Permitting and Local Limits
Industrial discharge permits translate federal categorical standards and local limits into specific, monitorable requirements for each user.
Local limits are developed through a headworks loading analysis that estimates the maximum pollutant loading the POTW can receive while still meeting its permit and biosolids obligations.
Local limits can vary by industrial category and discharge volume — a small plating shop and a large metal finisher may have different numeric limits even within the same categorical standard.
Permits specify monitoring requirements (parameters, sample location, frequency, sampling method), reporting deadlines, recordkeeping requirements, and compliance schedules.
Permit Conditions should be enforceable and specific — 'must reduce pollutant loading' is not enforceable; 'must not discharge more than 2.0 mg/L of copper as a 24-hour composite' is enforceable.
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