Discharge to Ground Water Permitting Program

Any facilities that discharge pollutants to ground waters of the State require a New Jersey Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NJPDES) - Discharge to Ground Water (DGW) permit. The state rule that sets forth the requirements on elibility, procedures for obtaining, and general conditions for maintaining a NJPDES-DGW permit are in N.J.A.C. 7:14A. The goal of the NJPDES-DGW permitting program is to restore, enhance and maintain the ground water quality of New Jersey. This goal is achieved pursuant to the WPCA and the Ground Water Quality Standards (GWQS), which can be found at N.J.A.C. 7:9C et seq. The GWQS designate ground water classifications throughout the state, designated uses, and ground water quality criteria and constituent standards.

Individual and General Permitting for DGW Permits

NJPDES-DGW permits may be in the form of an Individual or General Permit. Individual permits are tailored to the specific conditions of a facility’s operation and are typically issued to facilities with multiple operations, complex site organization, or for those facilities that are not eligible for a general permit. Individual permits provide a facility the flexibility of utilizing custom best management practices (BMPs), in addition to site-specific monitoring and sampling requirements to track the discharge of pollutants into underlying aquifers. For more information on individual permits, visit the Types of Individual DGW Permits section.

NJPDES-DGW general permits are pre-approved permits a facility may request authorization under if the facility conforms to the eligibility requirements of that particular general permit. Typically, this eligibility requires a facility to enact certain operating procedures and wastewater handling methods that the Department has deemed satisfactory to meet the NJPDES rule and the Ground Water Quality Standards. Types of general permits include the Lined Surface Impoundment (LSI) General Permit, Sanitary Subsurface Disposal (T1) General Permit, and those general permits that provide for the proper discharge of wastewater from specific industries. For more information on ground water general permits, please click here.

For FAQs on recently proposed Ground Water Quality Standards please click here.