Iowa Admin. Code r. 567-63.6 - Bypasses and upsets
(1)
Prohibition. Bypasses from any portion of a treatment facility
or from a sanitary sewer collection system designed to carry only sewage are
prohibited. The department may not assess a civil penalty against a permittee
for a bypass if the permittee has complied with all of the following:
a. The bypass was unavoidable to prevent loss
of life, personal injury, or severe property damage;
b. There were no feasible alternatives to the
bypass, such as the use of auxiliary treatment facilities, retention of
untreated wastes, or maintenance during normal periods of equipment downtime.
This condition is not satisfied if adequate backup equipment should have been
installed in the exercise of reasonable engineering judgment to prevent a
bypass which occurred during normal periods of equipment downtime or preventive
maintenance; and
c. The permittee
submitted the information required in 63.6(2), 63.6(3), and 63.6(5).
(2)
Request for
anticipated bypass. Except for bypasses that occur as a result of
mechanical failure or acts beyond the control of the owner or operator of a
waste disposal system (unanticipated bypasses), the owner or operator shall
obtain written permission from the department prior to any discharge of sewage
or wastes from a waste disposal system not authorized by a discharge permit.
The director may approve an anticipated bypass after considering its adverse
effects if the director determines that it will meet the conditions in 63.6(1).
a. The request for a bypass shall be
submitted to the appropriate regional field office of the department at least
ten days prior to the expected date of the event.
b. The request shall be submitted in writing
and shall include all of the following:
(1)
The reason for the bypass;
(2) The
date and time the bypass will begin;
(3) The expected duration of the
bypass;
(4) An estimate of the
amount of untreated or partially treated sewage or wastewater that will be
discharged;
(5) The location of the
bypass;
(6) The name of any body of
surface water that will be affected by the bypass; and
(7) Any actions the owner or operator
proposes to take to mitigate the effects of the bypass upon the receiving
stream or other surface water.
(3)
Notification of unanticipated
bypass or upset and public notices. In the event that a bypass or
upset occurs without prior notice having been provided pursuant to 63.6(2) or
as a result of mechanical failure or acts beyond the control of the owner or
operator, the owner or operator of the treatment facility or collection system
shall notify the department by telephone as soon as possible but not later than
24 hours after the onset or discovery.
a.
Notification shall be made by contacting the appropriate field
office.
b. Notification shall
include information on as many items listed in subparagraphs
63.6(3)"d"(1) through (6) as available information will
allow.
c. When the department has
been notified of an unanticipated bypass, the department shall determine if a
public notice is necessary. If the department determines that public
notification is necessary, the owner or operator of the treatment facility or
the collection system shall prepare a public notice.
d. A written submission describing the bypass
shall also be provided within five days of the time the permittee becomes aware
of the bypass. The written submission shall contain the following:
(1) The reason for the bypass, including the
amount and duration of any rainfall event that may have contributed to the
bypass;
(2) The date and time of
onset or discovery of the bypass;
(3) The duration of the bypass;
(4) An estimate of the amount of untreated or
partially treated sewage or wastewater that was discharged;
(5) The location of the bypass; and
(6) The name of any body of surface water
that was affected by the bypass.
(4)
Monitoring, disinfection, and
cleanup. The owner or operator of the treatment facility or collection
system shall perform any additional monitoring, sampling, or analysis of the
bypass or upset requested by the regional field office of the department and
shall comply with the instructions of the department intended to minimize the
effect of a bypass or upset on the receiving water of the state. The following
requirements for disinfection and cleanup apply to all bypasses:
a. The department may require temporary
disinfection depending on the volume and duration of the bypass, the
classification of the stream affected by the bypass, and the time of year
during which the bypass occurs; and
b. The department may require cleanup of any
debris and waste materials deposited in the area affected by the bypass. In
conjunction with the cleanup, the department may require lime application to
the ground surface or disinfection of the area with chlorine solution.
(5)
Reporting of
subsequent findings and additional information requested by the
department. All subsequent findings and laboratory results concerning
a bypass shall be submitted in writing to the appropriate regional field office
of the department as soon as they become available. Any additional information
requested by the department concerning the steps taken to minimize the effects
of a bypass shall be submitted within 30 days of the request.
(6)
Upset. An upset is an
exceptional incident in which there is unintentional and temporary
noncompliance with technology-based permit effluent limitations because of
factors beyond the reasonable control of the permittee. An upset does not
include noncompliance to the extent caused by operational error, improperly
designed treatment facilities, inadequate treatment facilities, lack of
preventative maintenance, or careless or improper operation.
a. An upset constitutes an affirmative
defense to the assessment of a civil penalty for noncompliance with
technology-based effluent limitations if the requirements of
paragraph"b" of this subrule are met.
b. A permittee that wishes to establish an
affirmative defense of upset shall demonstrate, through properly signed
operation logs or other relevant evidence, that:
(1) An upset occurred and that the permittee
can identify the cause(s) of the upset;
(2) The permitted facility was at the time of
upset being properly operated;
(3)
The permittee submitted notice of upset in accordance with 63.6(3);
and
(4) The permittee completed any
remedial measures required by the department, including monitoring, sampling,
or analysis of the upset requested by the department and any instructions from
the department calculated to minimize the effect of the upset on the receiving
water of the state.
c.
In any enforcement action proceeding, the permittee seeking to establish the
occurrence of an upset has the burden of proof.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.