The Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) Permit Regulation was amended in accordance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Electronic Reporting Rule.

Implementation

The VPDES Electronic Reporting Rule (e-RR) requires the electronic reporting of VPDES program information – i.e., Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMR), registration statements, notices of termination, annual reports, etc. – by permittees to DEQ*.

The mandatory participation applies to the following permit programs:

  • Major individual VPDES permit
  • Non-major individual VPDES Permit
  • Nutrient Watershed General VPDES Permit
  • Industrial Stormwater General VPDES Permit

The remaining General Permits are not required to register at this time on myDEQ Portal and begin Electronic Discharge Monitoring Reporting (e-DMR) but may register on a voluntary basis and begin reporting before the mandatory registration due date that will be announced for the permit type. This applies to the following permit programs:

  • Concrete Products General VPDES Permit 
  • Noncontact Cooling Water Discharges General VPDES Permit
  • Domestic Sewage Discharges General VPDES Permit 
  • Seafood Processing Facilities General VPDES Permit 
  • Potable Water Treatment Plants General VPDES Permit
  • Vehicle Wash Facilities and Laundry Facilities General VPDES Permit
  • Discharges from Petroleum Contaminated Sites General VPDES Permit 
  • Nonmetallic Mineral Mining General VPDES Permit

Permit holders that have a Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) Permit that utilizes the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s current Electronic Discharge Monitoring Reporting (e-DMR) system, should note that the e-DMR reporting is now performed in the new e-DMR  myDEQ Portal system effective August 22, 2022.  More information about participation in the e-DMR program is available on the e-DMR Submissions page.

* The e-RR provides for temporary and permanent waivers (see below for more details) from requirements of electronic reporting, if the permittee petitions DEQ and the request for a waiver is approved by the agency. Waivers – with the exception of episodic waivers – must be applied for by the permittee and are not transferable. The full text of the implementation guidance can be found here. 

Waivers

In accordance with the VPDES e-RR, permittees are now required to electronically submit their VPDES information unless a waiver request is submitted by the permittee to DEQ and approved. DEQ cannot consider or approve the petition for a long-term waiver without receiving a request from the permittee. The regulation provides for the following types of long-term waivers:

  • Temporary waiver - must not extend beyond five years and may be reapplied for before the end of the five-year period.
  • Permanent waiver - applies to permittees who are members of religious communities that choose not to use certain modern technologies (e.g., computers and electricity) as a part of their culture/way of life.

Permittees that submit an incomplete waiver request will be notified and provided an opportunity to resubmit their information. Once deemed complete, waiver requests will be evaluated and either approved or rejected by DEQ within 120 days. If approved, temporary waivers would be effective the first day of the following month for 60 consecutive months and, if desired, after 60 months the permittee may reapply for a subsequent waiver before the current waiver period expires.

Approved permanent waivers will be effective from the first day of the following month and the permittee is not required to reapply. No approved waivers, temporary or permanent, are transferable. Permittees receiving approval from DEQ under the waiver provision to opt out of electronic reporting will be required to continue submitting their information in hard copy format. DEQ will be responsible for electronically transferring the permittees’ information to EPA’s Integrated Compliance Information System.

The VPDES e-RR provides for an episodic waiver from electronic reporting. This waiver is granted by DEQ and the following conditions apply:

  • No waiver request from the VPDES permittee, facility, or entity is required to obtain an episodic waiver from electronic reporting.
  • Episodic waivers are not transferrable.
  • Episodic waivers cannot last more than 60 days.
  • DEQ will decide how the Episodic Waiver provision will apply to facilities and entities. There would be provisions to either delay their electronic submissions or to send hard-copy (paper) submissions.

Episodic waivers are only available to facilities and entities in the following circumstances:

  1. Large scale emergencies involving catastrophic circumstances beyond the control of the facilities, such as forces of nature (e.g., hurricanes, floods, fires, earthquakes) or other national disasters.
  2. Prolonged electronic reporting system outages (i.e., longer than 96 hours).

For further information, please contact the appropriate Regional or Central Office permitting staff (see Contacts pane).