OFFICIAL SITE OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Discharge to Ground Water Individual Permits

NJPDES permits are required for discharges to ground water of both sanitary and industrial wastes, as defined in N.J.A.C. 7:14A-1.2. These permits, which limit the mass and/or concentration of pollutants discharged, are issued to sanitary and industrial facilities that have ongoing, operational discharges of wastewater to ground water. The pollution control requirements contained in NJPDES ground water permits are those conditions necessary to restrict the discharge of pollutants to the ground waters of the State and protect the public health and the environment. For the purposes of regulating facilities that require an individual DGW permit, the type of discharge unit dictates the structure and composition of the individual permit document, including the type of monitoring and permit conditions.

There are currently twelve (12) different types of ground water discharges that are regulated by an individual permit.  These types are based on the discharge unit/mechanism.

Industrial

• G – Spray Irrigation (Industrial)
• H – Overland Flow (Industrial)
• I – Infiltration/Percolation Lagoon (Industrial)
• J – Surface Impoundment (Industrial)
• K* – Underground Injection Control (UIC) (Industrial and Nonsanitary)

Sanitary

• P – Spray Irrigation (Sanitary)
• Q – Overland Flow (Sanitary)
• R – Infiltration/Percolation Lagoon (Sanitary)
• S – Surface Impoundment (Sanitary)
• T* – Underground Injection Control (UIC) (Sanitary)

Landfills

• OL – Operating Landfill
• CL – Closed and/or Non-Operating Landfill

* Underground injection systems include a number of different types of subsurface disposal systems such as: sanitary septic systems that do not conform to the Standards for the Construction of Individual Subsurface Sewage Disposal Systems (N.J.A.C. 7:9A); any septic system receiving industrial wastewater; true wastewater injection wells; subsurface trench systems; dry wells; seepage pits; etc.

Individual permits include an approved Ground Water Protection Plan (GWPP) and sampling and monitoring requirements to ensure that the discharge does not contravene the ground water quality standards. In addition, because of the complexity of operations or site characteristics, facilities may also be required to obtain Discharge to Surface Water (DSW) or Stormwater Discharge (DST) permits.