Volume 40 - Issue 34 - August 26, 2021
State of Kansas
Department of Health and Environment
Notice of Pending Water Pollution Control Permit for Discharges from the Application of Pesticides
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has prepared a Kansas Water Pollution Control and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System general permit for discharges from the application of pesticides to, over, or near waters of the United States within the borders of Kansas, except for Native American lands.
This general permit covers discharges from the application of pesticides to, over or near waters of the U.S. within Kansas where the pesticide is applied directly to the water or where a portion of the pesticide will unavoidably be deposited to the water in targeting pests.
For the purpose of this permit, pesticides include both biological pesticides and chemical pesticides that leave a residue. This general permit authorizes coverage for four specific pesticide use patterns as well as providing automatic coverage for pesticide research and development activities. Discharges from the application of pesticides to waters of the U.S. for pesticide use patterns not listed in this permit, or approved by KDHE, will be in violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and are prohibited unless the operator obtained coverage under another NPDES permit. It is KDHE’s intent in drafting this general permit to mirror the scope and extent of the discharges from pesticide application activities addressed in EPA’s 2011 Pesticide General Permit and fact sheet and the proposed general permit and fact sheet published in the January 26, 2016, Federal Register. The EPA’s draft 2021 Pesticide General Permit (PGP) was published in the Federal Register on January 15, 2021. The 2021 EPA PGP does not propose any functional changes to the existing EPA PGP, only definitional changes for permit issued by EPA. Similarly, this proposed KDHE-issued PGP makes no substantive changes from the existing 2016 KDHE-issued PGP.
The general permit describes the conditions under which a formal application Notice of Intent (NOI) is required. Operators proposing to apply pesticides to a water of the United States for one of the designated pesticide use patterns, that triggers an annual treatment area threshold criteria, or that are proposing to discharge in, over, or near an Outstanding National Resource Water (ONRW), or are proposing to discharge within ¼-mile of a public water supply surface water intake are required to submit an NOI and $60 permit fee. All other operators under this general permit continue to be automatically covered.
All operators covered by this general permit must comply with technology-based and water quality-based effluent limitations, standard conditions and monitoring, reporting, record keeping, and document retention requirements. Coverage under this general permit does not negate the requirements of any federal or Kansas law, statute, or regulation and specifically references FIFRA, the Kansas Agricultural Chemical Act, and the Kansas Pesticide law. Copies of the Kansas Pesticide general permit and supporting documents can be found at the KDHE Industrial Programs Section website at www.kdheks.gov/indust/index.htm.
Persons wishing to comment on or object to this draft permit must submit their comments in writing to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) if they wish to have the comments or objections considered in the decision-making process. All written comments regarding the draft document received on or before September 25, 2021 will be considered in the formulation of the final determination regarding this public notice. Comments or objections should be directed to the attention of Donald Carlson, Section Chief, Industrial Programs or Steve Caspers, at 1000 SW Jackson St, Suite 420, Topeka, KS, 66612; telephone at 785-296-5547 or 785-296-5551; or email at Don.Carlson@ks.gov or Steve.Caspers@ks.gov.
Lee A. Norman, MD
Secretary
Doc. No. 049385
