The Washington state department of ecology (ecology) is reissuing the sand and gravel National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System and state waste discharge general permit on February 18, 2026. The permit becomes effective on April 1, 2026, and expires on March 31, 2031.

Purpose of the Permit: The sand and gravel general permit regulates discharges of water - process water, stormwater, and mine dewatering water - associated with sand and gravel, rock quarry, and similar mining operations, concrete batch plants, and hot mix asphalt operations. Under the Federal Clean Water Act and State Water Pollution Control Acts, this permit protects Washington's waters and aquatic life by ensuring that wastewater from these mining, concrete, and asphalt operations does not carry pollutants into waters of the state. When the permitted activities conducted by a specific class of industries are similar, ecology issues a general permit to cover all of them, rather than issuing a series of individual permits.

Based on public feedback, we've updated the general permit. The biggest changes clarify effluent limits for oil sheen/petroleum products, how spills are handled, changes in how soap-impacted waters are handled onsite, and several key terms and definitions. Permittees have time to prepare before new monitoring requirements and lined impoundment conditions take effect. We also added a condition for a reduction in monitoring for small businesses for hexavalent chromium. The chemical use plan section is now clearer about submissions, deadlines, and meanings and includes an emergency response exemption. These updates aim to protect water quality while keeping the permit practical to implement.

Applying for Coverage Under the Permit: Facilities covered under the existing permit that have renewed are covered under the new permit. New or unpermitted facilities may obtain coverage under the permit by submitting a complete permit application to ecology and satisfying all applicable public notice and State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) requirements (WAC 173-226-200). Access to the application is available online at https://ecology.wa.gov/SandandGravel.

Public Notice Process and Comments: The previous permit was last issued February 17, 2021, and is scheduled to expire March 31, 2026. The draft general permit, fact sheet explaining the legal and technical basis for the permit, economic impact analysis, copies of the proposed application for coverage, and other updated forms were shared on the permit's web page. Ecology provided public notice of the draft general permit determinations and accepted public comments on the draft permit from August 6, 2025, through October 10, 2025. Two public meetings and hearings were held during this comment period via online statewide webinars on September 9 and 10, 2025. Ecology received written comments via our comments web application, by mail, by email, and spoken comments provided during the public hearings. The comments and ecology's responses are included as an appendix to the fact sheet for the draft general permit.

Your Right to Appeal: You have a right to appeal the final general permit to the pollution control hearings board (https://eluho.wa.gov/boards/pollution-control-hearings-board) within 30 days of issuance of the general permit. The appeal process is governed by chapter 43.21B RCW and chapter 371-08 WAC. See appeal of the general permit (https://apps.ecology.wa.gov/publications/SummaryPages/1710009.html) for more information.

Copies of the Permit: The permit, fact sheet with responses to public comments, and related documents are available online at https://ecology.wa.gov/SandandGravel. You may request hard copies from the water quality program by contacting Jackie Lince at jackie.lince@ecy.wa.gov or 360-407-6600.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accessibility: To request an ADA accommodation, email eric.daiber@ecy.wa.gov, call 360-742-1511, or dial 711 to call through the Washington telecommunications relay for services like text telephone (TTY). Visit https://ecology.wa.gov/accessibility for more accessibility information.

Translation: Ecology is committed to providing language services, including translation and interpretation, for people whose primary language is not English. To request these services, email eric.daiber@ecy.wa.gov or call 360-742-1511. If you call, ask for an interpreter to be connected with one.