Ohio Code 1521.23 – Applying for permit for major increase in withdrawal of waters of state
(A) Except as provided in divisions (D) and (E) of this section, no person shall allow a facility that the person owns or operates to withdraw waters of the state in an amount that would result in a new or increased consumptive use of more than an average of two million gallons of water per day in any thirty-day period without first obtaining a permit from the chief of the division of water resources under section 1521.29 of the Revised Code.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 1521.23
- Consumptive use: means a use of water resources, other than a diversion, that results in a loss of that water to the basin from which it is withdrawn and includes, but is not limited to, evaporation, evapotranspiration, and incorporation of water into a product or agricultural crop. See Ohio Code 1521.01
- Ground water: means all water occurring in an aquifer. See Ohio Code 1521.01
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Rule: includes regulation. See Ohio Code 1.59
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Water resources: means any waters of the state that are available or may be made available to agricultural, industrial, commercial, and domestic users. See Ohio Code 1521.01
- Waters of the state: includes all streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, irrigation systems, drainage systems, and other bodies or accumulations of water, surface and underground, natural or artificial, regardless of the depth of the strata in which underground water is located, that are situated wholly or partly within or bordering upon this state or are within its jurisdiction. See Ohio Code 1521.01
(B) Prior to developing a new or increased withdrawal or consumptive use capacity that would facilitate a withdrawal requiring a permit under section 1521.29 of the Revised Code, an owner or operator of a facility shall submit an application for a permit to the chief on a form the chief prescribes. The applicant shall declare and document all of the following in the application:
(1) The facility’s current withdrawal capacity per day if the withdrawal is to occur at a facility already in operation;
(2) The total new or increased daily withdrawal capacity proposed for the facility;
(3) The locations and sources of water proposed to be withdrawn;
(4) The locations of proposed discharges or return flows;
(5) The locations and nature of proposed consumptive uses;
(6) The estimated average annual and monthly volumes and rates of withdrawal;
(7) The estimated average annual and monthly volumes and rates of consumptive use;
(8) The effects the withdrawal is anticipated to have with respect to existing uses of water resources;
(9) A description of other ways the applicant’s need for water may be satisfied if the application is denied or modified;
(10) A description of the conservation practices the applicant intends to follow;
(11) All information required under sections 1521.24 to 1521.27 of the Revised Code if the sources of water for the proposed withdrawal are ground water;
(12) Any other information the chief may require by rule.
(C) Each application shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable fee of one thousand dollars, which shall be credited to the water management fund created under section 1521.22 of the Revised Code.
(D) A major utility facility that is subject to regulation under Chapter 4906 of the Revised Code, a facility that is subject to regulation under Chapter 1514 of the Revised Code, or a facility that is required to obtain a permit under sections 1522.10 to 1522.30 of the Revised Code need not obtain a permit under section 1521.29 of the Revised Code.
(E) A public water system, as defined in section 6109.01 of the Revised Code, that withdraws waters of the state in an amount that would result in a new or increased consumptive use of more than two million gallons per day need not obtain a permit under section 1521.29 of the Revised Code if one of the following applies:
(1) The public water system was in operation on June 29, 1988, and no substantial changes in the design capacity are proposed for that system.
(2) A public water system that is proposed to be constructed or installed, or an existing system for which changes are proposed, encompasses only water distribution facilities.