FACTS ON
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGION FIVE
1 N. Wacker Dr. Chicago, Illinois 60606 312-353-5800
The Refuse Act Permit Program
The Refuse Act Permit Program (RAPP) has the responsibility to
improve the quality of our streams, lakes and coastal waters by applying
the provisions of the 1899 River and Harbor Act ("Refuse Act") to the
problems of water pollution.
Enforcement of this law has in the past been limited to discharges
carrying suspended materials which became obstructive or hazardous to
navigation. Recently, however, court decisions have allowed a broader
interpretation of the Act.
The United States Supreme Court held that the Refuse Act must be
broadly construed and that "any refuse matter" includes all foreign sub-
stances and pollutants, even oil, whether commercially valuable or not.
The permit program requires all existing and new industrial waste
discharges into navigable waters or tributaries to obtain a permit to dis-
charge. An industry obtains an application kit with instructions from the
District Office of the Corps of Engineers which is the permit issuing agency.
The industries are required to furnish certain basic data such as
the amount of water used, the type of product manufactured, the type of
waste abatement practices used, and the amount of pollutants present in
the discharge. The Corps then forwards the application to EPA.
Upon receipt, the RAPP staff reviews the application to determine
if sufficient and meaningful information has been provided. Clarification
or additional information is requested from the industrial applicant if
needed.
When the application is considered complete, a copy is forwarded
to the appropriate State agency for its certification that the discharge
will meet water quality standards or for other comments that the State deems
appropriate.
Close coordination is maintained with the State agency during the
technical evaluation of each application. Permit conditions concerning water
EPA 905-F-73-022
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quality are drafted by the RAPP technical staff. These special conditions
may include an oil spill prevention plan, a limitation on the discharge or
authorized deposition of chemical, oils, hazardous or toxic substances, or
a schedule of interim dates for treatment on control of a discharge. Most
permits also contain conditions adapted to particular problems involved in
plans for the basin in which the discharge is located.
The technical staff also assists in the development of effluent
standards and limitations. In addition, the staff assists industries in
complying with these standards through coordination with the Office of
Research and Monitoring on technology development and transfer and the Water
Quality Standards section.
The staff may also monitor industrial discharge sources and the
receiving waters to insure compliance with the permit application data.
In some instances, an in-plant inspection may be necessary to determine what
effluent guidelines should be applied. The RAPP staff also provides assist-
ance to the States in the development of their own permit program.
Recommendation of enforcement action, assisting in the development
of consent decrees, and providing expert testimony at hearings, civil or
criminal actions, are also the responsibility of the staff.
The program is now preparing a national automated data processing
system so that the permit application da^a can be used by management to
determine the effects on industrial dischargers.
Because of a Federal District Court decisions in the case of Kalur
v. Resor, no permits may be issued at this time. However, the Kalur deci-
sion does not prevent EPA from continuing to process permit applications
in the appeal interim, nor does it prohibit the States from issuing certi-
fication.
The Region V Permit Program will continue to process applications,
and State have been.urged to issue certification. In addition, the States
will be sent draft special conditions designed to achieve the "best prac-
ticable control technology currently available" and what EPA believes pro-
perly should be required under the Refuse Act.
Under two similar bills presently before Congress which would amend
the Federal Water Pollution Control Act the Permit Program would continue
and be expanded and would make possible the application of effluent limita-
tions to dischargers, both industrial and municipal.
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