Water Discharges from Aquaculture Facilities: Am I Regulated?

TCEQ reissued the Aquaculture TPDES General Permit No. TXG130000, with an effective date of April 18, 2021.

Facilities Likely to be Regulated

This permit regulates discharges of wastewater from aquaculture facilities and certain related activities into or adjacent to water in the state. You may be eligible for authorization under this permit if you plan to discharge wastewater into or adjacent to water in the state from an aquaculture facility or a related aquaculture activity as follows.

Level I. Aquaculture-related activities that meet the following descriptions and criteria:

• retail bait dealers;
• production of crawfish with rice farming;
• ponds used as pay lakes;
• closed pond systems;
• public or commercial aquariums, including their suppliers;
• live fish hauling tanks;
• some cages or other enclosures used for production of aquatic species, 10,000 pounds (lbs) or less harvest weight per year (excludes Level V facilities); or
• facilities that temporarily hold and do not feed aquatic species (excludes Level IV and Level V facilities).

Level II. Aquatic animal production facilities that meet one of the following criteria and do not produce shrimp in the coastal zone:

• Cold water aquatic species production
  • discharge less than 30 days per year; or
  • produce less than 20,000 lbs harvest-weight per year and feed less than 5,000 lbs of food in a calendar month.
• Warm water aquatic species production
  • discharge less than 30 days per year; or
  • produce less than 100,000 lbs harvest-weight per year.
• Disposes of wastewater by irrigation or evaporation (i.e., adjacent to water in the state).

Level III. Concentrated aquatic animal production facilities that meet or exceed the following criteria:

• Cold water aquatic species production
  • discharge at least 30 days per year;
  • produce more than 20,000 lbs harvest-weight per year; or
  • feed more than 5,000 lbs of food in a calendar month.
• Warm water aquatic species production
  • discharge at least 30 days per year; or
  • produce more than 100,000 lbs harvest-weight per year.
• Shrimp research facility within the coastal zone
  • discharge less than 60 days per year;
  • discharges less than 5 million gallons per day; and
  • discharges less than 12.5 million gallons per month.

Level IV. Concentrated aquatic animal production facilities that meet the thresholds of Level III and meet the following:

• produce 100,000 pounds or more harvest-weight per year; and
• utilize a flow-through system or recirculating system.

Level V. Oyster Mariculture facilities that produce oysters in a net pen system (including submerged cage systems), regardless of annual harvest-weight.

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Activities not Covered by this Permit

This general permit does not authorize discharges from the following:

• Any commercial shrimp production facility located within the coastal zone that:
  • discharges into surface water in the state.
  • conducts collaborative research with a shrimp research facility, and that discharges into surface water in the state.
• Any aquaculture facility that discharges to:
  • freshwater receiving waters with a total dissolved solids difference between the discharge and the receiving water greater than 500 milligrams per liter (mg/L).
  • estuarine or marine receiving waters with a salinity difference between the discharge and the receiving water greater than 2000 mg/L.
• Processing of aquatic species by packing as fresh or frozen product, canning, smoking, salting, drying or otherwise curing, or rendering for use as human or animal food.
• Other activities as described under Part II.B. of the general permit.

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Next Steps

Review General Permit TXG130000 to determine if it applies to your facility. If you think, after reading the general permit, that it might be appropriate for you, continue to Applying for Coverage under the Aquaculture General Permit TXG130000 to learn more and see how to apply.

If you don't qualify for coverage under the general permit, you must apply for an individual permit for these discharges.

Contact us if you have question

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