Sand and Gravel permit guidance

• You must also submit DMRs if you add or withdraw raw materials or finished products from stockpiles during the quarter and discharge stormwater to surface waters of the state (see Special Conditions S4.C.2 and S10.A.1.b).

Oil sheen or petroleum products

The permit requires daily visual monitoring at all discharge points for oil sheen or petroleum products. 

• If you observe oil sheen or petroleum products at a surface water discharge point, you must correct the problem immediately and comply with Special Conditions S10.E and S10.F.
• If you observe oil sheen or petroleum products at a groundwater discharge point, you must respond within 24 hours after you recognize the problem and it is safe to do so. Record the incident in your spill log (see Special Condition S9.C.4).
• If you observe an oil sheen or petroleum products at a groundwater discharge point, and do not respond within 24 hours, you must correct the problem immediately, record the incident in your spill log, and comply with Special Condition S10.E and S10.F.

All oil or petroleum product spill response and reporting  must comply with Special Conditions S9 and S10.F.

Report the incident on your DMR

If oil sheen or petroleum products is observed at a discharge point, you must record the date observed in the DMR. 

The online DMR form does not have a monthly no oil sheen button. Do NOT enter no oil sheen for each day manually unless you are entering daily values. 

Instead, you can use one of these options:

• Add a note to your report, or
• Use the Import from Excel feature

Option 1: Add a note

If no oil sheen was observed on any day of the month when equipment was operating and runoff occurred, add a comment at the monitoring point level.

Your note should say:

• Which month or months the note applies to
• You monitored each day of the month
• You observed no oil sheen

For example, in the DMR

1. In the first column, enter the last day of the month for each of the three months in the quarter.
2. If oil sheen or petroleum products were observed, the observation date must be entered in the Oil & Grease column of the DMR.
3. In the Oil & Grease column next to the Yes/No entry, select the box next to the observation cell to access the DMR Value Note window, which opens a dialog box on your current screen.
   • If NO – oil sheen or petroleum products not observed – add No sheen for the entire month.
   • If YES – oil sheen or petroleum products were observed – add a note about the response.
4. Leave the Reporting Code blank. Do not add a No Discharge reporting code, when entering no oil sheen or petroleum products.

Option 2: Import from Excel

Use the Paste Data From Excel link.

To paste daily DMR data for one outfall into WQWebDMR:

1. Open your spreadsheet.
2. Make sure the parameters and sample columns are in the same order as your DMR entry screen for that outfall.
3. Make sure the first column contains the sample date for each day of the month.
4. Select and copy the data you want to paste. 
5. Paste the data into the text box. It should appear tab-delimited. 
6. Select Load Data.

If no oil and grease were observed from the outfall on the given date, the entry should be “0”, “no”, or “n.”

No discharge

No discharge means no process water, mine dewatering water, or stormwater (type 2 and 3) left your site, and there were no discharges to waters of the state — including infiltration to groundwater — during the entire reporting period.

The online DMR form does not have a monthly No Discharge button. However, there is a quarterly No Discharge DMR reporting code option on the DMR reporting page.

Your monitoring plan should include alternative sampling times based on typical rainfall patterns. You may need to adjust your sampling schedule and take advantage of storm events when they occur.

To report no discharge:

If you must monitor quarterly, and you had no discharge for the entire three months in the quarter, choose No Discharge from the DMR reporting codes drop down.

If you must monitor monthly, and your active facility discharged one or two months, but not all three:

• Enter C for No Discharge in the dialog box for each month you did not discharge to waters of the state, including infiltration to groundwater.
• Enter monitoring result values for the month(s) that discharge did occur.

Change your facility status

To change your facility status for active to inactive, or vise versa, fill out and send in an Operating Status Change Form (ECY 070-33).

Submit an annual report

The Annual Reporting Form (ECY 070-791) must be submitted annually on Jan. 30, beginning in 2027. The annual report verifies that you:

• Reviewed and updated the Site Management Plan.
• Conducted a “wet season” and “dry season” inspection.
• Confirmed no permit modifications occurred.
• Confirmed whether or not you qualify as a small business.

Update your monitoring points

The Monitoring Point Update Form (ECY 070-793) is intended to update groundwater monitoring points; however, minor modifications to an authorized surface water discharge point may be handled through this form. Submit the form to your regional permit manager to update the monitoring points from your DMRs

Submit a chemical use plan

The Chemical Use Plan Form (ECY 070-792) must provide Ecology with a list of commercial chemicals that discharge to waters of the state, chemicals that are used to treat materials with the potential to discharge to waters of the state, or significantly updated chemical use plans. Significant updates to a Chemical Use Plan include, but are not limited to, a change in the chemical formulation, chemical application rate or method, and does not include a change in the manufacturer of the chemical with the same active ingredient(s) and functions. 

Note: if you need immediate use of a chemical to treat, prevent, or respond to a permit violation of effluent limits, you may use the chemical, provided you notify your regional permit manager within 24 hours and submit a chemical use plan within 30 days from initial use. 

Chemicals that are exempt from reporting requirements include but are not limited to carbon dioxide, dry ice, filtration media, concrete admixtures, food-grade and industrial-grade vinegars, and citric acid. 

Closed-loop systems as well as potentially other capital BMPs may be exempt from Chemical Use Plan Reporting.

Contact your regional permit manager to determine if you need to submit a Chemical Use Plan to Ecology.