Permitting FAQs

• Federal Clean Water Act.
• In 1975, EPA delegated the authority to administer the Clean Water Act discharge permitting program to the State of Colorado. 40 Fed. Reg. 16713 (April 14, 1975). EPA still issues permits in Colorado for federal facilities, such as Army bases.
  • Access the 1975 delegation memo on page 4.
  • applies to Waters of the United States.
• Colorado Water Quality Control Act: applies not just to federal waters but ALL state waters - even groundwater.

• Protect water by establishing water uses, setting standards to protect those uses, and issuing permits that meet those standards 
• See 25-8-102 legislative declaration: 
  1. To foster the health, welfare, and safety of the inhabitants of the state of Colorado and to facilitate the enjoyment and use of the scenic and natural resources of the state, it is declared to be the policy of this state to prevent injury to beneficial uses made of state waters, to maximize the beneficial uses of water, and to develop waters to which Colorado and its citizens are entitled and, within this context, to achieve the maximum practical degree of water quality in the waters of the state consistent with the welfare of the state. It is further declared that pollution of state waters may constitute a menace to public health and welfare, may create public nuisances, may be harmful to wildlife and aquatic life, and may impair beneficial uses of state waters and that the problem of water pollution in this state is closely related to the problem of water pollution in adjoining states.
  2. It is further declared to be the public policy of this state to conserve state waters and to protect, maintain, and improve, where necessary and reasonable, the quality thereof for public water supplies, for protection and propagation of wildlife and aquatic life, for domestic, agricultural, industrial, and recreational uses, and for other beneficial uses, taking into consideration the requirements of such uses; to provide that no pollutant be released into any state waters without first receiving the treatment or other corrective action necessary to reasonably protect the legitimate and beneficial uses of such waters; to provide for the prevention, abatement, and control of new or existing water pollution; and to cooperate with other states and the federal government in carrying out these objectives.
• Water Quality Control Act Section 25-8-501. No person shall discharge any pollutant into any state water from a point source without first having obtained a permit for such discharge.
   

Yes, please see this public presentation Water Quality Permits 101. Note that the permits staff contact information may have changed.

Permit information can be found on the Permits Section website.

The permits website includes the Clean Water Active Permit list. Download the list and sort or search to find the permit(s) you are looking for. 

Please refer to the Domestic Discharges to Surface Water webpage. Note, if you do not know which general permit your facility qualifies under after reviewing the information at the link above, the division will determine it after you submit your application.

To convert an individual permit to a general permit:

1. Submit a complete general permit application form and check the box indicating that this application is for a conversion from an individual permit to a general permit certification.
2. Check the box that this application is for a general permit. 
3. Check one of the sub boxes to note COG590000 or COG591000.
   1.  If you are unsure which general permit is correct, the division will evaluate your application and select the correct one after submission.

Access the division's online public records

• Click “Search environmental records online” to access the records database. At the query webpage, on the left-hand side under search type, select CDPHERM WTR Clean Water Search, enter the permit number (e.g. COG591XXX, CO00XXXXX, etc.) for the CDPHERM Container, and then press Search at the bottom.
• Once the results appear, you can click on various column headers to sort them. For example, clicking on the heading Date Created (the date of the original document) will alternate the list order between newest to oldest and oldest to newest files. 
• Clicking on the heading Document Name will group similar documents together (e.g., permit / certification, fact sheet, inspection report).
• To view individual files, click the blue square/arrow icon to the left of the desired document to view the document in a new browser tab. To download a PDF file to your computer's hard drive, click anywhere else on the row of the desired document.

• If you are a permittee, the division will contact you before the permit renewal to update your application and provide new information to the division, such as effluent data for the parameters listed in the receiving water standards table, as described in the above FAQs. This allows the division to draft the discharge permit with the most current information and data. 
• If you are a member of the public, you can reach out to the division cdphe_wqcd_permits@state.co.us at any time to ask questions about a discharge permit and will be directed to appropriate contacts and resources.
• Please see the Draft Permit Actions webpage to participate in the public notification and comment process for permits on public notices.
• To participate in the various decision stakeholder processes, please see the Water Quality Engagement webpage with a list of topics and a calendar to add specific meetings to your calendar.

