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Offshore and Oil & Gas NPDES permits
 Welcome
to the EPA Region 6 Water Enforcement Branch Offshore platform
and Oil & Gas NPDES discharge web page. Mr. Taylor Sharpe is the Regional
Coordinator and Enforcement Officer and his phone is (214)665-7112.
Ms. Sharon Haggard
is the Specialist and she handles permit applications and processing
of Discharge Monitoring Reports. Her phone number is (214)665-6472.
If you have non-enforcement permitting questions, please contact
Mr. Scott Wilson at
(214)665-7511. Ms. Casey
Luckett is the Enforcement Officer handling on shore Oil and
Gas NPDES discharges for Region 6 and her phone is (281)983-2112.
EPA Region 6 works closely with the Department of Interior's
Minerals Management
Service (MMS). MMS inspectors perform most of the NPDES
offshore platform compliance inspections for EPA. Additionally,
the US Coast
Guard Marine Safety Office conducts inspections. EPA Region
6 works closely with the Offshore
Operators Committee, which is a trade organization representing
the offshore operators.
The EPA Region 6 NPDES OCS General Permit
No. GMG290000 was published on October 7, 2004 [69 Fed. Reg. No. 194, p. 60150], became effective on November 6, 2004, and expires midnight of November 5, 2007.
- Please also note that the Government Printing Office made a mistake in the Federal Register publication about the effective date and incorrectly said it takes effect on November 8, 2004. The correct effective date is November 6, 2004.
- If you had permit coverage under the previous permit (e.g., you applied for coverage before it expired on November 3, 2003, and were assigned and outfall), then you do not have to reapply for permit coverage. You will retain your previous permit number and outfalls unless EPA notifies you otherwise.
- If you applied for permit coverage after the November 3, 2003, expiration date and before the new permit took effect on November 6, 2004, then you will need to resubmit a Notice of Intent application to be covered under this general permit.
- EPA is working with the Offshore Operators Committee on hosting a Discharge Monitoring Requirement (DMR) session in the near future. Dates have not been set, but will probably be in Houston in December, and New Orleans in January.
- Note that your monitoring periods will remain the same as you had under the previous permit except for toxicity (previously everyone had toxicity testing schedule of July 1 to June 30). The new permit will have all reporting for a permittee under the same monitoring schedule, including toxicity.
During the period inbetween expiration of the 1998 permit and reissuance of the 2004 NPDES OCS general permit, the regulated communited could not apply for new coverage under the expired permit. EPA made available to these new facilities an Administrative Compliance Order. This Order automatically expired upon the effective date, November 6, 2004, of the new NPDES OCS general permit.
The March 2004
Offshore GMG290000 permit database is
available online to download.
Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs): EPA Region 6 has
approved the Offshore Operator's Committee versions of DMRs
for the NPDES OCS General Permit No. GMG290000. Be sure to review
your permit and the DMR Instructions
to assure your are properly completing the DMR forms.
EPA will either provide you preprinted DMR forms or you may
request to use the OOC forms. Permittees wishing to use the
OOC forms must submit a letter to EPA Region 6 (Attn: Ms. Sharon
Haggard) requesting authorization to use the OOC DMRs, preferably
90 or more days in advance of their due date.
You will need to submit to EPA a letter informing us if you
are you going to be submitting the Synthetic DMRs. Here is a
letter you can print out on
your letter head and submit to EPA Region 6 (you may want to
fax it, in addition to mailing it, to expedite the approval
process. Please fax it to 214-665-2168. Do not forget to send
the original by mail). You do not need to submit Synthetic DMRs
if you do not have non-aqueous based fluids generated in your
drill cuttings and discharged.
EPA spoke at the Independent Petroleum Association of America / Liskow & Lewis conference on May 26, 2004. Linked here is the PowerPoint presentation presented by EPA at this conference.
Storm Water Discharges from inactive platforms: If you
have structures in the Gulf of Mexico that are not covered by
the NPDES OCS general permit that are "industrial"
in nature (40 CFR 122.26(b)(14)) and they have storm water discharges
from deck drainage, etc., then these facilities may be required
to have an NPDES permit. If you have coverage under the NPDES
OCS general permit, this permit covers those discharges. If
you terminate the NPDES OCS general permit (e.g., you stop production
and shut in the well) and still have storm water discharges
from an industrial activity, you will need to seek alternative
NPDES coverage. Oil & gas exploration and production facilities
are SIC code 1381 found at 40 CFR 122.26(b)(14)(iii). Oil & Gas exploration and production facilities are exempted from
needing an NPDES permit if they have not had a reportable quantity
discharge (e.g., a sheen) or caused a water quality violation
(see 40 CFR 122.26(c)(1)(iii)). You can find more information
at the EPA Region 6 storm water enforcement
web page.
