Conventional Water Treatment Plant Discharges: Obtaining Coverage Under General Permit No. TXG640000

NOTE: Effective January 29, 2022, applicants must submit the application forms using the online e-permitting system or request and obtain an electronic reporting waiver. Electronic reporting waivers are not transferable and expire on the same date as the authorization to discharge.

TCEQ reissued the Conventional Water Treatment General Permit No. TXG640000, with an effective date of October 12, 2021.

You must obtain authorization before discharging wastewater generated as a result of from conventional water treatment activities into or adjacent to any water in the state. The following steps will help determine if you qualify for coverage under this general permit:

Step 1.

Read the Water Treatment Plant General Permit TXG640000(WTP GP) to determine if it applies to your facility.

• If the WTP GP does not apply, you must obtain an individual permit, if you don’t already have one.
• If the WTP GP does apply AND you land apply the wastewater, you can be automatically authorized simply by complying with the terms of the general permit. An application is not required.
• If the WTP GP does apply AND you discharge into water in the state, you may submit an application to obtain coverage under the general permit. Proceed to Step 2.

Step 2.

Review your facility's compliance history rating:

• If the compliance history rating is "high performer," "satisfactory performer," or "inadequate information," continue to Step 3.
• If the compliance history rating is "unsatisfactory performer," then the facility is not eligible for coverage under a general permit. You must obtain an individual permit instead.

Step 3.

To apply for coverage under this general permit, you must: apply online using these instructions.

Note: If you are discharging to an MS4, you must submit a copy of the NOI, NOC, and/or NOT to the operator of that system at the same time you submit the forms to TCEQ. MS4s can include things such as ditches, streets, gutters, manmade channels, etc., which are maintained by entities such as the city, state, county, drainage district, etc.

For additional guidance on setting up an account to submit the application forms using the online e-permitting system, please review the TCEQ Regulatory Guidance document  A Guide to Creating an Account in STEERS E-Permitting (TCEQ Form RG-531a).

To request paper forms, please call:

• TCEQ Application Review and Processing Team at 512-239-4671 to obtain the paper application forms; and
• TCEQ Compliance Monitoring Team at 512-239-2545 to obtain paper Discharge Monitoring Report forms.

Step 4.

If you qualify for coverage under this general permit but would rather have an individual permit, you may request that coverage instead.

Provisional coverage under this general permit begins immediately after the NOI is submitted online.

We will review the NOI and take one of the following actions:

• If everything is acceptable, we will send you an Acknowledgment Letter to authorize your coverage.
• If any information is incomplete or missing, we will send you a letter requesting the necessary information. You will have 30 days (about a month) to respond to this request.
• If coverage has been denied, we will send you denial letter.

You must keep a copy of the NOI and the acknowledgement certificate onsite.

Step 5.

After obtaining coverage under the WTP GP you must:

• Adhere to the requirements of the WTP GP.
• Submit the Discharge Monitoring Reports online.
• Pay the annual fee within 30 days of receipt of the invoice.
• Submit a Notice of Change(NOC) if you, as the owner or operator, become aware that you failed to submit any relevant facts, submitted incorrect information, or if previously submitted information has changed.
• Submit a Notice of Termination(NOT) when all discharges authorized by the permit are eliminated, completed, or if the operator or owner changes.

Note: If you are discharging to an MS4, you must submit a copy of the NOI and Notice of Termination to the operator of that system at the same time you submit them to the TCEQ. MS4s can include things such as ditches, streets, gutters, manmade channels, etc., which are maintained by entities such as the city, state, county, drainage district, etc.

Annual Fees

Coverage continues to be active until a Notice of Termination is submitted. Annual water quality fees will accrue on September 1st of each year that the permit is active. An invoice for the annual fees will be mailed each year to the billing contact identified in your application as follows:

Contact us if you have questions.