Nebraska Administrative Code
Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy

Title 119 - Rules and Regulations Pertaining to the Issuance of Permits under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
Chapter 1 - General; Definitions
Effective Date of Last Revision: September 20, 2023



001 Scope and Purpose. These regulations are promulgated in implementation of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) created by the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.

002 Adoption and incorporation by reference.
002.01 The references to 40 CFR contained in this Title are to the Code of Federal Regulations published by the U.S. Government Printing Office, revised as of July 1, 2019, unless otherwise noted.

002.02 The following regulations are adopted and incorporated by reference and shall apply except as more expressly provided in this Title.
002.02A 40 CFR part 136 Guidelines establishing test procedures for the analysis of pollutants.
002.02B 40 CFR part 122 EPA administered permit program: The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.

002.02C 40 CFR part 125 Criteria and standards for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.
002.02D 40 CFR part 129 Toxic Pollutant Effluent Standards.

002.02E 40 CFR part 133 Secondary Treatment Regulations.

002.02F 40 CFR Part 403 General Pretreatment Regulations for Existing and New Sources of Pollution

002.02G 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N.

002.02H 40 CFR part 503 Standards for the use or disposal of sewage sludge.

003 Definitions. Unless specified elsewhere in this Title, the definitions at 40 CFR parts 122.2, 122.26 (b), 401.11, and 403.3 are hereby adopted and incorporated by reference.

004 The following terms are defined at Neb. Rev. Stat. §81-1502: Council, Department, Director, Person, and Waters of the State.

005 "7-day average" represents the arithmetic mean of pollutant parameter values for samples collected in a period of seven consecutive days.

006 "30-day average" represents the arithmetic mean of pollutant parameter values of samples collected in a period of 30 consecutive days.

007 "Applicable standards and limitations" means all State and federal standards and limitations to which a discharge, a sewage sludge use or disposal practice, or related activity is subject under state and federal law, including, but not limited to, effluent limitations, water quality standards, standards of performance, toxic effluent standards and prohibitions, best management practices, pretreatment standards, groundwater standards, land application standards, and standards for sewage sludge use or disposal.008 "Applicable water quality standards" means the Nebraska Water Quality Standards in effect under Nebraska law for both surface water and groundwater of the state. Such standards are codified in the Nebraska Administrative Code at Title 117 - Nebraska Surface Water Quality Standards and at Title 118 - Ground Water Quality Standards and Use Classification.

009 "Biological monitoring" means the determination of the effect on aquatic life, including accumulation of pollutants in tissue, in receiving waters due to the discharge of pollutants (1) by techniques and procedures, including sampling of organisms representative of appropriate levels of the food chain appropriate to the volume and the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the effluent, and (2) at appropriate frequencies and locations.

010 "Biosolids” means treated domestic sewage sludge that meets the requirements of 40 CFR Part 503 for land application, surface disposal, incineration, or disposal in a municipal solid waste landfill.

011 "Blowdown" means the minimum discharge of recirculating water for the purpose of discharging materials contained in the water, the further buildup of which would cause concentration in amounts exceeding limits established by best engineering practice.

012. "CBOD" means the five-day measure of the pollutant parameter carbonaceous bio-chemical oxygen demand (CBOD 5).

013 "Construction permit" means the permit required by Title 123 - Rules and Regulations for Design, Operation and Maintenance of Wastewater Treatment Works.

014 "Effluent" means wastewater, excluding sludge, discharging from a wastewater treatment works and/or cooling equipment, a boiler, or any manmade device that discharges or has the potential to discharge.

015 "Facilities or equipment" means buildings, structures, process or production equipment or machinery which forms a permanent part of the new source and which will be used in its operation, provided such facilities or equipment are of such value as to represent a substantial commitment to construct.

016 “Influent" means water or a water solution containing dissolved or suspended compounds or elements entering any device that discharges or has the potential to discharge as a point source.

017 "Land Application" is defined as the controlled application of effluent onto the land surface to achieve a designed degree of treatment through natural physical, chemical and biological processes within the plant-soil-water matrix.

018 "Major Municipal Wastewater Treatment Facility" means a municipal wastewater treatment facility that has a design flow of 1 MGD (million gallons per day) or greater or a service population of 10,000 or greater.

019 "Minor facility" means any NPDES facility not classified as a "Major facility".

020 "Minor Municipal Wastewater Treatment Facility" means a municipal wastewater treatment facility that has a design flow of less than 1 MGD (million gallons per day) or a service population of less than 10,000

020 "Noncompliance report form" means a form prepared by the Department for the use of the permittee to indicate non-compliance with applicable effluent limitations and standards, or permit requirements.

021 "Noncontact cooling water" means water used for cooling which does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product or finished product.

022 "Nonpoint source" means a discharge of pollutants from other than a point source.

024 "Passive Discharge" means a discharge from a POTW that occurs in the absence of an affirmative action and is not authorized by the NPDES permit (e.g. discharges due to a leaking valve, discharges from an overflow structure) and / or is a discharge from an overflow structure not designed as part of the POTW (e.g. discharges resulting from lagoon berm/dike breaches).

025 "Percent removal" means a percentage expression of the removal efficiency across a treatment plant for a given pollutant parameter, as determined from the 30-day average values of the raw wastewater influent pollutant concentrations to the facility and the 30-day average values of the effluent pollutant concentrations for a given time period.

026 "Process wastewater pollutants" means pollutants present in process wastewater.

027 "Restricted Public Access" refers to areas where public access can be controlled such as crop and pasture land.

028 "Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO)" means untreated or partially treated sewage overflows from a sanitary sewer collection system.

029 "Severe property damage" means substantial physical damage to property, damage to the treatment facilities which would cause them to become inoperable, or substantial and permanent loss of natural resources which can reasonably be expected to occur in the absence of a bypass, excluding economic loss caused by delays in production.
030 "Silvicultural point source" is defined at §122.27.

031 "Source" means any building, structure, facility, or installation from which there is or may be a discharge of pollutants.

032 "State Act" means the Nebraska Environmental Protection Act 81-1501 to 81-1532, as amended.

033 "Unrestricted Public Access" refers to areas where public access is not restricted such as parks and playgrounds.

034 "Wetlands" is defined in N.A.C. Title 117 – Nebraska Surface Water Quality Standards.


Enabling Legislation: Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 81-1502; 81-1504(4); 81-1505(3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (11), and (20).