Coast Guard and EPA Enforcement of Spills: Both the
EPA and the Coast Guard enforce provisions in the Clean Water
Act and there are some overlapping jurisdictions in the Gulf
of Mexico. EPA performs Section 309 (33 USC 1319) enforcement
assuring compliance with NPDES permits and for unpermitted discharges
of pollutants to waters of the U.S. The Coast Guard performs
Section 311 (33 USC 1321) enforcement of oil spills (Section
311 is also known as the Oil Pollution Act). Section 311(b)(11)
says "Civil penalties shall not be assessed under both
this section and section 309 for the same discharge." If
you have an oil spill, then you could face an enforcement action
under either 309 or 311, but not both. The defendent must raise
this defense if enforcement has already commenced under either
section.
Offshore Operators Committee (OOC) meeting in New Orleans, May 30,
2002 - EPA participated in the OOC meeting and provided guidance on
administrative items relating to the OCS general permit. Items discussed
included applications, transfers, DMRs, and new Synthetic fluids reporting
requirements. A PowerPoint presentation
[instruction for now expired 1998 permit] was presented explaining these administrative requirements. This Power
Point version includes some minor changes from the New Orleans presentation
based on input from the participants. For more DMR details, see the DMR
Instructions.
Mail to the Agency: Please note that EPA Region 6 has changed
mail handling procedures. Suspicious mail will have to go through additional
screening and may not be delivered timely. Please make sure your mail
is properly addressed, including a complete and accurate return address,
to assure your mail is delivered in a timely fashion. Make sure that certfied
mail has a return address on the letter in addition to the return address
on the green card.
Vessels & NPDES permits: Section 301 of the Act prohibits
discharges of pollutants to waters of the U.S. without an NPDES permit.
"Discharge of a Pollutants" as defined at 40 CFR 122.2 does
not include discharges from "a vessel or other floating craft which
is being used as a means of transportation." However, if the vessel
is not being used for transportation (e.g., it is being used for oil and
gas exploration/production), then the discharges are subject to the NDPES
program. Discharges from vessels or other floating craft being used for
transportation are regulated by the U.S. Coast Guard.
CWA Section 502(12)(b) [33 U.S.C. Section 1362(12)], excludes addition
of a pollutant from "a vessel or other floating craft" to
the ocean or contiguous zone from its definition of "discharge
of a pollutant".
40 C.F.R. 122.3:
The following discharges do not require NPDES permits:
(a) Any discharge of sewage from vessels, effluent from properly
functioning marine engines, laundry, shower, and galley sink wastes,
or any other discharge incidental to the normal operation of a vessel.
This exclusion does not apply to rubbish, trash, garbage, or other
such materials discharged overboard; nor to other discharges when
the vessel is operating in a capacity other than as a means of transportation
such as when used as an energy or mining facility, a storage facility
or a seafood processing facility, or when secured to a storage facility
or a seafood processing facility, or when secured to the bed of
the ocean, contiguous zone or waters of the United States for the
purpose of mineral or oil exploration or development.
An Offshore Compliance Order was issued Feb.
16, 2002, with schedule to comply with the permit modifications that take
effect on the same day.
EPA
Region 6 issued a Press Release regarding Offshore Gas Production facilities
on November 28, 2001.
Oil and Gas Permits, Forms, Documents (mostly
in Adobe Acrobat PDF file format) and links:
The final NPDES General Permit [Adobe Acrobat
PDF file format] for New and Existing Sources and New Discharges
in the Offshore Subcategory of the Oil and Gas Extraction Category
for the Western Portion of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)
of the Gulf of Mexico (GMG290000) and Notice of a Proposed Modification
to that permit was published at 69 Fed. Reg. No. 194, p. 60150,
published October 7, 2004, effective November 6, 2004, and expires midnight November 5, 2007.
Final NPDES General Permit for Discharges
from the Oil and Gas Extraction Point Source Category to Coastal
Waters in Texas (TXG330000) This final permit was published
in the Federal Register on November 15, 2001 (66 Fed.
Reg. No. 22, p. 57457-57465). Response
to Comments.
Final NPDES General Pemrits for Produced Water
and Produced Sand Discharges from Oil and Gas Extraction Point
Source Category to Coastal Waters in Louisiana (LAG290000) and
Texas (TXG290000) [60 Fed. Reg.
No. 5, p. 2387, January 9, 1995]
Final NPDES General Permits for the Oil and
Gas Extraction Point Source Categroy, Onshore Subcategory -
States of Louisiana (LAG320000), New Mexico (NMG320000), Oklahoma
(OKG320000), and Texas (TXG320000) [56
Fed. Reg. No. 37, p 7698, February 25, 1991]
Final NPDES General Permits for the Coastal
Waters of Louisiana (LAG330000) and Texas (TXG330000) [58
Fed. Reg. No. 181, p. 49126, September 21, 1993]
EPA Region 6 Water
Management Division's General Permits web page (contains
all general permits including oil/gas and offshore general permits).
