1.It is unlawful to carry on any of the following activities without first securing a written
permit from the director, or from a city or county public works department if the public works
department reviews the activity under this section, as required by the department:
a.The construction, installation, or modification of any disposal system or public water
supply system or part thereof or any extension or addition thereto except those sewer
extensions and water supply distribution system extensions that are subject to review and
approval by a city or county public works department pursuant to this section, the use or
disposal of sewage sludge, and private sewage disposal systems. Unless federal law or
regulation requires the review and approval of plans and specifications, a permit sha
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1. It is unlawful to carry on any of the following activities without first securing a written
permit from the director, or from a city or county public works department if the public works
department reviews the activity under this section, as required by the department:
a. The construction, installation, or modification of any disposal system or public water
supply system or part thereof or any extension or addition thereto except those sewer
extensions and water supply distribution system extensions that are subject to review and
approval by a city or county public works department pursuant to this section, the use or
disposal of sewage sludge, and private sewage disposal systems. Unless federal law or
regulation requires the review and approval of plans and specifications, a permit shall be
issued for the construction, installation, or modification of a public water supply system
or part of a system if a qualified, licensed engineer certifies to the department that the
plans for the system or part of the system meet the requirements of state and federal law
or regulations. The permit shall state that approval is based only upon the engineer’s
certification that the system’s design meets the requirements of all applicable state and
federal laws and regulations and the review of the department shall be advisory.
b. The construction or use of any new point source for the discharge of any pollutant into
any water of the state.
c. The operation of any waste disposal system or public water supply system or any part
of or extension or addition to the system. This paragraph does not apply to a pretreatment
system, the effluent of which is to be discharged directly to another disposal system for final
treatment and disposal; a semipublic sewage disposal system, the construction of which has
been approved by the department and that does not discharge into a water of the state; or
a private sewage disposal system that does not discharge into a water of the state. The
commission may adopt additional exemptions for a class of disposal systems that do not
discharge into a water of the state or the director may waive the permit requirement for
an individual system that does not discharge into a water of the state. The commission or
director shall consider the volume, location, frequency, and nature of disposal from a system
or class of systems before granting a waiver or exemption. Sludge from a semipublic or
private sewage disposal system shall be disposed of in accordance with the rules adopted by
the department pursuant to chapter 17A.
2. Upon adoption of standards by the commission pursuant to section 455B.173,
subsections 5 through 8, plans and specifications for sewer extensions and water supply
distribution system extensions covered by this section shall be submitted to the city or
county public works department for approval if the local public works department employs
or retains a qualified, licensed engineer who reviews the plans and specifications using
the specific state standards known as the Iowa standards for sewer systems and the Iowa
standards for water supply distribution systems that have been formulated and adopted by
the commission pursuant to section 455B.173, subsections 5 through 8. The local agency
shall issue a written permit to construct if all of the following apply:
a. Thesubmittedplansandspecificationsareinsubstantialcompliancewithdepartmental
rules and the Iowa standards for sewer systems and the Iowa standards for water supply
distribution systems.
b. The extensions primarily serve residential consumers and will not result in an increase
greater than five percent of the capacity of the treatment works or serve more than two
hundred fifty dwelling units or, in the case of an extension to a water supply distribution
system, the extension will have a capacity of less than five percent of the system or will serve
fewer than two hundred fifty dwelling units.
c. The proposed sewer extension will not exceed the capacity of any treatment works
which received a state or federal monetary grant after 1972.
d. The proposed water supply distribution system extension will not exceed the
production capacity of any public water supply system constructed after 1972.
49 JURISDICTION OF DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, §455B.183A
3. After issuing a permit, the city or county public works department shall notify the
director of such issuance by forwarding a copy of the permit to the director. In addition,
the local agency shall submit quarterly reports to the director including such information as
capacity of local treatment plants and production capacity of public water supply systems as
wellasothernecessaryinformationrequestedbythedirectorforthepurposeofimplementing
this chapter.
4. Plans and specifications for all other waste disposal systems and public water supply
systems, including sewer extensions and water supply distribution system extensions not
reviewed by a city or county public works department under this section, shall be submitted
to the department before a written permit may be issued. Plans and specifications for public
water supply systems and water supply distribution system extensions must be certified
by a licensed engineer as provided in subsection 1, paragraph “a”. The construction of
any such waste disposal system or public water supply system shall be in accordance
with standards formulated and adopted by the commission pursuant to section 455B.173,
subsections 5 through 8. If it is necessary or desirable to make material changes in the plans
or specifications, revised plans or specifications together with reasons for the proposed
changes must be submitted to the department for a supplemental written permit. The revised
plans and specifications for a public water supply system must be certified by a licensed
engineer as provided in subsection 1, paragraph “a”.
5. Prior to the adoption of statewide standards, the department may delegate the
authority to review plans and specifications to those governmental subdivisions if in
addition to compliance with subsection 1, paragraph “c”, the governmental subdivisions
agree to comply with all state and federal regulations and submit plans for the review of
plans and specifications including a complete set of local standard specifications for such
improvements.
6. The director may suspend or revoke delegation of review and permit authority after
notice and hearing as set forth in chapter 17A if the director determines that a city or county
public works department has approved extensions which do not comply with design criteria,
which exceed the capacity of waste treatment plants or the production capacity of public
water supply systems, or which otherwise violate state or federal requirements.
7. The department shall exempt any public water supply system from any requirement
respecting a maximum contaminant level or any treatment technique requirement of an
applicable national drinking water regulation if these regulations apply to contaminants
which the department determines are harmless or beneficial to the health of consumers
and if the owner of a public water supply system determines that funds are not reasonably
available to provide for controlling amounts of those contaminants which are harmless or
beneficial to the health of consumers.
8. The department may enter into an agreement with a county to delegate to the county
thedutiesofthedepartmentunderthissectionastheyrelatetotheconstructionofsemipublic
sewage disposal systems.
9. A rural water association organized under chapter 357A or chapter 504 that employs or
retainsalicensedengineershallbeconsideredtohavemetthepermittingrequirementsofthis
sectionforthepurposesofsewerextensionsandwatersupplydistributionsystemextensions.
The department shall not disqualify a rural water system if the system’s hydraulic modeling
complies with standards for water supply distribution systems adopted by the commission
pursuant to this chapter.