Iowa Admin. Code r. 567-63.7

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 5, September 4, 2024

Rule 567-63.7 - Submission of records of operation

(1)Electronic reporting. Except as provided in this rule and subrules 63.3(4) and 63.5(2), records of operation required by NPDES permits shall be submitted electronically to the department within 15 days following the close of the reporting period specified in 567-63.8 (455B) and in accordance with monitoring requirements derived from this chapter and incorporated in the NPDES permit. Records of operation required by operation permits shall be submitted to the department within 15 days following the close of the reporting period specified in 567-63.8 (455B) and in accordance with monitoring requirements derived from this chapter and incorporated in the operation permit.

(2)Temporary or permanent paper submittal of records of operation. Upon satisfaction of the following criteria and written approval from the department, temporary or permanent paper submittal of records of operation may be allowed in lieu of electronic reporting.

a.Written request for paper submittal.

(1) To obtain an approval for temporary or permanent paper submittal of records of operation, a permittee must submit a paper copy of a written request to the NPDES Section, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 502 East Ninth Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50319. The written request for paper submittal must include the following:

1. Facility name;

2. Individual NPDES permit number or general permit authorization number;

3. Facility address;

4. Owner name and contact information;

5. Name and contact information of the person submitting records of operation (if different than the owner); and

6. Reason for the request, including a justification of why electronic submission is not feasible at this time.

(2) Requests for paper submittal that do not contain all of the above information will not be considered. Electronic (email) requests for paper submittal will not be considered.

b.Temporary paper submittal.

(1) The department will approve or deny a request for temporary paper submittal of records of operation within 60 days of receipt of the request. Paper submittal requests shall be approved or denied at the discretion of the director.

(2) All approvals for temporary paper submittal will expire five years from department approval. After an approval for temporary paper submittal expires, the permittee must submit all records of operation electronically, unless another approval is obtained.

(3) Approved temporary paper submittals are nontransferable.

c.Permanent paper submittal.

(1) The department will approve or deny a request for permanent paper submittal of records of operation within 60 days of receipt of the request. Permanent paper submittal approvals shall only be granted to facilities and entities owned or operated by members of religious communities that choose not to use certain modern technologies (e.g., computers, electricity). Permanent approvals for paper submittal shall not be granted to any other facilities or entities.

(2) Approved permanent paper submittals are nontransferable.

d.Paper copies of records of operation. All permittees who have received temporary or permanent paper submittal approvals must submit paper copies of all records of operation to the department within 15 days following the close of the reporting period specified in 567-63.8 (455B) and in accordance with monitoring requirements derived from this chapter and incorporated in the NPDES permit.

(3)Electronic reporting pursuant to NPDES general permits.

a.General Permits 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Both electronic and paper reporting options are available to permittees covered under General Permits 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Electronic reporting using the options available on the department's website is strongly encouraged, but paper records of operation will be accepted. Paper submittal approval can be obtained by permittees covered under General Permits 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 according to the procedures in 63.7(2).

b.Electronic reporting requirements for General Permits 8 and 9. Permittees covered under General Permits 8 and 9 are required to report electronically using the department's online database, unless a paper submittal approval is obtained according to the procedures in 63.7(2).

(4)Episodic paper submittal of records of operation. In accordance with the following requirements, episodic paper submittal of records of operation may be allowed in lieu of electronic reporting. The department shall provide notice, individually or through means of mass communication, regarding when episodic paper submittal is allowed, the facilities and entities that qualify for episodic paper submittal, and the likely duration of episodic paper submittal. The department shall determine if and when episodic paper submittal is warranted.

a. Episodic paper submittal is only allowed under the following circumstances:

(1) Large scale emergencies involving catastrophic circumstances beyond the control of a permittee, such as forces of nature (e.g., hurricanes, floods, fires, earthquakes) or other national disasters.

(2) Prolonged electronic reporting system outages (i.e., outages longer than 96 hours).

b. Permittees are not required to request episodic paper submittal. If the department determines that episodic paper submittal is warranted, a permittee shall submit paper copies of all records of operation to the department within 15 days following the close of the reporting period specified in 567-63.8 (455B) and in accordance with monitoring requirements derived from this chapter and incorporated in the NPDES permit.

c. Episodic paper submittal is not transferable and cannot last more than 60 days.

(5)Instances of noncompliance. The permittee shall report all instances of noncompliance not reported under 567-63.12 (455B) at the time monitoring reports are submitted.

(6)Relevant facts. If a permittee becomes aware that it failed to submit any relevant facts in any report to the director, the permittee shall promptly submit such facts or information.

Iowa Admin. Code r. 567-63.7

ARC 7625B, IAB 3/11/09, effective 4/15/09

Amended by IAB February 9, 2022/Volume XLIV, Number 16, effective 3/16/2022