Common Compliance Issues:
Non-compliance Reporting: Part II.D.7. of the
OCS Permit (GMG290000), as well as in the Standard Conditions
section of most NPDES permits, requires the permittee to report
any non-compliance which may endanger health or the environment
within 24 hours. The 24 Hour report may be either on telephone
to (214)665-6593 or by E-mail to r6genpermit@epa.gov.
Additionally, the oral/e-mail report is required to be followed
up by a written report within 5 days of the time the permittee
becomes aware of the situation. This written report shall be
certified [40 CFR 122.22(d)] and
signed by an authorized official [40 CFR 122.22(a)], and include
your specific permit number (e.g. GMG29#### and not just GMG290000)
and information regarding the non-compliance, its duration,
any environmental impacts, and any remediation actions taken.
Questions and Answer
document developed with the Offshore Operators Committee for
the Feb. 16th permit modifications.
Authorized Signatories:
40 CFR 122.22(d), as well as
Part II.D.10. of the OCS permit, states that "All applications
[NOIs, Transfer Agreements, Mergers, etc.], reports [Discharge
Monitoring Reports, Non-compliance Reports, etc.], or information
[address/contact name updates], NOT's, submitted to the Director
shall be signed and certified. Many operators fail to have their
documents properly signed and certifed by an authorized official
of their company. The following is the certification that must
accompany these documents:
"I
certify under penalty of law that this document and all attachments
were prepared under my direction or supervision in accordance
with a system designed to assure that qualified personnel
properly gathered and evaluated the information submitted.
Based on my inquiry of the person or persons who manage the
system, or those person directly responsible for gathering
the information, the information submitted is, to the best
of my knowledge and belief, true, accurate, and complete.
I am aware that there are significant penalties for submitting
false information, including the possibility of fine and imprisonment
for knowing violations."
An example letter of Delegation
of Signatory Authority for the Offshore Outer Continental
Shelf General Permit (GMG29####) has been prepared for use by
those permittees.
40 CFR 122.22 was revised effective
July 1, 2001 to amend the requirements of an authorized person.
If you are corresponding with EPA regarding compliance with
a permit you already have, you are to use the definition of
authorized person in your permit language. Upon modification
or reissuance of your NPDES permit, the definition will be updated.
If do not have an NPDES permit, you should use the new definition
of authorized person.
EPA tracks all of your documentation
by NPDES permit number (e.g. GMG29####). To assure your correspondence
is properly filed, please make reference to your permit number
in all correspondence to EPA. Also, be sure and spell out the
name of the lease area. While MMS uses abbreviations, there are
some duplicates (e.g. MI could be either Matagorda Island or Mustang
Island) and spelling the lease area out will eliminate any confusion.
"New Source" means any facility or activity
that meets the definition of "new source" under 40 CFR
122.2 and meets the criteria for determination of new sources
under 40 CFR 122.29(b) applied consistently with all of the following
definitions:
(a) The term "water area" as used
in the term "site" in 40 CFR 122.29 and 122.2 shall
mean the water area and ocean floor beneath any exploratory,
development, or production facility where such facility is
conducting its exploratory, development, or production activities.
(b) The term "significant site preparation
work" as used in 40 CFR 122.29 shall mean the process
of surveying, clearing, or preparing an area of the ocean
floor for the purpose of constructing or placing a development
or production facility on or over the site.
“New Source” does not include facilities
covered by an existing NPDES permit immediately prior to the
effective date of these guidelines pending EPA issuance of a
new source NPDES permit.
Also, exploration facilities are not defined as
new sources.
The guidelines were issued on March 4, 1993 [58
Fed. Reg. No. 12504], any facility put in place after that date
is a new source. It should be noted that the new source definition
has little actual meaning in this case since the limits are
the same for both existing sources and new sources for the 1998
GMG290000 permit. Effluent guidelines were also published at
61 Fed. Reg. No.
66085, December 16, 1996.
Offshore
Database: Here is the Offshore database downloaded from the
Permit Compliance System at the beginning of September 20, 2004: Excel
Format (zipped), FileMaker Format
(zipped) or dBase Format (zipped).
You can also obtain this information directly from our PCS web page.
Here are some instructions for using the PCS web
page to obtain Offshore NPDES outfall information.
The database will show both active and inactive permits. Some permits
may show active past their termination date until the final DMRs are
submitted. This is a result of DMR's being due after termination if
you terminate in the middle of a monitoring period. Be aware that
you can have an inactive (NOT filed) outfall on an active permit.
So check both fields to make sure the outfall is active and authorized.
If the database does not reflect what you believe is your current
permitting status, please contat Ms.
Sharon Haggard at (214)665-6472.
