PART 401—GENERAL PROVISIONS Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq. Source: 39 FR 4532, Feb. 1, 1974, unless otherwise noted. § 401.10 Scope and purpose. Regulations promulgated or proposed under parts 402 through 699 of this subchapter prescribe effluent limitations guidelines for existing sources, standards of performance for new sources and pretreatment standards for new and existing sources pursuant to sections 301, 304 (b) and (c), 306 (b) and (c), 307 (b) and (c) and 316(b) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (the “Act”), 33 U.S.C. 1251, 1311, 1314 (b) and (c), 1316 (b) and (c), 1317 (b) and (c) and 1326(b); 86 Stat. 816; Pub. L. 92-500. Point sources of discharges of pollutants are required to comply with these regulations, where applicable, and permits issued by States or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) established pursuant to section 402 of the Act must be conditioned upon compliance with applicable requirements of sections 301 and 306 (as well as certain other requirements). This part 401 sets forth the legal authority and general definitions which will apply to all regulations issued concerning specific classes and categories of point sources under parts 402 through 699 of this subchapter which follow. In certain instances the regulations applicable to a particular point source category or subcategory will contain more specialized definitions. Except as provided in § 401.17, in the case of any conflict between regulations issued under this part 401 and regulations issued under parts 402 through 499 of this subchapter, the latter more specific regulations shall apply. (Secs. 301, 304, 306 and 501 of the Clean Water Act (the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et. seq., as amended by the Clean Water Act of 1977, Pub. L. 95-217)) [39 FR 4532, Feb. 1, 1974, as amended at 47 FR 24537, June 4, 1982] § 401.11 General definitions. For the purposes of parts 402 through 699 of this subchapter: (a) The term Act et seq., (b) The term Administrator (c) The term Environmental Protection Agency (d) The term point source (e) The term new source (f) The term pollutant (g) The term pollution (h) The term discharge of pollutant(s) (i) The term effluent limitation (j) The term effluent limitations guidelines (k) The term standard of performance (l) Navigable waters (m) The terms state water pollution control agency, interstate agency, State, municipality, person, territorial seas, contiguous zone, biological monitoring, schedule of compliance, industrial user (n) The term noncontract cooling water (o) The term noncontact cooling water pollutants (p) The term blowdown (q) The term process waste water (r) The term process waste water pollutants (s) The following abbreviations shall have the following meanings: (1) BOD5 (2) COD (3) TOC (4) TDS (5) TSS (6) kw (7) kwh (8) Mw (9) Mwh (10) hp (11) mm (12) cm (13) m (14) in. (15) ft (16) l (17) cu m (18) k cu m (19) gal (20) cu ft (21) mg (22) g (23) kg (24) kkg (25) lb (26) sq m (27) ha (28) sq ft (29) ac [39 FR 4532, Feb. 1, 1974, as amended at 58 FR 45038, Aug. 25, 1994; 80 FR 37125, June 29, 2015; 83 FR 5209, Feb. 6, 2018; 84 FR 56671, Oct. 22, 2019; 85 FR 22342, Apr. 21, 2020] § 401.12 Law authorizing establishment of effluent limitations guidelines for existing sources, standards of performance for new sources and pretreatment standards of new and existing sources. (a) Section 301(a) of the Act provides that “except as in compliance with this section and sections 302, 306, 307, 318, 402 and 404 of this Act, the discharge of any pollutant by any person shall be unlawful.” (b) Section 301(b) of the Act requires the achievement by not later than July 1, 1977, of effluent limitations for point sources, other than publicly owned treatment works, which require the application of the best practicable control technology currently available as determined by the Administrator pursuant to section 304(b)(1) of the Act. Section 301(b) also requires the achievement by not later than July 1, 1983, of effluent limitations for point sources, other than publicly owned treatment works, which require the application of the best available technology economically achievable which will result in reasonable further progress toward the national goal of eliminating the discharge of all pollutants, as determined in accordance with regulations issued by the Administrator pursuant to section 304(b)(2) of the Act. (c) Section 304(b) of the Act requires the Administrator to publish regulations providing guidelines for effluent limitations setting forth the degree of effluent reduction attainable through the application of the best practicable control technology currently available and the degree of effluent reduction attainable through the application of the best control measures and practices achievable including treatment techniques, process and procedure innovations, operating methods and other alternatives. (d) Section 304(c) of the Act requires the Administrator, after consultation with appropriate Federal and State agencies and other interested persons to issue information on the process, procedures, or operating methods which result in the elimination or reduction of the discharge of pollutants to implement standards of performance under section 306 of the Act. (e) Section 306(b)(1)(B) of the Act requires the Administrator, after a category of sources is included in a list published pursuant to section 306(b)(1)(A) of the Act, to propose regulations establishing Federal standards of performances for new sources within such category. Standards of performance are to provide for the control of the discharge of pollutants which reflect the greatest degree of effluent reduction which the Administrator determines to be achievable through application of the best available demonstrated control technology, processes, operating methods, or other alternatives, including, where practicable, a standard permitting no discharge of pollutants. (f) Section 307(b) provides that the Administrator shall establish pretreatment standards which shall prevent the discharge of any pollutant into publicly owned treatment works which pollutant interferes with, passes through untreated, or otherwise is incompatible with such works. (g) Section 307(c) of the Act