Section 327IAC5-18-4. National categorical pretreatment standards

   (a) General provisions for the categorical pretreatment standards are as follows:

(1) Unless specifically noted otherwise, categorical pretreatment standards are:

(A) enforceable by the commissioner against an industrial user upon the incorporation by reference of the standards in 327 IAC 5-2-1.5 in accordance with IC 4-22-2; and

(B) in addition to all applicable pretreatment standards and requirements in the pretreatment rules.

(2) Irrespective of whether a particular categorical pretreatment standard has been incorporated by reference in section 10 of this rule, the commissioner may do the following:

(A) Make certifications regarding the applicability of that standard under subsection (b).

(B) Deny or recommend to EPA the approval of any request for a fundamentally different factors variance from that standard in accordance with section 5 of this rule.

(C) Recommend to the EPA the approval or disapproval of any application for calculation of that standard on a net basis in accordance with section 6 of this rule.

  (b) The requirements concerning a request for a subcategory determination are as follows:

(1) Within sixty (60) days after the effective date of a categorical pretreatment standard for a subcategory under which an industrial user may be included, the existing industrial user or POTW may request that the regional administrator or the commissioner provide written certification on whether the industrial user falls within that particular subcategory. If an existing industrial user adds or changes a process or operation that may be included in a subcategory, the existing industrial user must request this certification prior to commencing discharge from the added or changed processes or operations. A new source must request this certification prior to commencing discharge. If a request for certification is submitted by a POTW, the POTW shall notify any affected industrial user of the submission. The industrial user may provide written comments to the commissioner within thirty (30) days of receipt of notification from the POTW about the POTW's request for certification.

(2) A request for certification must contain the following:

(A) A description of the subcategories that may be applicable.

(B) A statement citing evidence and reasons why a particular subcategory applies and why others are not applicable.

Any person signing the application statement submitted under this section shall make the signed certification, "I certify under penalty of law that this document and all attachments were prepared under my direction or supervision in accordance with a system designed to assure that qualified personnel properly gather and evaluate the information submitted. Based on my inquiry of the person or persons who manage the system, or those persons directly responsible for gathering the information, the information submitted is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, true, accurate, and complete. I am aware that there are significant penalties for submitting false information, including the possibility of fine and imprisonment for knowing violations.".

(3) A determination will be made on each request for certification in accordance with the procedures specified in 40 CFR 403.6(a).

  (c) Compliance with new categorical standards shall be in accordance with the following:

(1) Except where an existing source meets the definition of a new source as defined under 327 IAC 5-17-13, an existing source with categorical pretreatment standards, including an existing source that:

(A) becomes an industrial user subsequent to promulgation of an applicable categorical pretreatment standard; and

(B) is thereafter considered an existing industrial user;

shall achieve compliance within three (3) years of the date the new standard is promulgated by EPA, unless a shorter compliance time is specified in the standard.

(2) A new source shall:

(A) install;

(B) have in operating condition; and

(C) start up;

all pollution control equipment required to comply with all pretreatment standards and requirements in this rule before beginning to discharge. Within the shortest feasible time, not to exceed ninety (90) days, a new source must meet all pretreatment standards and requirements in this rule.

  (d) Concentration and mass limits are determined by the following:

(1) If the pollutant discharge limit for a categorical pretreatment standard is expressed as a concentration limit, the concentration limit shall apply only to the effluent of the process regulated by the standard or as otherwise specified by the standard. Wherever possible:

(A) an equivalent mass limit will be provided as an alternative to the standard; and

(B) it may be applied by the commissioner or a POTW with an approved POTW pretreatment program.

(2) If a pollutant discharge limit in a categorical pretreatment standard is expressed only as mass of pollutant per unit of production, the control authority may convert the limit to an equivalent limitation expressed either as mass of pollutant discharged per day or effluent concentration for the purpose of calculating the effluent limitation applicable to an individual industrial user.

(3) A control authority calculating an equivalent mass-per-day limitation according to subdivision (2) shall not calculate the limitation by multiplying the limit in the standard by the industrial user's production capacity but rather upon a reasonable measure of the industrial user's actual long-term daily production, such as the average daily production during a representative year. For a new source, actual production shall be estimated using projected production.

(4) A control authority calculating an equivalent concentration limitation according to subdivision (2) shall calculate the limitation by dividing the mass limitation derived according to subdivision (3) by the average daily flow rate of the industrial user's regulated process wastewater. This average daily flow rate must be based upon a reasonable measure of the industrial user's actual long-term average flow rate, such as the average daily flow rate during a representative year.

