New Compost Requirements

New Composting NPDES Permitting Requirements

FACT SHEET

DRAFT PERMIT

The NC General Assembly, under Session Bill 2009-322 (House Bill 1100), required North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR), Division of Water Quality (DWQ), and NCDENR Division of Waste Management (DWM) to revise the water quality permitting requirements for compost facilities and utilize a stakeholder group (link to Stakeholder Group Portal) to provide input and assist in the revision process.

One of the outcomes of the process was the creation of a draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit for compost facilities. On February 8, 2011, the NCDENR DWQ issued a public notice regarding a draft NPDES Permit for compost facilities. This NPDES General Permit (Permit) applies to large Type 1, Type 2, and small Type 3 compost facilities.

The public comment period for the Permit has been extended until April 18, 2011.

SWANA believes the draft Permit could substantially alter the way that some compost facilities do business because all runoff from a compost facility will no longer be considered all stormwater discharge. Under the Permit, compost facilities must separate and treat process wastewater and stormwater differently. The Permit defines process wastewater discharges as “discharges that have contacted any raw materials, intermediate products, final products not qualifying as finished compost, by-products, or waste products during compost manufacturing.” Discharges from finished compost are considered stormwater discharges, but discharges from raw materials used to create compost are process water discharges. This difference will significantly change how some compost facilities operate.

Comments about the draft Permit should be submitted to NCDENR’s Ken Pickle, whose contact information is below.

Stormwater Permitting Unit
Division of Water Quality
1617 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1617
Attn: Ken Pickle
Ken.pickle@ncdenr.gov

In summary, Session Bill 2009-322 (House Bill 1100) required:

(a) The Department of Environment and Natural Resources shall establish standard stormwater control best management practices and standard process water treatment processes or equivalent performance standards for composting operations that are required to be permitted by the Division of Water Quality in the Department and the Division of Waste Management in the Department. These practices, processes, and standards shall be developed for the purpose of protecting water quality by controlling and containing stormwater that is associated with composting operations, by reducing the pollutant levels of process water from composting operations, and by reducing the opportunities for generation of such waters.
(b) The Division of Water Quality shall clarify that stormwater is water that does not contact anything considered a feedstock, intermediate product, or final product of composting operations. The Division of Water Quality shall clarify that wastewater is leachate and water that contacts feedstocks, intermediate products, or final product, of composting operations. The clarifications shall incorporate available scientifically valid information obtained from sampling and analyses of North Carolina composting facilities and from valid representative data from other states. In addition, the Division of Water Quality shall establish threshold quantities of feedstocks, intermediate products, and final products above which water quality permitting will be required.
(c) The Department shall establish revised water quality permitting procedures for the composting industry. The revised permitting procedures shall identify the various circumstances that determine which water quality permit is required for various composting activities. The Department shall determine whether selected low-risk subsets of the composting industry may be suitable for expedited or reduced water quality permitting procedures. The determination shall include consideration of the economic impact of regulatory decisions.
(d) In developing the practices, processes, and standards and the revised water quality permitting procedures required by this section, the Department shall review practices, processes, and standards and permitting procedures adopted by other states and similar federal programs.
(e) The Department shall form a Compost Operation Stakeholder Advisory Group composed of representatives from the North Carolina Chapter of the United States Composting Council, the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners, the North Carolina League of Municipalities, the North Carolina State Agricultural Extension Service, the North Carolina Chapter of the American Water Works Association-Water Environment Federation, the North Carolina Pumper Group, the North Carolina Chapter of the Solid Waste Association of North America, the North Carolina Septic Tank Association, and any individual or group commenting to the Department on issues related to water quality at composting operations. The Compost Operation Stakeholder Advisory Group shall be convened periodically to provide input and assistance to the Department.
(f) The practices, processes, and standards and the revised permitting procedures shall address the site size of an operation, the nature of the feedstocks composted, the type of compost production method employed, the quantity and water quality of the stormwater or process water associated with composting facilities, the water quality of the receiving waters, as well as operation and maintenance requirements for the resulting standard stormwater control best management practice and standard process water treatment processes.