15A NCAC 02B .0506. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

(a)  General:

(1)           Every person subject to this Section shall file certified monitoring reports setting forth the results of tests and measurements conducted pursuant to NPDES permit monitoring requirements.

(A)          Monthly monitoring reports shall be filed no later than 30 calendar days after the end of the reporting period for which the report is made.

(B)          Reports filed pursuant to the requirements of Subparagraph (a)(1) of this Rule shall be of forms furnished or approved by the Director and shall be submitted in duplicate to:

ATTN:  CENTRAL FILES

DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

POST OFFICE BOX 29535

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA 27626-0535.

(C)          A copy of all reports submitted to the Director pursuant to this Section shall be retained by the owner of each water pollution control facility for a period of at least three years from the date of submission and be readily available to the Division for inspection.

(D)          In order to document information contained in reports submitted to the Director pursuant to this Section, the owner of each pollution control facility is required to retain or have readily available for inspection by the Division, the following items for a period of at least three years from report submission:

(i)            the original laboratory reports from any certified laboratory utilized for sample analysis.  Such reports must be signed by the laboratory supervisor, and must indicate the date and time of sample collection and analysis, and the analysts' name;

(ii)           bench notes and data logs for sample analyses performed by the pollution control facility staff or operator in responsible charge, whether or not the facility has a certified lab; and

(iii)          copies of all process control testing.

(E)           In situations where no discharge has occurred from the facility during the report period, the permittee is required to submit a monthly monitoring report giving all required information and indicating "NO FLOW" unless the Director agrees to waive the reporting requirement during extended conditions of no discharge.

(2)           Every person subject to this Section shall report by telephone to either the central office or appropriate regional office of the Division as soon as possible but no later than 24 hours after occurrence or on the next working day (however, if the occurrence is one which may endanger the public health, or fish or wildlife, and contact with the central office or the appropriate regional office cannot be made, such person shall report as soon as possible to the State Highway Patrol Warning Point in state 1-800-662-7956 or out of state 919-733-3861) following the occurrence or first knowledge of the occurrence of any of the following:

(A)          Any failure of a collection system, pumping station or treatment facility resulting in a by-pass without treatment of all or any portion of the wastewater.

(B)          Any occurrence at the water pollution control facility which results in the discharge of significant amounts of wastes which are abnormal in quantity or characteristic, such as the dumping of the contents of a sludge digester, the known passage of a hazardous substance through the facility, or any other unusual circumstances.

(C)          Any process unit failure, due to known or unknown reasons, that renders the facility incapable of adequate wastewater treatment, such as mechanical or electrical failures of pumps, aerators, compressors, etc.

(3)           Persons reporting such occurrences by telephone shall also provide a written report to the Division in letter form setting out the information required in Subparagraph (a)(4) of this Rule and pertinent information pertaining to the occurrence.  This report must be received by the Division  within five days following first knowledge of the occurrence.

(4)           All reports required to be filed by this Section shall contain the following information in addition to such other information as is required for the particular report:

(A)          name of facility,

(B)          water pollution control facility location,

(C)          the class assigned to the water pollution control facility,

(D)          the water pollution control facility permit number assigned by the Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources to the permit or other approval document issued by the Environmental Management Commission under which the discharge is made,

(E)           contact name and telephone number and mailing address,

(F)           estimated nature and extent of environmental damage caused by the incident.

(5)           Any person desiring confidentiality for any influent information submitted shall specify the influent information for which confidentiality is sought and shall justify such request to the Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, and if such request is approved by the Director shall by an appropriate stamp, indicate the location of such information on each report filed thereafter.

(b)  Monthly Monitoring Reports:

(1)           Every person operating a monitoring system required by this Section shall file a monitoring report once each month which includes the data for the samples collected during the month.  This report shall be filed no later than 30 calendar days after the end of the reporting period for which the report is made.

(2)           Monthly monitoring reports shall be reviewed, compliance status determined, certified by signature, and submitted by the following:

(A)          For a corporation: by a responsible corporate officer.  For the purpose of the Section, a responsible corporate officer means:

(i)            a president, secretary, treasurer or vice president of the corporation in charge of a principal business function, or any other person who performs similar policy or decision-making functions for the corporation, or

(ii)           the manager of one or more manufacturing production or operating facilities employing more than 250 persons or having gross annual sales or expenditures exceeding twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) (in second quarter 1980 dollars), if authority to sign documents had been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.

