Rule 3745-33-03 | Applications.
[Comment: For dates of non-regulatory government publications, publications of recognized organizations and associations, federal rules and federal statutory provisions referenced in this rule, see rule 3745-33-01 of the Administrative Code.]
(A) Applications for Ohio NPDES permits shall be filed electronically, only on forms approved by Ohio EPA. As a minimum, these applications shall contain any NPDES application information necessitated by regulations adopted by the administrator, including 40 C.F.R. 122 to 125, 129 to 133, 136, 400 to 471, 501 and 503.
(B) Any person proposing to commence the discharge of pollutants shall submit an application, including all data indicated on the application form, at least one hundred eighty days prior to commencement of the discharge. If a permit renewal application is submitted at least one hundred eighty days prior to the expiration date of the existing permit, and the director does not issue a new permit before the expiration date, the conditions of the expired permit shall continue in force until the director acts on the permit application.
(C) The applicant shall include a list of treatment additives including, but not limited to, maintenance chemicals and chemicals used to aid in the treatment of the wastewater. If the treatment additives proposed have not been approved in a permit to install issued under Chapter 3745-42 of the Administrative Code, director's final findings and orders, or NPDES permit issuance, a request for approval to discharge the treatment additives is necessary in accordance with paragraph (G) of this rule.
(D) Any application that fails to provide Ohio EPA with requested information needed for ascertaining compliance with the applicable provisions of this chapter, may be considered incomplete. Ohio EPA may either request additional information or return the application to the applicant without further processing. An indication of why the application was considered incomplete will accompany the application returned.
(1) Except as specified in paragraph (D)(1)(b) of this rule, a permit application shall not be considered complete unless all required quantitative data are collected in accordance with sufficiently sensitive analytical methods approved under 40 C.F.R. Part 136 or required under 40 C.F.R. chapter I, subchapter N or O.
(a) For the purposes of this requirement, a method approved under 40 C.F.R. Part 136 or required under 40 C.F.R. chapter I, subchapter N or O is "sufficiently sensitive" when any of the following conditions are met:
(i) The method quantification level (QL) is at or below the level of the applicable water quality criterion for the measured pollutant or pollutant parameter.
(ii) The method QL is above the applicable water quality criterion, but the amount of the pollutant or pollutant parameter in a facility's discharge is high enough that the method detects and quantifies the level of the pollutant or pollutant parameter in the discharge.
(iii) The method has the lowest QL of the analytical methods approved under 40 C.F.R. Part 136 or required under 40 C.F.R. chapter I, subchapter N or O for the measured pollutant or pollutant parameter.
(b) When there is no analytical method that has been approved under 40 C.F.R. Part 136, required under 40 C.F.R. chapter I, subchapter N or O, and a specific analytical method is not otherwise required by the director, the applicant may use any suitable method but shall provide a description of the method. When selecting a suitable method, other factors such as a method's precision, accuracy or resolution may be considered when assessing the performance of the method.
[Comment: Common application deficiencies include the following: not submitting the application fee; form 1 not identifying the legal owner and operator of the facility as the entity that controls the overall operations as opposed to the site manager, certified operator, or person who does the day-to-day operations and maintenance; the signatory not meeting the requirements in paragraph (F) of this rule; form 2C not including analytical data of pollutants believed present; form 2S not completed for small sanitary applicants using form 2E; and the methods used to analyze the discharge characteristics not being sufficiently sensitive to determine compliance with applicable water quality standards.]
(E) An applicant may request that information submitted with applications be treated as confidential business information.
(1) A request for confidential treatment shall be submitted to Ohio EPA simultaneously with an application with documentation sufficient to support that the information is confidential. Failure to make such a timely request constitutes a waiver of the right to prevent public disclosure. A request at a later time will be entertained by Ohio EPA, but Ohio EPA will not be liable for any information released prior to receiving the request.
(2) A decision as to whether to treat the information as confidential shall be made by the director within forty-five days of receipt of the request and accompanying documentation. Until such decision is made, the information or part thereof, will be treated as confidential. The applicant requesting confidentiality shall be notified in writing of the director's decision.
