water quality regulatory programs which EPA still runs in many other states.

Process

Contact the Division of Water Quality for information on permits needed and submit completed application forms. The Division issues a draft permit, seeks public comment in area newspapers, holds necessary public hearings and issues final permits.

Permits needed may include:

• 401 Water Quality Certification Program
• Abandoned Mine NPS Plan
• Business Assistance with Water Quality Permits
• Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO’s)
• Drinking Water Permits
• Ground Water Permits
• Indirect Discharges (to Municipal Sanitary Sewers)
• Large Underground Wastewater Disposal Systems (LUWDS): Operating Permits:
• Operating Permits
• Pesticide Application General Permit
• Program Contacts
• Storm Water Permits
• Surface Water Discharge Permits
  • Antidegradation Review (ADR)
  • Wasteload Analysis (WLA) for Developing Permit Limits
• Underground Injection Control Permits
• Utah Sewer Management Program (USMP)
• Utah Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (UPDES) Permits
• UPDES General Construction Storm Water Permits
• UPDES General Multi-Sector Industrial Storm Water Permits
• Utah Construction Stormwater Permits
• Utah Ground Water Quality Protection Program Permits: Current
• Utah Sewer Management Program
• Utah Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program Permits: Current
• Wastewater Permit
• Wastewater Construction Permits
• Wastewater Treatment Facilities: Operating Permits

Surface Water Discharge Permits

Discharging waste water to surface waters, including storm drains, or water well drilling activities, requires a permit prior to beginning operations. Utah Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (UPDES) Permits are required for all industrial, municipal and federal facilities, except those on Indian lands. Get more detailed information on development of Permit Limits.

Current UPDES permits are available online.

Construction Dewatering or Hydrostatic Testing

Construction dewatering or hydrostatic testing permits shall apply to construction dewatering and/or hydrostatic testing of pipelines, tanks, or other vessels located in the State of Utah. This permit may also be applied to other discharges related to construction activities, such as wheel washing at construction egress points, concrete cutting fluid (provided there are no additives to the water), drinking water pump testing or well development, etc. Discharges other than actual construction dewatering and hydrostatic testing must be identified and described in the NOI. Construction Dewatering or Hydrostatic Testing documents and online application (found inside the “General” menu).

Wastewater Facility Construction Permits

Facilities treating wastewater may need construction permits unless they discharge into a municipal sanitary sewer system.

Indirect Discharges (to Municipal Sanitary Sewers)

A State permit is needed to discharge into sewers if the municipality or sewer district does not have a state approved pre-treatment program or authority to issue its own permits.

Storm Water Permits

Storm water discharge permits are required for certain construction projects, industrial facilities, and municipal separate storm sewer systems. Get more storm water information.

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) that discharge to waters of the state are point source dischargers and regulated by the Utah Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (UPDES) permit program.

More information on the UPDES CAFO permit and forms, are available.

Ground Water Permits Needed

Any facility that discharges or may discharge pollutants to ground water needs a permit. Major agricultural, municipal, and industrial dischargers are regulated. Get more groundwater permit information.

Recently issued, amended, or modified Groundwater Discharge Permits are available online.

Underground Injection Control Permits

Regulations are designed to ensure contaminants do not escape from wells into aquifers. Wells used to inject fluids associated with the production of oil and natural gas or fluids used for enhanced hydrocarbon recovery are regulated by the Division of Oil,Gas, and Mining. All others are regulated by the Division of Water Quality. Most injection wells are authorized by rule and do not need individual permits, but must submit notification. The Division of Water Quality sets minimum construction, operating, monitoring, reporting, financial responsibility, closure, and record keeping requirements for all permitted injection operations. Get more details on the UIC Program.

Recently issued, amended, or modified UIC permits are available online.

Operating Permits

Legislation was passed in 2008 which authorized Operating Permits to be developed for all wastewater treatment systems, whether surface or underground, that are not operating under one of the other types of permits. Information about each type of operating permit is available, including the lists of systems with those permits. Get more operating permit information.

Pesticide General Permit

Permits are required for the discharge of biological pesticides to waters of the U.S., including chemical pesticides that cause over-spray that lands on water. Find more information on our Pesticide General Permit page.

401 Water Quality Certification Program

The purpose of the 401 Water Quality Certification program is to ensure that federally permitted or licensed activities (such as 404 permits issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) will be conducted in a manner that will comply with applicable Utah discharge and water quality requirements in order to maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of waters affected by the project. Those seeking federal permits or licenses needing 401 Certification must apply separately to the Utah Division of Water Quality. For more information please visit the 401 Water Quality Certification Program.

For more information on the 401 Water Quality Certification program please review the program rules as they have been recently revised.

Contacts