Morning listening session on the permit

We have started the early stages of updating our Winery General Permit. The current permit expires in 2029, but we are beginning our process early because we are considering expanding the permit to other alcoholic beverage facilities such as large breweries, cideries, and distilleries. 

This permit has a long history of being created collaboratively, to ensure that the permit protects the environment and does not overburden industry. We welcome any comments, questions, recommendations, or other feedback you would like to share over the next year as we consider the best way to update the permit.

Join us online for one of the listening session on July 15. Ecology staff will share information about the current permit, the permit reissuance process, and our ideas of potential changes. A question and answer session will follow, then we look forward to hearing and discussing your feedback and suggestions for other changes you would like to see in the permit.

Next steps

Ecology will consider the feedback collected during this period as we develop the draft of the next permit. In spring 2028, we anticipate issuing a public notice and hosting an open formal comment period on the draft permit. We will host at least one public meeting where spoken comments can be formally submitted. After the comment period, we will review and respond to all comments before finalizing a revised permit.

Background

Washington is the second-largest wine-producing state in the nation. If not properly managed, process wastewater from wineries can potentially harm groundwater resources and damage wastewater treatment and storage equipment. Ecology first issued the Winery General Permit in 2019 to help protect groundwater in Washington and prevent process wastewater from overwhelming wastewater treatment plants.

Washington's Winery General Permit regulates discharges of process wastewater from wineries to land, groundwater, and wastewater treatment plants. No surface water discharges are allowed under this permit. This permit is for large wineries that meet a permitting threshold. The threshold is based on wine production volume, and wastewater discharge methods.

The current permit went into effect July 1, 2024, and expires June 30, 2029.