Wastewater Discharge Permits

Obtaining a Wastewater Permit

Permitted Facilities Information

Technical Assistance

Types of WPDES
Wastewater Permits

The DNR, through the Bureau of Watershed Management, regulates the discharge of pollutants to waters of the state. The DNR currently has 5 types of Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) Wastewater permits. This page contains basic information on each of them. For more specific information on WPDES Wastewater permits, contact your local WPDES Wastewater Permit Staff.

Outline of Wastewater Discharge Permit Format

Wastewater Permits contain all the monitoring requirements, special reports, and compliance actions appropriate to the facility in question and follow this outline:

  • Cover Page. This identifies the facility, its location, permit effective date, expiration date, and authorizing signature, and date signed.
  • Table of Contents. This page includes report due dates and page numbers
  • Monitoring and reporting requirements, effluent limitations and groundwater quality standards:
    • Influent Monitoring Requirements
    • Effluent Monitoring Requirements and Limitations - a page for each outfall and sample point, as appropriate
    • Groundwater Monitoring Requirements and Limitations
    • Facility Diagram (optional)
    • Special Report Requirements (including information required and submittal deadlines):
    • Compliance Maintenance Annual Reports
    • Sludge Monitoring Requirements
    • Monitoring for Toxic Substances and Biomonitoring
    • Other Special Reports as appropriate
    • Schedule of Compliance (includes actions needed and deadlines)
    • General Conditions. This includes standard language for all wastewater dischargers

WPDES Industrial Wastewater Discharge Permits

Wisconsin's industrial wastewater permit program regulates industrial wastewater discharges to surface waters and groundwater. Among industrial facilities, approximately 415 dischargers to surface water and/or groundwater require individual (e.g., site-specific) WPDES permits as of 2005.

The Department administers 45 major industrial permits issued primarily to paper mills and steam electric facilities. Minor industrial permits span a variety of industrial activities including dairy, food processing, metal finishing, meat processing and manufacturing plants. Many of the facilities have both surface water and groundwater discharges regulated by the same permit.

Major industrial permits are issued for industries with significant wastewater volumes which can impact the receiving water. Before DNR can issue or reissue a major permit, EPA concurrence is needed. Majors are determined by calculating an EPA score which considers the 6 factors listed below. A score of 80 or more results in classification as a major.

  1. Toxic pollutant protection
  2. Wastewater volume/stream flow
  3. Conventional pollutants
  4. Public health impacts
  5. Water quality factors
  6. Proximity to coastal waters or Great Lakes

All other specific (individual) industrial permits are considered industrial minors. Besides being classified as major or minor, industrial permits are also determined to be complex and non- complex. Complex permits are those surface water discharges with water quality based effluent limits, categorical limits (the industry has wastewater which fits in an industrial category identified in Wisconsin Administrative Code NR 221-297) and land disposal systems with groundwater monitoring wells. Industrial Non-complex permits include discharges of low strength wastewater (which may or may not be treated) from small industries discharging to surface water with categorical limits

WPDES Municipal Wastewater Discharge Permits

Since passage of the 1972 Federal Clean Water Act, Wisconsin communities invested a tremendous amount of time, labor, and money to upgrade and construct wastewater treatment facilities for water quality improvements.

As of 2005, approximately 690 municipalities held WPDES permits to discharge to surface and/or groundwater in Wisconsin. As communities upgrade treatment facilities, some find combining systems into a joint regional treatment facility more economical. Other municipalities upgrade the existing facility or construct a new one at or near the existing site.

Publically owned wastewater treatment plants which have a design flow of 1.0 million gallons per day or greater are considered "majors." Publicly owned wastewater treatment plants which have a design average flow of less than 1.0 million gallons per day are "minors."

Pretreatment Program

The Wisconsin DNR's Pretreatment Program is a requirement of the federal Clean Water Act law outlined in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 40., in various sections and subsections. The term "pretreatment discharger" refers to the situation where the facility does not discharge their wastewater directly to the waters of the state. Instead, the discharge flows into a municipal sewage treatment plant (also called a POTW or publicly owned treatment works) and mixes with other sewage for treatment before it is discharged to the waters of the state. The US EPA has designated the State of Wisconsin DNR to administer this federal code within the state. In response to this designation, the State has adopted several State Administrative Codes that describe the requirements for pretreatment discharges. These are contained in Wis. Admin. Codes NR 211, and NR 220-297.

Pretreatment dischargers are issued permits if regulated by publically owned treatment works (POTWs) delegated to implement the program, or they are issued control documents if regulated by the Department. Control documents can be issued directly to the facility by the DNR, or the DNR can pass this permitting authority on to the local POTW if the POTW is designated as a "control authority" for this function. Permits issued by control authorities have an expiration date; control documents issued by the DNR do not have expiration dates. A control authority can develop its own discharge requirements under its municipal ordinances, but they cannot be less restrictive than the federal regulations. The discharge limitations are grouped by categories of industrial and commercial dischargers and subgrouped by the federal standard industrial coding or SIC code that applies to that facility.

Facilities that discharge in the pretreatment program are required to send periodic compliance reports (PCRs) to the DNR or the control authority for review of their compliance with pretreatment discharge limitations. These PCRs are reviewed and the data entered into a computer system for compliance tracking. The actual data entry and compliance tracking is decentralized across the state. For facilities that have DNR control documents, the compliance tracking is done by the Regional Office of the DNR. For facilities that are indirectly regulated by the control authorities, each Regional Office has designated a person or persons to track compliance and do compliance inspections and enforcement.