Yes, please see the Office of Environmental Justice website. 
 

The surface water domestic discharge application can be found on the Domestic Discharges to Surface Water webpage. 

1. Scroll down to the header titled “Links to Permit Documents and Applications,” find your permit type (i.e., General 591000, General 590000, or individual), and click on the application hyperlink to view the document in a new browser window. 
2. From that window, the document can be downloaded and filled out to your computer's hard drive. 

A person who meets the conditions described in Regulation 61.4(1)(e) is the legal contact for a discharge permit. 

The legal contact is responsible for the information submitted on the permit application. Please see Regulation 61.4(1)(e) for more details.
 

The compliance point (e.g., where compliance samples are taken) is after all treatment and prior to discharge to the state water. This is typically the point where the discharge pipe daylights to stream, river, lake, gulch, wetland, etc., or a point with connectivity to surface water.

This point is designated by an outfall number on the permit and application (e.g., 001). This is the latitude/longitude location entered on the discharge application in the Surface Water Discharge Points section. See Slide 15 for examples of a point source Water Quality Permits 101.

The state segmentation map can be found on our website. To find the receiving segment(s):

1. Type the facility’s outfall location (latitude and longitude in decimal degrees) into the blue search bar at the top left of the screen. 
2. Click on the colored stream or lake next to the outfall location. 
3. Once clicked, a box with information regarding the clicked segment will appear on the top right of the screen. The AUID is the segment identifier. 

Segment identifier information

The water quality standards for the receiving segment can be found on the Water Quality Control Commission Regulations webpage (Regulations 32-38). They are separated by the Major River Basin. To find the segment's river basin, refer to the third and fourth letters of the segment identifier.

• AR - Arkansas River Basin (Reg. 32)
• UC - Upper Colorado River Basin and North Platte River (Planning Region 12) (Reg. 33)
• SJ - San Juan River and Dolores River Basins (Reg. 34)
• GU - Gunnison and Lower Dolores River Basins (Reg. 35)
• RG - Rio Grande Basin (Reg. 36)
• LC - Lower Colorado River Basin (Reg. 37)
• SP - South Platte River Basin, Laramie River Basin, Republican River Basin, Smoky Hill River Basin (Reg. 38)

1. Once the major basin has been determined, navigate to the Water Quality Control Commission Regulations webpage. 
2. Scroll down to the heading labeled “Surface water quality classifications and standards” and click the link to the Basin Regulation of the receiving segment.
3. The link will open to the CO Secretary of State website. Under the header labeled “Current version,” there is a hyperlink to the regulation. 
4. A PDF of the regulation will open in a new window when clicked. 
5. Appendix 1 of each Basin Regulation contains the Stream Classifications and Water Quality Standards Tables for each segment in the basin.
6. To easily find the segment within the regulation, press Ctrl+F on your keyboard to open a search bar and type the 8 or 9-character segment identifier into the box (removing any underscores and letters after the underscore (e.g., search COXXXX## instead of COXXXX##_A) and press Enter. 
7. Use the arrow buttons in the search bar to navigate through the document to find the Standards Table for the segment. 

The Water Quality Control Commission decides the uses (classifications), standards, antidegradation protection, impairment through public rulemakings. Everyone is allowed to participate. 

To find the classifications of a water body, follow the instructions above to find the segment and the segment’s water quality standards table in the basin regulation. In the top left corner of the table, there is a header labeled “Classifications,” under which will list the classifications of the segment. 

To determine if a water body is subject to antidegradation requirements, follow the instructions above to find the segment and the segment’s water quality standards table in the basin regulation. In the top left corner of the table, there is a header labeled “Designation.”

Under designation, the table will list one of three options: Outstanding, Reviewable, or Use Protected. The segment is subject to antidegradation requirements if the designation is listed as Outstanding or Reviewable. If the segment designation is listed as Use Protected, that segment is not subject to antidegradation requirements. 

Effluent limitations are written to ensure the discharge complies with the Commission's adopted water quality standards. The specifics of the facility and its operation influence which parameters are in the permit and whether they only have a monitoring requirement or whether they have an effluent limitation and monitoring requirement. 

