Water is always a
RESOURCE!

Industrial Water
Permitting and Recycling
Consultants, LLC

Permitting

Colorado has complex permitting regulations !

To legally discharge or recycle industrial waters in Colorado,  you face a complex array of federal and state regulations that have imperfect interfaces and continue to offer daily challenges to regulators during implementation.   Frankly, unless you work with this array on a daily basis, you are probably at an initial loss about how to find out what agency programs have authority for the regulations that apply to your industrial water situation.

There is no state source that attempts to consolidate this scattered information. However,  a handy booklet (Permitting Made Easy) was developed many years ago by state agencies, but this effort is out-of-date and no longer available.

The regulatory-agency matrix provided below gives a simple introduction to this complexity.

 

 

 

 

Industrial

Water

Activity

 

 

 

 

EPA

Region 8

Colorado Agency

Department

of

Health and Environment

Department

of

Natural Resources

Department

of

Labor and Employment

Department of

Agriculture

Water

Quality Control Division

  Hazardous Materials and Waste Management

Division

Oil

and

Gas Conservation Commission

Division

of   Reclamation Mining and Safety 

Division
of

Water Resources

Division

of

Oil

and Public Safety

Inspection

and

Customer Services Division
Permitting : Discharges to Surface Water

Federal Facilities

X

  

Tribal Facilities

X

  

Other Facilities

  

X

X

X
Permitting : Underground Injection Wells

Oil/Gas Facilities

X

Other Facilities

X
Permitting : Discharges to Ground Water or Land Application

Hazardous Waste

 

 

X

 

 

 

 

 

Solid Waste

 

 

X

 

 

 

 

 

Oil/Gas

 

 

 

X

 

 

 

 

Mining

 

 

 

 

X

 

 

 

Underground Tanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

 

 Livestock Feedlots

 

X

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other

X

Recycling

Recycling

X

X

X

X

X

 

X

 

Beneficial Use

X

Commercial Product

X

 

Some Definitions

A few explanations will be useful in understanding key features embedded in the above  matrix.

 

Regulated Waters Domestic wastewater is the water released from a treatment plant that receives inflows dominated by human sewage. Industrial water is water that is not domestic wastewater. This includes water released from treatment plants receiving inflows from industrial processes and water released by commercial activities. The extent of the latter, termed process water, is a common and widespread occurrence – but under-recognized as a water subject to regulation.
Authority EPA can retain all federal authority or delegate some of this authority to states. States can implement more stringent versions of federal regulations and, also, can develop regulations for activities not subject to federal regulations.  In Colorado, EPA has delegated some authority; the state has developed additional regulations;  and the state’s  water agency has  delegated some state authority to other state agencies.
Approvals Colorado-based approvals to discharge or recycle industrial water may be in several forms, depending on the regulation and agency –

discharge permits
permit by rule
regulatory decision
based on policy

Implementing Agencies

A fundamental reason for the complexity of the matrix is a change to Colorado’s regulations in 1989. Because of this importance, here is a short history.

The Colorado Water Quality Control Act (Act) authorized the Water Quality Control Division (WQCD) as the responsible entity for implementing water-quality standards and protection programs. The authority to permit discharges to surface water from all sources, except federal facilities and tribal lands, was delegated by EPA. State regulations added authority to regulate discharges to groundwater, which is not regulated by EPA. Thus, only one state agency (WQCD) was involved in permitting all discharges, both domestic and industrial, and the public understood.

In 1989, an amendment (SB 89-161) to the Act created the concept of “implementing agencies” with multi-agency authorities to approve industrial discharges that are not directly to surface waters. These agencies apply water-quality standards through their own programs after consultation with Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) and the WQCD. Further, these agencies were authorized to set point of compliance for groundwater discharge. The “implementing agencies” are –

Department of Natural Resources
Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (oil and gas industries)
Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety (mining industries)
Office of the State Engineer (administration of water rights)
Department of Public Health and Environment
Hazardous Materials and Solid Waste Division, HMWMD
( variety of industrial/commercial activities)
Department of Labor and Employment
Division of Oil and Public Safety
(remediation of petroleum contamination)

This multi-agency regulatory framework is understood by major companies in the oil, gas, and mining industries. However, smaller companies in these industrial sectors and in the remaining sectors are typically confused about whether they are subject to the authority of the WQCD or the HMWMD. Contributing to this confusion is the definition of solid waste as including liquids.