OAR 340-012-0055: Water Quality Classification of Violations

(1) Class I: (a) Causing pollution of waters of the state; (b) Reducing the water quality of waters of the state below water quality standards; (c) Discharging any waste that enters waters of the state, either without a waste discharge permit or from a discharge point not authorized by a waste discharge permit; (d) Operating a discharge source or conducting a disposal activity without first obtaining an individual permit or applying for coverage under a general permit for that discharge or disposal activity; (e) Failing to comply with statute, rule, or permit requirements regarding notification of a spill or upset condition, which results in a non-permitted discharge to public waters; (f) Failing to take appropriate action, as required by the municipal wastewater treatment works owner's DEQ-approved pretreatment-compliance oversight program, against an industrial discharger to the municipal treatment works who violates any pretreatment standard or requirement, if the violation impairs or damages the treatment works, or causes major harm or poses a major risk of harm to public health or the environment; (g) Making unauthorized changes, modifications, or alterations to a facility operating under a Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF) or National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit; (h) Allowing operation or supervision of a wastewater treatment and collection system without proper certification, by the permittee and/or owner; (i) Applying biosolids or domestic septage to a parcel of land that does not have DEQ approval for land application; (j) Applying biosolids that do not meet the pollutant, pathogen or one of the vector attraction reduction requirements of 40 CFR 503.33(b)(1) through (10); (k) Violating a technology-based effluent limitation, except for removal efficiency, in an NPDES or WPCF permit if: (A) The discharge level (except for pH and bacteria) exceeds the limitation by 50 percent or more; (B) The discharge is outside the permitted pH range by more than 2 pH units; (C) The discharge exceeds a bacteria limit as a result of an inoperative disinfection system where there is no disinfection; or (D) The discharge of recycled water exceeds a bacteria limit by more than five times the limit. (l) Violating a water quality based effluent limitation in an NPDES permit; (m) Violating a WPCF permit limitation in a designated groundwater management area if the exceedance is of a parameter for which the groundwater management area was established; (n) Failing to report an effluent limitation exceedance; (o) Failing to collect monitoring data required in Schedule B of the permit; (p) Contracting for operation or operating a prohibited Underground Injection Control (UIC) system other than a cesspool that only disposes of human waste; (q) Operating an Underground Injection Control (UIC) system that causes a data verifiable violation of federal drinking water standards in an aquifer used as an underground source of drinking water; or (r) Failing to substantially implement a stormwater plan in accordance with an NPDES permit. (2) Class II: (a) Violating a technology-based effluent limitation, except for removal efficiency, in an NPDES or WPCF permit if: (A) The discharge level (except for pH and bacteria) exceeds the limitation by 20 percent or more, but less than 50 percent, for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), carbonaceous chemical oxygen demand (CBOD), and total suspended solids (TTS), or by 10 percent or more, but less than 50 percent, for all other limitations; (B) The discharge is outside the permitted pH range by more than 1 pH unit but less than or equal to 2 pH units; (C) The discharge exceeds a bacteria limit by a factor of five or more, unless otherwise classified; or (D) The discharge of recycled water exceeds a bacteria limit by an amount equal to or less than five times the limit; (b) Failing to timely submit a report or plan as required by rule, permit, or license, unless otherwise classified; (c) Causing any wastes to be placed in a location where such wastes are likely to be carried into waters of the state by any means; (d) Violating any management, monitoring, or operational plan established pursuant to a waste discharge permit, unless otherwise classified; (e) Failing to timely submit or implement a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Implementation Plan, by a Designated Management Agency (DMA), as required by department order; or (f) Failing to comply with the requirements in OAR 340-044-0018(1) to obtain authorization by rule to construct and operate an underground injection system. (3) Class III: (a) Failing to submit a complete discharge monitoring report; (b) Violating a technology-based effluent limitation, except for removal efficiency, in an NPDES or WPCF permit if: (A) The discharge (except for pH and bacteria) exceeds the limitation by less than 20 percent for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), carbonaceous chemical oxygen demand (CBOD), and total suspended solids (TSS), or by less than 10 percent for all other limitations; (B) The discharge is outside the permitted pH range by 1 pH unit or less; or (C) The discharge (except for recycled water) exceeds a bacteria limit by less than five times the limit; (c) Failing to achieve a removal efficiency established in an NPDES or WPCF permit; (d) Failing to register an Underground Injection Control (UIC) system, except for a UIC system prohibited by rule; or (e) Failing to follow the owner's DEQ-approved pretreatment program procedures, where such failure did not result in any harm to the treatment works and was not a threat to the public health or the environment.