Sand & Gravel General Permit

Current permit documents

• Sand & Gravel General Permit — expires March 31, 2026
• Fact Sheet for the draft 2021 permit
  • Appendix A: Response to Comments
• Full comments received during comment period
• Small Business Economic Impact Assessment (SBEIA)

Permit reissuance

The current permit expires on March 31, 2026. We are taking the first step in developing the new permit. We are seeking preliminary feedback on the current 2021 permit to develop that next permit. Ecology invites early informal feedback through March 12, 2025.

The permit reissuance process includes informal public feedback on the current permit, a formal public comment period on the draft permit, and formal public meetings and hearings.

We will consider the comments collected during the informal public comment period as we develop the draft permit. In fall 2025, Ecology will release the draft permit for a formal public comment period. Comments received during the informal public feedback period are not included in the official response to comments for the formal draft permit’s 2026 reissuance. We plan to make a permit reissuance decision at the end of this process in early 2026.

Timeline

Dec. 20, 2024 through March 12, 2025: Informal public feedback
Fall 2025: Formal public comment period on the draft permit
Early 2026: Decision on reissuance
March 31, 2026: Current permit expires

Invitation for public feedback

We are accepting early feedback on the current 2021 permit through Wednesday, March 12, 2025, 11:59 p.m. Feedback should reference specific permit text in the current permit when possible. We will not develop a response to comments for this informal feedback period.

Submit feedback online (preferred method)

• Online comment form

Submit by U.S. mail

Eric Daiber, Sand & Gravel General Permit Writer
Water Quality Program
Washington State Department of Ecology
PO Box 47696
Olympia, WA 98504-7696
Postmarked on or before March 12, 2025

Do I need a permit?

You may need a Sand and Gravel General Permit if your facility:

• Discharges process water, stormwater, or mine dewatering water into waters of the state.
• Is associated with sand and gravel operations, concrete batch plants, or asphalt batch plants.

You may need a portable operation permit if you move from site to site to:

• Crush rock
• Make concrete
• Make asphalt

Concrete characterization study

Concrete is widely used in construction because it is resilient, affordable, and easily available. At the end of their use, concrete structures and products are demolished into rubble (broken up pieces). This rubble can get stored, recycled and reused as building material. Once concrete has hardened into the durable material we commonly see, such as sidewalks or building foundations, it becomes an impervious surface, meaning rainwater runs off of it. However, when concrete is broken up into rubble and stored in piles waiting to be recycled, rainwater can flow through the piles.

Recently, we reviewed over 200 articles, reports, and papers published in the U.S. and internationally to help us understand what happens when rainwater interacts with concrete rubble and what potential pollutants might leach out into the water. The literature review found a list of potential pollutants associated with storing concrete rubble. However, none of the studies we reviewed had information on environmental impacts specific to concrete mixtures made in Washington. For more details, read our report: Recycled Concrete Aggregate Leachate: A Literature Review.

As a follow up to the literature review, we are studying 80 facilities to determine if Washington rainwater is picking up contaminants, and if so, to what degree. We are measuring pH, metals, and other properties of the water that could effect waterbodies and we will determine if permit updates are needed to better protect the environment.

For more information about this study, see our blog post about this project, and the Quality Assurance Project Plan containing a detailed explanation of the study's methods and procedures.

Permit application, forms, and resources

• Historical permit information