For more information on the pretreatment program, contact: Bob Liska at (608) 267-7631 or your local WPDES Permit Staff.

WPDES General Wastewater Discharge Permits

Under the authority in section 283.35, Wis. Stats., the Department may issue WPDES general permits applicable to categories or classes of point source discharges. Section NR 205.08, Wis. Adm. Code, contains further requirements concerning the issuance of general permits. The information provided on this web page applies only to WPDES general wastewater discharge permits that cover groups of facilities or industries with similar types of wastewater discharges to surface waters and/or groundwater. The Department also issues general permits for discharges of storm water under the authority of s. 283.33, Wis. Stats., and may also issue a general permit for certain concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). General permits applicable to storm water discharges and CAFOs may be found at the following link: http://dnr.wi.gov/runoff/

The following general permits have been issued for the noted categories and classes of discharges:

  • Ballast Water Discharge (WI-0063835-1)
  • Carriage and Interstitial Water from Dredging Operations (WI-0046558-5)
  • Concrete Products Operations (WI-0046507-5)
  • Contaminated Groundwater from Remedial Action Operations (WI-0046566-5)
  • Domestic Wastewater to Subsurface Soil Absorption Systems (WI-0062901-2)
  • Hydrostatic Test Water and Water Supply System Water (WI-0057681-4)
  • Land Application of By-Product Solids (WI-0057665-4)
  • Land Application of Industrial Sludge (WI-0057657-4)
  • Land Application of Liquid Industrial Wastes (WI-0055867-5)
  • Non-Contact Cooling Water or Condensate and Boiler Blowdown (WI-0044938-5)
  • Nondomestic Wastewater to Subsurface Absorption Systems (WI-0055611-6)
  • Nonmetallic Mining Operations (WI-0046515-5)
  • Pesticide Pollutant Discharge for Control of Aquatic Plants, Algae, and Bacteria (WI-0064556-1)
  • Pesticide Pollutant Discharge for Control of Detrimental or Invasive Aquatic Animals (WI-0064564-1)
  • Pesticide Pollutant Discharge for Control of Forest Canopy Pests (WI-0064572-1)
  • Pesticide Pollutant Discharge for Control of Mosquitoes or Other Flying Insects (WI-0064581-1)
  • Petroleum Contaminated Water (WI-0046531-4)
  • Pit/Trench Dewatering (WI-0049344-3)
  • Potable Water Treatment and Conditioning (WI-0046540-5)
  • Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSO) from Sewage Collection Systems (WI-0047341-4)
  • Swimming Pool Facilities (WI-0046523-5)
  • Wastewater from the Outside Washing of Vehicles, Equipment and Other Objects (WI-0059153-3)

As with other WPDES permits, general permits are issued for a term of 5 years. If the general permit expires prior to reissuance or revocation, the terms and conditions of the expired permit continue until the permit is reissued or revoked. Issuance of the permit follows all the applicable public noticing requirements associated with other WPDES permit issuances. Following issuance, the Department may grant or confer coverage, without further public notification, to any facility or operation at any time during the permit term, provided the facility or operation meets the applicability requirements of the general permit. Compliance with limitations contained in the permit must be attained at the time coverage is granted. If a facility is not meeting those terms and conditions, then coverage under the general permit cannot be granted or continued and a discharge may not occur until an individual permit is issued.

Once coverage under a general permit has been granted, compliance with the terms and conditions must be maintained or the Department may take an enforcement action under the provisions of s. 283.89, Wis. Stats., for permit violations. The Department may revoke general permit coverage for a discharger and issue an individual permit following the conditions in NR 205.08.

To obtain initial coverage under a general permit a discharger must contact the Department by completing and submitting a “Request for Coverage” form to the WPDES staff in the applicable Regional office of the Department. (Note that special coverage provisions apply to the “Outside Washing of Vehicles, Equipment and Other Objects (WI-0059153-1)” general permit.) Following reissuance of a general permit, the Department may grant continuing coverage under the reissued general permit or may request that permittees submit a new or revised “Request for Coverage” document to be granted continuing coverage. Most of the general permits issued under s. 283.35, Wis. Stats., require periodic monitoring and reporting. Forms to report monitoring data will be provided when coverage under the permit is granted or otherwise may be requested from WPDES staff in the appropriate Regional DNR office.

Please see Industrial and Municipal Wastewater General Discharge Permits for permit documents, request for coverage forms and other information on each of the general permits that has been issued. General permit staff in the statewide DNR Office in Madison may be contacted with questions or comments about the content of any general permit. DNR Regional Staff should be contacted to obtain permit coverage or with specific questions about a facility.

Other WPDES Permits

WPDES Storm Water Discharge Permits

To meet the requirements of Section 402 of the federal Clean Water Act, the DNR has developed a state Storm Water Discharge Permit Program under Wisconsin Administrative Code NR 216. There are three categories of discharges to be regulated by WPDES storm water permits: industrial, municipal and construction site erosion control. Storm water permits are regulated through the DNR Runoff Management Section. Click on this link for more information: www.dnr.state.wi.us/runoff/stormwater.htm

WPDES Animal Waste Discharge Permits

Permits for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are regulated through the DNR Runoff Management Section. Click on this link for more information: www.dnr.state.wi.us/runoff/ag

For more information, contact: Tom Mugan, Bureau of Watershed Management.

Last Revised: Tuesday November 15 2011