Paper mill in Rumford, ME, (CC) AlexiusHoratius 2013
Maine Environmental Laboratory is certified to test industrial effluent for your Federal, State, and/or city industrial pre-treatment or NPDES discharge permits.
NPDES
The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) establishes protocols for industries and towns to meet the demands of the Clean Water Act. In Maine, NPDES permits are administered and monitored by the State of Maine's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
NPDES permits in Maine cover a wide variety of activities and discharges (click for DEP links):
- - Antifouling Paint Contaminated Wash Water
- - Application of Herbicides, Piscicides
- - Aquatic Pesticides
- - Discharge of Pesticides
- - Net Pen Aquaculture
- - Construction Activity
- - Post Construction Discharge of Stormwater in the Long Creek Watershed
- - Multi-Sector Stormwater (MSGP)
- - Municipal Separate Stormwater Sewer System (MS4)
- - Waste Snow Discharge
- - Municipal and Industrial Discharge
- - Overboard Discharge
- - Sand/Salt
NPDES permits are public records. Some Maine permit holders are listed HERE. Others can be seen by using the EPA tool to the right.
Resources
RULES AND REGS:
Maine DEP Water Permits Home Page http://www.maine.gov/dep/water/permits/index.html
NPDES Homepage https://www.epa.gov/npdes
NPDES-New England Region 1 https://www.epa.gov/npdes-permits/npdes-water-permit-program-new-england
Electronic Code of Federal Regulation section defining the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System: https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=1&SID=48ef6b97e5af1c7bc3fd239e4e3e9ddc&ty=HTML&h=L&mc=true&r=PART&n=pt40.24.122
INFORMATION ON LOCAL PERMITS:
EPA "MyEnvironment" Tool - type in a zip code and see a variety of environmental data available locally
https://enviro.epa.gov/myenvironment/
SAMPLING GUIDELINES:
EPA 2017 Wastewater Sampling Technique (2017, 24 pg .pdf)
NPDES Clean Water Act Sampling: EPA Method 1669 : Sampling Ambient Water for Trace Metals at EPA Water Quality Criteria Levels (.pdf, 39 pg.)
A Few MEL NPDES Packages
Maine Priority Pollutants ("PP")
(Defined in Maine DEP Chapter 525 (also Chapter 530)
13 PP Metals - antimony, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury (choose standard or low-level), nickel, selenium, silver, thallium, zinc
PP Scan - 13 metals + VOCs, SVOCs, Pesticides, PCBs, Total Cyanide
The Clean Water Act and NPDES Regs.
33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq. (1972)
The Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters. The basis of the CWA was enacted in 1948 and was called the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, but the Act was significantly reorganized and expanded in 1972. "Clean Water Act" became the Act's common name with amendments in 1972.
Under the CWA, EPA has implemented pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry. We have also set water quality standards for all contaminants in surface waters.
The CWA made it unlawful to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained. EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program controls discharges. Point sources are discrete conveyances such as pipes or man-made ditches. Individual homes that are connected to a municipal system, use a septic system, or do not have a surface discharge do not need an NPDES permit; however, industrial, municipal, and other facilities must obtain permits if their discharges go directly to surface waters.
-from www.epa.gov
Quick Links
- PDF of Clean Water Act (234 pp, 1 MB)
- The official text of the CWA is available in the United States Code on FDSys, from the US Government Printing Office