The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) is providing the Environmental Benefit Permit Strategy (EBPS) priority rankings in conformance with section 17-0817(6) of the Environmental Conservation Law. The lists are based on a ranking system that prioritizes permits for full technical review and, when necessary, modification. The full technical review is conducted in one of nine regional offices or the central office, depending on the location of the discharge and whether the permit has been assigned to the central office based on USEPA designation as a major discharge or state designation as a centralized significant industrial permit.
The EBPS priority ranking system should not be confused with the SPDES permit renewal process. Most permits are renewed prior to expiration by a separate administrative procedure. At times, these renewals will be delayed to address necessary modifications to the permit.
The 2016 SPDES permit lists can be viewed at the NYS DEC website: http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/6054.html. The lists are based on ranking scores and reflect the priority list for each office. The ranking scores are updated on a continuous basis due to the discovery of new information and the issuance of modifications that eliminate the factors which go into each score. Each of the ranking lists includes the factors that make up each of the scores for each of the permits on the lists. The top 10% of each list represents a workload objective during this fiscal year. Additional information describing the EBPS process follows the ranking lists, and is also available by contacting the Bureau of Water Permits at (518) 402-8111 or by e-mail at bjhorton@gw.dec.state.ny.us, or at the address listed below.
Any interested party may provide, at any time, substantive comments requesting a change in a permit's rank based on the grounds that newly discovered material information exists; that a material change in environmental conditions has occurred; or that relevant technology or applicable law or regulations have changed since the issuance of the existing permit. All such requests shall be in writing and contain facts or reasons supporting the request. Comments must be sent to Director, Bureau of Water Permits, Division of Water, NYS DEC, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-3505 by July 1, 2016.
Contact: Director, Bureau of Water Permits, Division of Water, NYS DEC, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-3505, Phone: (518) 402-8111, E-mail: barbara.horton@dec.ny.gov.