Publicly Owned Treatment Works: Approved Pretreatment Program

Your TPDES domestic or municipal wastewater permit or, in a few cases, industrial wastewater permit will establish whether you must develop, implement, and enforce an approved pretreatment program.

Steps in Establishing an Approved Wastewater Pretreatment Program

If you are required to establish an approved pretreatment program for a Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, follow these steps:

• Establish the legal authority to implement and enforce the pretreatment program

• Set up inspection, sampling, reporting, and other procedures to ensure compliance with the requirements of the pretreatment program (through statute, ordinance, or contract)

• Dedicate the necessary resources and qualified personnel to implement the pretreatment program

• Develop and enforce local limits

• Prepare an enforcement response plan to investigate and respond to violations of the pretreatment program

• Maintain an inventory of facilities that meet the criteria of "significant industrial user"

(Title 40 Code of Federal Regulations Part 403):

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Minimum Operating Requirements

As an approved pretreatment program:

• You must reassess local limits periodically.

• Categorical industrial users must report their discharges to you.

• You may modify your program, but the TCEQ Pretreatment Program must approve the modifications in advance.

• You must report to us annually. See annual reporting requirements below.

In overseeing your approved program, the TCEQ will perform an audit once every five years and schedule periodic pretreatment inspections between audits.

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Annual Reporting Requirements

Each year, your approved TPDES pretreatment program must report to us in the month specified in your permit. Include these items in your annual report:

• The following completed forms:

• Pretreatment Performance Summary (PPS) (TCEQ-20218)

• Updated List of Industrial Users (TCEQ-20218a)

• Industrial User Inventory Modifications (TCEQ-20218b)

• Enforcement Actions Taken (TCEQ-20218c)

• Influent and Effluent Monitoring Results (TCEQ-20218d)

• A copy of the published newspaper notice of industries in significant noncompliance for the preceding 12 months. (Publish this notice the same month as the annual report.)

• The completed certification statement for POTW reports, signed by the POTW's authorized representative.

Submit to:

• Pretreatment Program (MC 148)
• TCEQ
• P.O. Box 13087
• Austin TX 78711-3087

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