Overview

ND permits are issued for a term not to exceed ten years. Permits must be renewed before they expire for a discharge to continue. To begin the renewal process, a permittee must submit a renewal application to the Bureau of Water (Bureau) at least 180 days prior to their permit's expiration date.  The Bureau may allow a renewal application to be submitted at a later date but in no case past a permit's expiration date. Requests for an extension of the application due date must be made before the renewal application due date.  Also, the Bureau can only allow an extension of the renewal application's due date when a request is made before the reapplication due date.  In other words, once a renewal application is late, the Bureau can not grant an extension of the due date such that the renewal application is considered a timely application.

If a complete renewal application is submitted in a timely manner and the permit is not reissued before it expires, the permit continues in effect until a final decision is made on the renewal.  Please note  that the continuation of the permit in effect does not extend the "term" of the permit.  Therefore, since the ND regulations only allow a permit to be modified during its term, a permit that is continued in effect can not be modified except upon reissuance. All ND permits contain the requirement for the permittee to reapply for the permit at least 180 days prior to the expiration date of the permit.

Renewal Notifications

As a service to the regulated community, the Bureau helps permittees make a timely and complete application for renewal of their ND permits by sending them notifications advising them of their application due dates. These notifications are sent to each permittee, via ePermitting, 270 days and 210 days prior to the expiration date of their permit. Please note that these reminder notifications are provided only as a customer service and, if for some reason a permittee does not receive a reminder notification, the permittee is still required to submit a timely and complete renewal application.

If a permittee does not file a complete and timely renewal application, the Bureau may take enforcement action, as necessary, to secure a renewal application. Also, permits are not continued in effect if the permit expires.  Therefore, if the renewal permit is not reissued before the previous permit expires, the discharge can not legally continue. If a discharge continues in this situation without receiving a renewal permit before the expiration date of the previous permit, enforcement action will be taken by the Bureau.

For discharges that have ceased, a renewal application does not have to be submitted.  Instead, the permittee should advise the Bureau in writing that the discharge has ceased and that they will not be seeking renewal of the permit. The Bureau will inactivate the permit.

Reissued Permit Conditions

Permittees are not guaranteed that reissued permit conditions will be the same as the previous ND permit conditions. When ND permits are considered for renewal, all permit conditions are evaluated based on the regulations in effect at the time of renewal.  The issuance of an ND permit does not create any vested right in any person. In other words, just because an ND permit was previously issued does not guarantee it will be issued again or, if it is reissued, that the reissued permit will remain the same. The reissued permit is basically redrafted as if the previous permit was not issued except that existing data gathered under the previous permit will be used by the permit writer, as appropriate, in determining permit limits and conditions.

While a schedule of compliance is not normally allowed in a new discharge permit, an ND permit when it is reissued may contain a schedule of compliance, as appropriate.  Generally speaking, schedules of compliance are appropriate in a renewal permit when the permit contains more stringent limits or conditions than the previous permit and the permittee cannot meet the more stringent limits or conditions without a performing a wastewater treatment facility upgrade or some other type of work.  In these situations, the schedule of compliance must require compliance with the final limits and conditions as soon as possible.