Notice of Drafting

The Notice of Drafting for the 2019 revisions was published in the State Register on Friday, April 26, 2019. The closing date for the public comment period was May 28, 2019.

R.61-9 Notice of Drafting (04-26-2019)

The Department did not receive any comments in response to the Notice of Drafting.

Proposed Regulation

The Department proposes amending R.61-9 to adopt portions of three federal Clean Water Act rules promulgated by the United States EPA required for State program implementation. These federal regulations include:

• National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) Use of Sufficiently Sensitive Test Methods for Permit Applications and Reporting (79 FR 49001, August 19, 2014)
• NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule (80 FR 64063, October 22, 2015)
• NPDES Applications and Program Updates (84 FR 3324, February 12, 2019)

The proposed amendments to R.61-9 were presented to the DHEC Board on August 8, 2019. The Notice of Proposed Regulation was published in the State Register on August 23, 2019.

R.61-9 Notice of Proposed Regulation (08-23-2019)

As described in the notice, interested persons may submit comment(s) on the proposed amendments to Andrew Edwards of the Bureau of Water; S.C. Department of Environmental Services, 2600 Bull Street, Columbia, S.C. 29201; edwardaj@dhec.sc.gov.

To be considered, the Department must receive the comment(s) by 5:00 p.m. on September 23, 2019, the close of the comment period.

Stakeholder Meeting

The Department is hosting a stakeholder meeting to answer questions, and receive comments from interested persons on the proposed amendments to R.61-9. This meeting is open to the public and any interested persons may attend.

• Monday, September 23, 2019, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
  Linton Room (4011)
  2600 Bull Street
  Columbia, SC 29201

Public Hearing

The S.C. Board of Health and Environmental Control will conduct a public hearing on the proposed amendment during its November 7, 2019, 10:00 a.m. meeting.  Interested persons may make oral and/or submit written comments at the public hearing.  The meeting will take place in the Board Room of the DHEC Building, located at 2600 Bull Street, Columbia, S.C. 29201.  Due to admittance procedures, all visitors must enter through the main Bull Street entrance and register at the front desk.

The Department will publish a meeting agenda twenty-four (24) hours in advance indicating the order of its scheduled items here.

The Department publishes a Monthly Regulation Development Update tracking the status of its proposed new regulations, amendments, and repeals and providing links to associated State Register documents at des.sc.gov/permits-regulations/laws-regulations-regulatory-updates/regulation-development-update.

Contact

If you have any questions or comments regarding the 2019 revisions to Regulation 61-9, please contact Andrew Edwards at edwardaj@dhec.sc.gov or 803-898-1271.