Outfall Designations in the database:
-
xxxP - produced water toxicity from the previous OCS
general permit that expired on 11/19/97 (effective from 11/02/98 thru
06/30/99) for outfalls 001 thru 999
-
xxxJ - produced water toxicity from the previous OCS
general permit that expired on 11/19/97 (effective from 11/02/98 thru
06/30/99) for outfalls exceeding 999
-
xxxT - produced water toxicity (post July 1999) for
outfalls 001 thru 999
-
xxxY - produced water toxicity (post July 1999) for
outfalls exceeding 999
-
xxxS - synthetic based muds for outfalls 001 thru
999
-
xxxR - synthetic based muds for outfalls exceeding
999
-
xxxA - all other reporting requirements for outfalls
001 thru 999
-
xxxB - all other reporting requirements for outfalls
exceeding 999
Column Headings
| Column Headings |
Description |
| FNMS |
“Operator” name |
| NPID |
“Operator’s” assigned NPDES permit # |
| IACC |
“A” means the assigned permit # remains open/active
“I” means the assigned permit # has been terminated |
| IADT |
If a date appears, this is the date the NPDES permit number was terminated. |
| DSDG |
Outfall number assigned to a lease area/block. This “number” is represented by 3 numeric characters/1 alpha character (i.e., 001A). Alpha character descriptions are as follows:
| Alpha |
Description |
| P/J |
Produced water toxicity requirement in effect “From 11/02/98 To 06/30/99". This represents the produced water toxicity monitoring requirements from the previous OCS General Permit that expired on November 17, 1997. |
| T/Y/Z |
Produced water toxicity requirement in effect “From 07/01/99 to 11/03/03". This represents the produced water toxicity monitoring requirements from the current, administratively continued, OCS General Permit that expired on November 3, 2003. |
| S/R/W |
Synthetic Based Muds (SBM) requirement. |
| A/B/C |
All other monitoring requirements, except produced water toxicity and SBM. |
|
| PIPE |
Lease area name/block # |
| STSU |
Date 1st DMR due |
| PIAC |
“A” means the outfall number remains open/active
“I” means the outfall number has been terminated |
| PIDT |
If a date appears, this is the date the outfall number was terminated (based on the date EPA received the NOT). |
EPA's Office
of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance has prepared an Online
Training Manual for MMS inspectors. While not
developed specifically for the regulated community, some of the information
may be useful for permittees and those interested in how the NPDES program
is administered on offshore platforms.
Final NPDES
General Permit for Discharges from Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals
in Texas (TXG340000)
Miscellaneous
Historical Documents
Department of Interior's Minerals Management Service abbreviations
for lease areas (Microsoft Excel format) in the Gulf of Mexico (includes
the entire Gulf, and not just EPA Region 6 jurisdiction). Please do not
use abbreviations for your communications with EPA. Applications that
do not have the full lease area name will not be accepted.
Outer
Continental Shelf Coordination Committee from 1981
General
Permitting Strategy for OCS Oil & Gas Activities under EPA/MMS MOU
- 1985
40
CFR Part 435 - Oil and Gas Extraction Point Source Category; Final Effluent
Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Coastal Subcategory; Final
Rule - published at 61 Fed. Reg. No. 66085, December 16, 1996.
Offshore Effluent Guidelines
published March 4, 1993, 58 Fed. Reg. No. 12504. Please note that exploration
facilities are not defined as new sources.
NPDES
Discharges from Offshore Subcategory of the Oil and Gas Extration Point
Source Category to the Territorial Seas of Louisiana (LAG260000) Responses
and Comments - 1996.
History of the Region 6 OCS NPDES General Permits
| Permit No. |
Effective Date |
Citation |
Expiration Date |
| TX0085642 |
April 3, 1981 |
46 FR 20284 |
April 3, 1983 |
| re-issue |
September 15, 1983 |
48 FR 41494 |
June 30, 1984 |
| GMG280000 (joint with EPA Region 4) |
July 9, 1986 |
51 FR 24897 |
July 1, 1991 |
| GMG290000 (Region 6 only) |
November 19, 1992 |
57 FR 54642 |
November 18, 1997 |
| modified |
December 3, 1993 |
58 FR 63964 |
November 18, 1997 |
| re-issued, adds GMG390000, New Source |
August 9, 1996 |
61 FR 41609 |
November 18, 1997 |
| re-issued Part 1 |
November 2, 1998 |
63 FR 58722 |
November 3, 2003 |
| re-issued Part 2 |
April 19, 1999 |
64 FR 19156 |
November 3, 2003 |
| modified |
December |
|
|
| modified |
December 18, 2001 |
66 FR 65209 |
November 3, 2003 |
EPA Region 6 covers the Western portion of the Gulf of Mexico off of the Coasts of Texas and Louisiana. EPA Region 4 covers the Eastern portion of the Gulf of Mexico.
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