Sand and Gravel General Permit

Current permit documents

• Sand and 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

We held a public comment period on the draft permit from Aug. 6, 2025, through Oct. 10, 2025. We are reviewing and considering all comments recieved on the draft general permit document. We will develop a final draft of the permit based on comments and publish an official Response to Comments as an appendix to the fact sheet. A final decision on permit issuance is expected in early 2026.

• Draft general permit
• Redline version of the draft permit
• Fact sheet for the draft 2026 general permit
• Economic Impact Analysis

Forms – revised and new

• Proposed Application for Coverage: Notice of Intent (NOI) for Non-Portable Operations
• Proposed Application for Coverage: Notice of Intent (NOI) for Portable Operations
• Annual Reporting Form
• Chemical Use Plan Form
• Monitoring Point Update Form

Public involvement

We announced the draft general permit and in early September we hosted two public meetings with informational presentations and question and answer sessions to help explain our proposed changes to the draft permit. These meetings were immediately followed by hearings, that provided opportunity for formal spoken testimony. 

Public notices and publications

• Informational presentation from the public meetings & hearing (pdf)
• Washington State Register Public Notice of Draft Release 25-15-134 (8/6/2025)
• Washington State Register Public Notice of Draft Release 25-15-108 (8/20/2025, update of September 9 public meeting and hearing)
• Ecology Blog: New clean water protections proposed for sand and gravel facilities (8/6/2025)

Anticipated timeline

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 measured pH, metals, and other properties of the water that could effect waterbodies and we will use this information to determine if permit updates are needed to better protect the environment.

For more information about this study, see our blog 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