A discharge permit application includes information to characterize the wastestream. The division evaluates this information in accordance with applicable Regulations and Policies, including the Reasonable Potential Policy. A pollutant parameter that has a standard in Regulation 31, which can occur from waste stream contributions (e.g., RO brine, industrial, non domestic contributors, treatment chemicals) can be added to the permit limit table.

Please see the Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) Policy for a pollutant that is controlled through the narrative standard because it does not have a numeric standard. 

A permit or permit certification may contain limits based on a water quality standard that are lower than what is feasible for laboratory equipment detection limits. In this case, the laboratory must be able to test at or below the Practical Quantitation Limit (PQL), which is the minimum concentration of an analyte (substance) that can be measured with a high degree of confidence that the analyte is present at or above that concentration.

• For the PQLs established by the division for a variety of parameters, navigate to the clean water policies webpage.
• Click on Policy CW-6, “Practical Quantification Limits.” 
• Also see the PQL section of your individual permit or a Master General permit (e.g., COG590000, COG591000)

Please review the Protecting downstream users document for permit information, including a downstream segment(s).

Regulation 61.8(1)(b) The division shall not issue a permit under the following circumstances:

• When the imposition of conditions cannot ensure compliance with the applicable water quality requirements of all affected States.
• Regulation 61.8(1)(e) 
• Subject to the provisions of subsection 31.14(15)(b), no permit shall be issued which allows a discharge that by itself or in combination with other pollution will result in pollution of the receiving waters in excess of the pollution permitted by an applicable water quality standard or applicable antidegradation requirement unless the permit contains effluent limitations and a schedule of compliance specifying treatment requirements or the division has granted a variance from the water quality standard.

Information about nutrients can be found on the Nutrients webpage. 

• For a renewal permit or certification, if the receiving segment(s) is classified for Water supply, the acute nitrate standard of 10 mg/l based on human health is implemented as TIN because ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate can form TIN. You can tell the difference between water supply TIN and Regulation 85 TIN  by the required statistical analysis, because a TIN limit for water supply is based on the acute nitrate standard, which is a daily maximum limit.
• A new discharge of any size requires Regulation 85 technology-based limitations. 

The voluntary incentive program for early nutrient reductions allows facilities to earn incentives (credits) by reducing nutrient levels beyond the current requirement to delay future implementation of future nutrient requirements in Regulation 31.17. See the response above regarding the water supply (human health) FAQ regarding the TIN limit.

Too many nutrients can impact the quality of Colorado’s drinking water, impair recreational boating and fishing experiences, and harm native fish. Colorado has been directed by the EPA to adopt nutrient goals to protect our streams and lakes. In 2017, the Water Quality Control Commission decided that the best way to continue decreasing nutrients in Colorado’s waters is to offer incentives for early reductions of nutrients beyond current requirements. Current requirements include meeting the water quality standard of acute nitrate plus nitrite water quality standard of 10 mg/L to protect drinking water uses (Regulation 31.16, Table II) and meeting total nitrogen and total phosphorus in Regulation 31.17(2)(a). 
 

It is up to the wastewater treatment facility to decide whether they will accept sump pump discharge from their users and take the responsibility for treating that waste stream contribution and associated pollutants from sump pump (e.g., metals). Some cities and towns prohibit sump pump connection to the sanitary sewer to not strain the system’s capacity and treatment costs.

Some communities also reduce contributions from sump pumps to help manage the water storage volume as part of a future reuse program, and this may help the permittee achieve the goal of no wastewater discharge. 

Technology-based limitations (TBEL) are based on the technological and economic ability of dischargers in the same category to control the discharge of pollutants in wastewater. Regulation 62, Regulation 85, and Effluent Guidelines (industry-specific) are technology-based limitations.

Water quality based Limit (WQBEL): numeric limitation to protect the quality of the specific water body receiving the discharge. See Regulation 31 as well as the specific basin Regulation (Regulations 32-38) for the numeric standards for the specific receiving water body. 

Narrative standard: See Regulation 31.11(1)

Information about antidegradation can be found on our website.

Regulation 31.8 establishes the criteria for antidegradation classifications and discusses how those classifications are implemented through permits. 

Division guidance regarding antidegradation can be found on the Clean Water Policies webpage. The Antidegradation Significance Determination Guidance and Clarifications of Antidegradation Guidance Regarding Implementation of Implicit Non-Impact Limits (NILs) guide the division’s process of implementing antidegradation limits in permits.