provides that the Administrator shall promulgate pretreatment standards for sources which would be “new sources” under section 306 (if they were to discharge pollutants directly to navigable waters) at the same time standards of performance for the equivalent category of new sources are promulgated. (h) Section 316(b) of the Act provides that any standard established pursuant to section 301 or section 306 of the Act and applicable to a point source shall require that the location, design, construction, and capacity of cooling water intake structures reflect the best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental impact. (i) Section 402(a)(1) of the Act provides that the Administrator may issue permits for the discharge of any pollutant upon condition that such discharge will meet all applicable requirements under sections 301, 302, 306, 307, 308 and 403 of this Act. In addition, section 402(b)(1)(A) of the Act requires that permits issued by States under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) established by the Act must apply, and insure compliance with any applicable requirements of sections 301, 302, 306, 307 and 403 of the Act. § 401.13 Test procedures for measurement. The test procedures for measurement which are prescribed at part 136 of this chapter shall apply to expressions of pollutant amounts, characteristics or properties in effluent limitations guidelines and standards of performance and pretreatment standards as set forth at parts 402 through 699 of this subchapter, unless otherwise specifically noted or defined in said parts. § 401.14 Cooling water intake structures. The location, design, construction and capacity of cooling water intake structures of any point source for which a standard is established pursuant to section 301 or 306 of the Act shall reflect the best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental impact, in accordance with the provisions of part 402 of this chapter. (Sec. 501(a) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended; 33 U.S.C. 1326(b) and 1261(a)) [41 FR 17389, Apr. 26, 1976] § 401.15 Toxic pollutants. The following comprise the list of toxic pollutants designated pursuant to section 307(a)(1) of the Act: 1. Acenaphthene 2. Acrolein 3. Acrylonitrile 4. Aldrin/Dieldrin 1 1 5. Antimony and compounds 2 2 compounds 6. Arsenic and compounds 7. Asbestos 8. Benzene 9. Benzidine 1 10. Beryllium and compounds 11. Cadmium and compounds 12. Carbon tetrachloride 13. Chlordane (technical mixture and metabolites) 14. Chlorinated benzenes (other than di-chlorobenzenes) 15. Chlorinated ethanes (including 1,2-di-chloroethane, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and hexachloroethane) 16. Chloroalkyl ethers (chloroethyl and mixed ethers) 17. Chlorinated naphthalene 18. Chlorinated phenols (other than those listed elsewhere; includes trichlorophenols and chlorinated cresols) 19. Chloroform 20. 2-chlorophenol 21. Chromium and compounds 22. Copper and compounds 23. Cyanides 24. DDT and metabolites 1 25. Dichlorobenzenes (1,2-, 1,3-, and 1,4-di-chlorobenzenes) 26. Dichlorobenzidine 27. Dichloroethylenes (1,1-, and 1,2-dichloroethylene) 28. 2,4-dichlorophenol 29. Dichloropropane and dichloropropene 30. 2,4-dimethylphenol 31. Dinitrotoluene 32. Diphenylhydrazine 33. Endosulfan and metabolites 34. Endrin and metabolites 1 35. Ethylbenzene 36. Fluoranthene 37. Haloethers (other than those listed elsewhere; includes chlorophenylphenyl ethers, bromophenylphenyl ether, bis(dichloroisopropyl) ether, bis-(chloroethoxy) methane and polychlorinated diphenyl ethers) 38. Halomethanes (other than those listed elsewhere; includes methylene chloride, methylchloride, methylbromide, bromoform, dichlorobromomethane 39. Heptachlor and metabolites 40. Hexachlorobutadiene 41. Hexachlorocyclohexane 42. Hexachlorocyclopentadiene 43. Isophorone 44. Lead and compounds 45. Mercury and compounds 46. Naphthalene 47. Nickel and compounds 48. Nitrobenzene 49. Nitrophenols (including 2,4-dinitrophenol, dinitrocresol) 50. Nitrosamines 51. Pentachlorophenol 52. Phenol 53. Phthalate esters 54. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) 1 55. Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (including benzanthracenes, benzopyrenes, benzofluoranthene, chrysenes, dibenz-anthracenes, and indenopyrenes) 56. Selenium and compounds 57. Silver and compounds 58. 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) 59. Tetrachloroethylene 60. Thallium and compounds 61. Toluene 62. Toxaphene 1 63. Trichloroethylene 64. Vinyl chloride 65. Zinc and compounds [44 FR 44502, July 30, 1979, as amended at 46 FR 2266, Jan. 8, 1981; 46 FR 10724, Feb. 4, 1981] § 401.16 Conventional pollutants. The following comprise the list of conventional pollutants designated pursuant to section 304(a)(4) of the Act: 1. Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) 2. Total suspended solids (nonfilterable) (TSS) 3. pH 4. Fecal coliform 5. Oil and grease [44 FR 44503, July 30, 1979; 44 FR 52685, Sept. 10, 1979] § 401.17 pH Effluent limitations under continuous monitoring. (a) Where a permittee continuously measures the pH of wastewater pursuant to a requirement or option in a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued pursuant to section 402 of the Act, the permittee shall maintain the pH of such wastewater within the range set forth in the applicable effluent limitations guidelines, except excursions from the range are permitted subject to the following limitations: (1) The total time during which the pH values are outside the required range of pH values shall not exceed 7 hours and 26 minutes in any calendar month; and (2) No individual excursion from the range of pH values shall exceed 60 minutes. (b) The Director, as defined in § 122.3 of this chapter, may adjust the requirements set forth in paragraph (a) of this section with respect to the length of individual excursions from the range of pH values, if a different period of time is appropriate based upon the treatment system, plant configuration or other technical factors. (c) For purposes of this section, an excursion (Secs. 301, 304, 306 and 501 of the Clean Water Act (the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et. seq., as amended by the Clean Water Act of 1977, Pub. L. 95-217)) [47 FR 24537, June 4, 1982]