  (e) When the limits in a categorical pretreatment standard are expressed only in terms of pollutant concentrations, an industrial user may request that the control authority convert the limits to equivalent mass limits. The determination to convert concentration limits to mass limits is within the discretion of the control authority. The control authority may establish equivalent mass limits only if the industrial user meets all of the following conditions:

(1) To be eligible for equivalent mass limits, the industrial user shall:

(A) employ, or demonstrate that it will employ, water conservation methods and technologies that substantially reduce water use during the term of its control mechanism;

(B) currently use control and treatment technologies adequate to achieve compliance with the applicable categorical pretreatment standard and not have used dilution as a substitute for treatment;

(C) provide sufficient information to establish the facility's actual average daily flow rate for all waste streams, based on data from a continuous effluent flow monitoring device, as well as the facility's long-term average production rate, in which both the actual average daily flow rate and the long-term average production rate must be representative of current operating conditions;

(D) not have daily flow rates, production levels, or pollutant levels that vary so significantly that equivalent mass limits are not appropriate to control the discharge; and

(E) have consistently complied with all applicable categorical pretreatment standards during the period prior to the industrial user's request for equivalent mass limits.

(2) An industrial user subject to equivalent mass limits shall do the following:

(A) Maintain and effectively operate control and treatment technologies adequate to achieve compliance with the equivalent mass limits.

(B) Continue to do the following:

(i) Record the facility's:

(AA) flow rates through the use of a continuous effluent flow monitoring device; and

(BB) production rates and notify the control authority whenever production rates are expected to vary by more than twenty percent (20%) from its baseline production rates determined in subdivision (1)(C); upon notification the control authority must reassess the equivalent mass limit and revise the limit as necessary to reflect changed conditions at the facility.

(ii) Employ the same or comparable water conservation methods and technologies as those implemented under subdivision(1)(A) so long as it discharges under an equivalent mass limit.

  (f) A control authority that chooses to establish equivalent mass limits under subsection (e):

(1) shall calculate the equivalent mass limit by multiplying the actual average daily flow rate of the regulated process or processes of the industrial user by the concentration-based daily maximum and monthly average standard for the applicable categorical pretreatment standard and the appropriate unit conversion factor;

(2) upon notification of a revised production rate, shall reassess the equivalent mass limit and recalculate the limit as necessary to reflect changed conditions at the facility;

(3) may retain the same equivalent mass limit in subsequent control mechanism terms if the industrial user:

(A) meets the actual average daily flow rate was reduced solely as a result of the implementation of water conservation methods and technologies;

(B) meets the actual average daily flow rates used in the original calculation of the equivalent mass limit were not based on the use of dilution as a substitute for treatment under this section; and

(C) is in compliance with 40 CFR 403.17, regarding the prohibition of bypass; and

(4) may not express limits in terms of mass for pollutants such as pH, temperature, radiation, or other pollutants that cannot appropriately be expressed as mass.

  (g) The control authority may convert the mass limits of the categorical pretreatment standards at 40 CFR Parts 414, 419, and 455 to concentration limits for purposes of calculating limitations applicable to individual industrial users under the following conditions:

(1) When converting mass to concentration limits, the control authority must use the concentrations listed in the applicable subparts of 40 CFR Parts 414, 419, and 455.

(2) There must be documentation that dilution is not being substituted for treatment as prohibited by subsection (i).

  (h) The application of a limitation for a categorical pretreatment standard shall be in accordance with the following:

(1) An equivalent limitation calculated in accordance with subsections (d)(3), (d)(4), and (e) is deemed pretreatment standards for the purposes of Section 307(d) of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1317(d)) and the pretreatment rules. The control authority shall:

(A) document how the equivalent limits were derived; and

(B) make this information publicly available.

Once incorporated into its control mechanism, the industrial user shall comply with an equivalent limitation in lieu of a promulgated categorical standard from which the equivalent limitation was derived.

(2) Many categorical pretreatment standards specify:

(A) one (1) limit for calculating a maximum daily discharge limitation; and

(B) a second limit for calculating a maximum monthly average or four (4) day average limitation.

If such a standard is being applied, the same production or flow figure shall be used in calculating both the average and the maximum equivalent limitation.

(3) Any industrial user operating under a control mechanism incorporating an equivalent mass or concentration limit calculated from a production based standard shall notify the control authority within two (2) business days after the industrial user has a reasonable basis to know that the production level will significantly change within the next calendar month. Any user not notifying the control authority of such anticipated change will be required to meet the mass or concentration limit in its control mechanism that was based on the original estimate of the long-term average production rate.

  (i) Except where expressly authorized to do so by an applicable categorical pretreatment standard, no industrial user shall increase the use of process water or, in any other way, attempt to dilute a discharge as a partial or complete substitute for adequate treatment to achieve compliance with any pretreatment standard or requirement. An unauthorized attempt by an industrial user to dilute a regulated discharge shall be cause for the control authority to impose the mass limits set forth in the categorical standard. (Water Pollution Control Division; 327 IAC 5-18-4; filed Oct 10, 2000, 3:02 p.m.: 24 IR 298; errata filed Feb 6, 2006, 11:15 a.m.: 29 IR 1936; filed Apr 3, 2009, 1:55 p.m.: 20090429-IR-327060156FRA; filed Oct 9, 2015, 4:07 p.m.: 20151104-IR-327100659FRA; errata filed Dec 30, 2015, 12:37 p.m.: 20160113-IR-327150453ACA)