Municipally-owned and operated industrial activities

Municipally-owned and operated industrial activities

All regulated municipally-owned and -operated facilities are required to obtain either the industrial stormwater permit or certify for the No Exposure exclusion. This guidance document will assist with determining which of the two is appropriate for each facility location. Detailed information can be found in the permit at www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/view-document.html?gid=20797.

“Municipality" means a city, village, borough, county, town, sanitary district, or other governmental subdivision or public corporation or agency created by the legislature.

“Facility” means land which has common ownership and is the location of a single corporation, business or publicly-owned operation with a portion engaged in industrial activity, even if land parcels are separated by a roadway, fence line or similar boundary.

A municipality's facility boundary is often different from a “traditional” industrial facility boundary because municipal ownership can be spread out over large distances and areas or contains several parcels of land, either connected together or may be geographically separate. For the purposes of this permit, each parcel or property’s boundaries establish a distinct facility within which primary industrial or narrative activities must be evaluated, and if relevant, apply for permit coverage or certify for No Exposure.

Who must apply?

Each facility, whether privately or municipally owned, must identify all of its industrial activities and compare them with Primary Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes found within the permit under Appendix D: Sectors of Industrial Activities Authorized (see last page for web link). Each facility evaluation is facility/address-specific and each facility location within the municipality must be evaluated to determine if it needs permit coverage. If any of the facility’s activities fall within a “Primary” or “Narrative” SIC code, an application for permit coverage or No Exposure certification is required.

The Primary SIC code represents the activity that produces the facility’s largest revenue. If revenue data is not available or relevant, then select the SIC code activity with the largest number of employees. If using employee data is not possible or applicable, use the SIC code representing the largest volume of production.

A comprehensive list of SIC code descriptions can be found at: [www.osha.gov/pls/imis/sicsearch.html here].

What is the No Exposure exclusion? Can I certify for that?

The No Exposure exclusion allows industrial facilities, including municipal facilities, with materials and activities that are entirely sheltered from stormwater 100% of the time, to certify they have a condition of “No Exposure.” Facilities who can certify for No Exposure do not have to develop a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP), conduct inspections, fill out the annual report, pay the annual fee or conduct monitoring. Visit www.pca.state.mn.us/industrialstormwater for more information about the No Exposure exclusion.

Municipally-owned and -operated activities that require permit coverage or No Exposure certification

Landfills: All landfills that accept industrial wastes (process waste received from any of the facilities within the 29 Sectors of industrial activity, including demolition landfills, municipal solid waste landfills and open and closed landfills).

Recycling centers/transfer stations: All recycling centers and transfer stations that accept waste for sorting and distribution, including Material Recovery Facilities that receive paper, glass, plastic and aluminum from non-industrial sources.

Activities include but are not limited to:

• Processing, reclaiming and wholesale distribution of scrap and waste materials, such as ferrous and nonferrous metals, paper, plastic, cardboard, glass and animal hides.
• Reclaiming and recycling of liquid wastes, such as used oil, antifreeze, mineral spirits and industrial solvents.

Wastewater treatment facilities: Any wastewater treatment facility treating wastewater that includes domestic sewage with a design flow of 1.0 million gallons per day or more. Also included is land dedicated to the disposal of sewage sludge that is located within the confines of this facility. Any wastewater treatment facility that treats wastewater that includes domestic sewage with a design flow of 1.0 million gallons per day or more is required to have an approved pre-treatment program under 40 CFR part 403 (Disposal of Sewage Sludge, Delegated Pretreatment Program).

Steam electric generating facilities: Steam electric power generating facilities, no matter what the fuel source, are required to apply for permit coverage or certify for No Exposure.

Airports: If the Primary SIC code is:

• 4512 Air transportation, scheduled
• 4513 Air courier services
• 4522 Air transportation, nonscheduled
• 4581 Airports, flying fields, and airport terminal services

Ambulance: For ambulance service facilities classified under SIC code 4119 (Local Passenger Transportation Not Elsewhere Classified) where vehicle maintenance is conducted at the facility.

Vanpool: Vanpool operation facilities classified under SIC code 4119 (Local Passenger Transportation Not Elsewhere Classified) where vehicle maintenance is conducted at the facility.

Garbage trucks: Garbage trucks and trucks used for local collecting and transporting (without disposal) may be classified under Primary SIC code 4212 (Local Trucking without Storage). To be characterized as SIC code 4212, the facility must be primarily engaged in maintaining the trucks. If a municipality also owns the disposal facility, such as a landfill, that receives refuse transported by the trucks, the maintenance facility would be classified as a landfill and considered “co-located”.

Note: only air, water and land transportation facilities that are conducting vehicle maintenance activities are required to be regulated. Vehicle maintenance includes vehicle rehabilitation, mechanical repairs, painting, fueling, lubrication and equipment cleaning operations.