The division can determine that allowing more degraded water quality is necessary to accommodate important economic or social development and give a discharger a more lenient “alternative” antidegradation limit. Information regarding the “Necessity of Degradation Determination,” or “Antidegradation Alternatives Analysis,” can be found in Regulation 31.8(3)(d). 

Regulation 93 is Colorado’s list of impaired waters. This regulation includes 303(d) designated Water-Quality Limited Segments Requiring Total Maximum Daily Loads (“TMDLs”), Impaired Water Bodies with Approved TMDLs and 4b Plans, and Colorado’s Monitoring and Evaluation List. Search by the receiving segment and review the listed portion of the impaired segment.

The segment impairment table will state the status (e.g., TMDL, 303(d), M&E). The TMDL webpage has more information about the TMDL process and approved TMDLs. 

Additional terms, conditions, and rationales can be found in the Master General Permit documents (e.g., COG591000 or COG590000). Follow the steps outlined above and search for the general permit number (COG591000 or COG590000) that your certification falls under. Most relevant information can be found in the permit record, especially under the most recently issued permit document and in all of the fact sheet documents.

A permit or permit certification may contain a compliance schedule if the division has determined that a compliance schedule is appropriate, necessary, and that a schedule will ensure compliance “as soon as possible.” Information regarding compliance schedules, including modification of compliance schedules, can be found in Policy CW-3, Permit Compliance Schedules.

For a numeric limit to be eligible for a compliance schedule, the division must determine that a compliance schedule is appropriate and necessary. Necessity is determined by data that shows that a facility is discharging above a new permit limit. A complete application that includes waste characterization allows the division to evaluate parameters for a compliance schedule.

New information that was not available at the time of issuance can be provided after a permit is issued in a modification application with a request for the division to evaluate for a compliance schedule. Individual permit and general permit certification modification applications can be found on our website. 

A permit or permit certification may contain special studies and additional monitoring to address site-specific issues or concerns. 

All changes to the permit conditions require a permit modification application (see the forms webpage and the Modification Applications tab to select the modification form for your permit or certification). When submitting this form, please follow the instructions on the form itself. 

Note that the division has 180 days to approve modification requests and that past-due permit conditions cannot be modified. 

To document or confirm completion of an event for a compliance schedule, mixing zone studies, sediment control plans, or other special studies, the permittee must fill out and submit a narrative conditions report form found on the permit forms webpage. 

Please see responses above regarding the narrative condition and modification application forms. Both the narrative conditions report form and the modification application can be found on the division’s forms webpage.

Please see the answers above regarding the differences between the narrative condition and modification application.

Please submit a Request for Chemical Evaluation form for the division to evaluate. The form can be submitted as part of an application or as a permit modification. Information about chemical evaluations can be found on our  Chemical Evaluation and Discharge Permits website.

Contact the division's Engineering Services team to discuss the Site Application Process to convert the system to non discharging. Also, please see the Reuse webpage and the division's reuse contacts listed at the bottom of the page. 

No, you can apply for permit termination. See the termination form on the forms webpage.

WQCC Policy 98-2 (Part IV) provides information and eligibility requirements for the various financial assistance opportunities offered by the Division to assist with efforts towards protecting public health and the environment. Governmental agencies, which include cities, towns, counties and special districts, are eligible to receive funds from resources such as the State Revolving Funds (SRF).

Further information about these offerings can be found at the division’s water quality grants and loans webpage.

• Please contactcdphe_grantsandloans@state.co.us for general inquiries regarding state funding opportunities.
• Contact CDPHE.WQCD.Watergrants@state.co.us for general information about available grants.
• Contact information for the SRF can be found in this PDF document.
   

Information regarding submitting quarterly data on DMRs can be found in the division’s DMR Guidance document on the Policy page on our website.

For further assistance with DMRs or to correct information on past DMRs, see the division’s NetDMR website. If questions still remain, contact the NetDMR Help Line at 303-691-4046 or cdphe.wqnetdmrhelp@state.co.us. 

Information on grants for sampling and analysis of wastewater and biosolids for PFAS can be found at the division’s PFAS grant program webpage.