A. An MS4 permittee may acquire, use, and transfer nutrient credits for purposes of compliance with any waste load allocations established as effluent limitations in an MS4 permit issued pursuant to § 62.1-44.15:25. Such method of compliance may be approved by the Department following review of a compliance plan submitted by the permittee that includes the use of nutrient credits. The permittee may use such credits for compliance purposes only if (i) the credits, whether annual, term, or perpetual, are generated and applied for purposes of compliance for the same calendar year; (ii) the credits are acquired no later than a date following the calendar year in which the credits are applied as specified by the Department consistent with the permittee’s Virginia Stormwater Management Program (VSMP) permit annual report deadline under such permit; (iii) the credits are generated in the same locality or tributary, except that permittees in the Eastern Coastal Basin may also acquire credits from the Potomac and Rappahannock tributaries; and (iv) the credits either are point source nitrogen or point source phosphorus credits generated by point sources covered by the general permit issued pursuant to § 62.1-44.19:14, or are certified pursuant to § 62.1-44.19:20. An MS4 permittee may enter into an agreement with one or more other MS4 permittees within the same locality or within the same or adjacent eight-digit hydrologic unit code to collectively meet the sum of any waste load allocations in their permits. Such permittees shall submit to the Department for approval a compliance plan to achieve their aggregate permit waste load allocations.

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Terms Used In Virginia Code 62.1-44.19:21

  • Board: means the State Water Control Board. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
  • credit: means a nutrient reduction that is certified pursuant to this article and expressed in pounds of phosphorus or nitrogen either (i) delivered to tidal waters when the credit is generated within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed or (ii) as otherwise specified when generated in the Southern Rivers watersheds. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.19:13
  • Department: means the Department of Environmental Quality. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.19:13
  • Facility: means a point source discharging or proposing to discharge total nitrogen or total phosphorus to the Chesapeake Bay or its tributaries. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.19:13
  • General permit: means the general permit authorized by this article. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.19:13
  • Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
  • Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
  • Permittee: means a person authorized by the general permit to discharge total nitrogen or total phosphorus. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.19:13
  • Tributaries: means those river basins listed in the Chesapeake Bay TMDL and includes the Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and James River Basins, and the Eastern Shore, which encompasses the creeks and rivers of the Eastern Shore of Virginia that are west of Route 13 and drain into the Chesapeake Bay. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.19:13

B. An applicant required to comply with water quality requirements for land-disturbing activities operating under a General VSMP Permit for Discharges of Stormwater from Construction Activities or a Construction Individual Permit may acquire and use perpetual nutrient credits certified and registered on the Virginia Nutrient Credit Registry in accordance with § 62.1-44.15:35.

C. A confined animal feeding operation issued a permit pursuant to this chapter may acquire, use, and transfer credits for compliance with any waste load allocations contained in the provisions of a Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) permit. Such method of compliance may be approved by the Department following review of a compliance plan submitted by the permittee that includes the use of nutrient credits.

D. A facility registered under the Industrial Stormwater General Permit issued pursuant to this chapter or issued a VPDES permit regulating stormwater discharges that requires nitrogen and phosphorus monitoring at the facility may acquire, use, and transfer credits for compliance with any waste load allocations established as effluent limitations in a VPDES permit. Such method of compliance may be approved by the Department following review of a compliance plan submitted by the permittee that includes the use of nutrient credits.

E. Public notice of each compliance plan submitted for approval pursuant to this section shall be given by the Department.

F. This section shall not be construed to limit or otherwise affect the authority of the Board to establish and enforce more stringent water quality-based effluent limitations for total nitrogen or total phosphorus in permits where those limitations are necessary to protect local water quality. The exchange or acquisition of credits pursuant to this article shall not affect any requirement to comply with such local water quality-based limitations.

2012, cc. 748, 808, § 10.1-603.15:3; 2013, cc. 756, 793; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 360.