(3) Any information determined to be confidential may be disclosed, as follows:
(a) To officers, employees or authorized representatives of the state or a federal agency, without the consent of the affected person, when necessary to sustain an action brought pursuant to Chapter 6111. of the Revised Code or during an adjudication hearing or when otherwise necessary to fulfill any requirement of the act or Chapter 6111. of the Revised Code.
(b) In any judicial proceeding in accordance with paragraph (E)(3)(d) of this rule.
(c) In any administrative hearing in accordance with paragraph (E)(3)(d) of this rule.
(d) Information determined to be confidential may be disclosed in any judicial proceeding or in any administrative hearing after notification to the affected person and the presiding officer sufficient to allow submission of comments by the affected person prior to disclosure of the information. Upon consideration of such comments, the presiding officer may condition disclosure of the information on the making of such protective arrangements and commitments found to be necessary and appropriate.
(e) Disclosure of information determined to be confidential in accordance with paragraph (E)(3) of this rule will not, of itself, affect the eligibility of information for confidential treatment under the other provisions of this rule.
(4) Information required by NPDES application forms provided by the director under this rule may not be claimed confidential. This includes information on the forms themselves and any attachments used to supply information required by the forms. Claims for confidentiality will be denied for the following information:
(a) The name and address of any permit applicant or permittee.
(b) Permit applications, permits, and effluent data.
(F) An application submitted to the director pursuant to this chapter shall be signed as follows:
(1) In the case of a corporation, by a responsible corporate officer. For these purposes, a responsible corporate officer means either of the following:
(a) A president, secretary, treasurer or vice-president of the corporation in charge of a principal business function, or any other person who performs similar policy-making or decision-making functions for the corporation.
(b) The manager of one or more manufacturing, production or operating facilities, provided the manager is authorized to make management decisions that govern the operation of the regulated facility including having explicit or implicit duty of making major capital investment recommendations, and initiating and directing other comprehensive measures to assure long-term environmental compliance with environmental laws and regulations; the manager can ensure that the necessary systems are established or actions taken to gather complete and accurate information for permit application requirements; and where authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.
(2) In the case of a partnership, by a general partner.
(3) In the case of a sole proprietorship, by the proprietor.
(4) In the case of a municipal, state, or other public facility, by either the principal executive officer, the ranking elected official or other duly authorized representative as defined in paragraph (A)(13) of rule 3745-33-08 of the Administrative Code.
(5) In the case of a change to authorization. If the authorization is no longer accurate because a different individual or position has responsibility for the overall operation of the facility, a new authorization satisfying the requirements of paragraph (F)(4) of this rule shall be submitted to the director prior to or together with applications to be signed by a duly authorized representative as defined in paragraph (A)(13) of rule 3745-33-08 of the Administrative Code.
(6) Electronic signatures meeting all relevant requirements of this section necessitated by regulations adopted by the administrator including 40 C.F.R. Part 3, 122 and 127.
(G) Requesting approval to use and discharge treatment additives.
(1) Permittees, except for POTWs, shall obtain prior approval for the use and discharge of new treatment additives.
(2) Requests for approvals under this paragraph shall be filed only on forms approved by Ohio EPA and contain such information as Ohio EPA deems necessary. The forms may be submitted electronically.
(3) All of the following substances are exempt from the requirement to request approval prior to use:
(a) Acids and bases used only to alter the pH of the discharge when the applicable outfall already includes an effluent limit for pH, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(i) Caustic soda (sodium hydroxide).
(ii) Magnesium hydroxide.
(iii) Aluminum sulfate (alum).
(iv) Lime.
(v) Sulfuric acid.
(b) Sodium carbonate.
(c) Polyaluminum chloride.
(d) Ferric chloride.
(e) The following chlorination chemicals when the applicable outfall already includes an effluent limit for chlorine:
(i) Chlorine.
(ii) Sodium hypochlorite.
(iii) Calcium hypochlorite.
(f) The following dechlorination chemicals:
(i) Sodium thiosulfate.
(ii) Sodium sulfite.
(iii) Sodium meta bisulfite.
(iv) Sodium bisulfite.
(v) Sulfur dioxide.
(vi) Ascorbic acid.
Last updated October 31, 2025 at 5:34 AM
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