(B)          For a partnership or sole proprietorship:  by a general partner or the proprietor, respectively; or

(C)          For a municipality, State, Federal, County, or other public agency:  by either a principal executive officer or ranking elected official;

(D)          Duly authorized representative of the person described in Paragraphs (b)(2)(A), (B) and (C).  A person is a duly authorized representative only if:

(i)            The authorization is made in writing by a person described in Paragraphs (b)(2)(A), (B) and (C);

(ii)           The authorization specified either an individual or a position having responsibility for the overall operation of the regulated facility or activity, such as the position of plant manager, operator of a well or well field, superintendent, a position of equivalent responsibility, or an individual or position having overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company.  (A duly authorized representative may thus be either a named individual or any individual occupying a named position.); and

(iii)          The written authorization is submitted to the Permit Issuing Authority.  Permittees authorizing another individual to sign as representative in no way relinquishes any responsibility for the permit or his responsibility to remain familiar with the permit conditions, limits, including any modifications, and for the compliance data reports for the permit.

(E)           Permittee signing the report certifies to the following statement: " I certify, under penalty of law, that this document and all attachments were prepared under my direction or supervision in accordance with a system designed to assure that qualified personnel properly gather and evaluate the information submitted.  Based on my inquiry of the person or persons who managed the system, or those persons directly responsible for gathering the information, the information submitted is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, true, accurate, and complete.  I am aware that there are significant penalties for submitting false information, including the possibility of fines and imprisonment for knowing violations."  The monthly report shall also be certified by the operator in responsible charge of a classified treatment facility or by the manager of an industrial establishment which has a point source of waste discharge and which does not have a classified water pollution control facility.

(3)           In addition to the information required on all reports [see Subparagraph (a)(4) of this Rule] the following information shall be submitted in monthly monitoring reports:

(A)          name of person or group collecting sample or making observation;

(B)          name of person or group that analyzed sample;

(C)          name of operator in responsible charge of the facility and the grade certificate held;

(D)          sampling point for each sample;

(E)           date and time (on 2400 hour clock basis) at which each grab sample was collected;

(F)           composite samples:

(i)            date on which collection of composite samples is commenced,

(ii)           time of starting and ending of composite sample period on 2400 hour clock basis;

(G)          wastewater flow in million gallons per day (MGD);

(H)          Results of analyses (reported to the designated number of figures with a properly placed decimal point as indicated on each report sheet) together with the proper storet number (to be furnished by the Division) for the analytical procedure used and the reporting units shall be those specified by the NPDES permit or current enforcement document, unless modified by the Director;

(I)            Only numeric values will be accepted in reporting results of fecal coliform testing.  The reporting of "too numerous to count" (TNTC) as a value will constitute a violation;

(J)            The results of all tests on the characteristics of the effluent, including but not limited to NPDES Permit Monitoring Requirements, shall be reported on monthly report forms;

(K)          The monthly average of analysis for each parameter and the maximum and minimum values for the month shall be reported;

(L)           Certification by the Operator in Responsible Charge (ORC) as to the accuracy and completeness of the report and that he/she has performed and documented the required visitation and process control.

(c)  Additional Reporting/Monitoring Requirements:

(1)           When a facility is operated on an independent contract basis, the operator in responsible charge shall notify the owner of the facility in writing of any existing or anticipated conditions at the facility which may interfere with its proper operation and which need corrective action by the owner.  The notice shall include recommendations for corrective action.

(2)           Two copies of the notice to the owner shall be sent to the Division as an attachment to the next monthly monitoring report.

(3)           A log demonstrating visitation at the proper frequency for the assigned classification, including dates and times of visits, and documentation of proper process control monitoring shall be maintained and shall be submitted to the Division upon request.  Copies of all information must be readily available for inspection for a period of three years.

(d)  All information submitted will be classified as public information unless determined otherwise by the Director.

 

History Note:        Authority G.S. 143‑215.1(b); 143‑215.64; 143‑215.65; 143‑215.68;

Eff. February 1, 1976;

Amended Eff. August 2, 1993; April 1, 1993; December 1, 1984; November 1, 1978.