The Washington state department of ecology (ecology) is reissuing the bridge and ferry terminal maintenance National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System and state waste discharge general permit on June 16, 2026. The permit becomes effective July 17, 2026, and expires July 16, 2031.

Purpose of the Permit: The bridge and ferry terminal maintenance general permit (https://ecology.wa.gov/BridgePermit) was developed to allow regular maintenance, cleaning, preparatory washing, and painting of bridges, ferry terminals, and associated metal structures. New to this version of the permit is an activity called hydrodemolition. The permit provides statewide coverage to authorize the discharge of regulated wastewaters for entities responsible for maintaining bridges or ferry terminals. Ecology will issue permit coverages to applicants that discharge wastewater associated with the bridge and ferry terminal maintenance activities.

The bridge and ferry terminal washing general permit limits the discharge of pollutants to surface waters under the authority of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, Title 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1251, and limits the discharge of pollutants to surface and groundwater under the authority of the state Water Pollution Control Act, chapter 90.48 RCW. 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.

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 requirements (WAC 173-226-200). Access to the application is available at https://secureaccess.wa.gov.

Public Notice Process and Comments: The previous permit was last issued June 29, 2022, and will be revoked when the new permit becomes effective July 17, 2026. The draft general permit, fact sheet explaining the legal and technical basis for the permit, economic impact analysis, and a copy of the proposed application for coverage were shared on the permit's public web page. Ecology provided public notice of the draft general permit determinations and accepted public comments on the draft permit from December 3, 2025, through January 23, 2026. Two public meetings and hearings were held during this comment period via online statewide webinars on January 7 and 8, 2026. Ecology received written comments via our comments web application, by mail, by email, and spoken comments provided during the public hearing(s). The comments and ecology's responses are included as an appendix to the fact sheet for the draft general permit.

Right to Appeal: An appeal of the general permit terms and conditions, the content of the permit, is a formal challenge to the decisions made by ecology during the permit's development, specifically regarding the regulation of discharges into state waters. This appeal process is governed by chapter 43.21B RCW and chapter 371-08 WAC. Appeals must be submitted within 30 days of the permit's issuance. For further details, refer to appeal of the general permit.

Copies of the Permit: The permit, fact sheet with responses to public comments, and related Washington state department of transportation bridge washing studies are available online. 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 james.hovis@ecy.wa.gov, call 564-999-3244, 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.

Language Services: Ecology is committed to providing language services, including translation and interpretation, for people whose primary language is not English. To request these services, email james.hovis@ecy.wa.gov or call 564-999-3244. If you call, ask for an interpreter to be connected with one.

El departamento de ecología está comprometido a ofrecer servicios de idioma, incluidos traducción e interpretación, para personas cuyo idioma principal no es el Inglés. Para solicitar estos servicios, envíe un correo electrónico a james.hovis@ecy.wa.gov o llame al 564-999-3244. Si llama, pida que le conecten con un intérprete.