Guidelines to Statutory Order on the Licensing of Waste Water Discharges

1. Area of application of the Statutory Order

1.1 Scope
1.2 Application of the Statutory Order to existing waste water systems

1.1 Scope

Section 1 of the Waste Water Management Order defines the scope of the provisions of the Order. The provisions apply to all waste water systems - public as well as private.

Like its predecessor, the new Statutory Order on waste water management also governs the direct discharge of substances into the ground water. The provisions relating to this subject implement Council Directive 80/68/EC. See Chap. 10 of these Guidelines.

The Statutory Order does not establish provisions for the licensing of the discharge and spraying of waste water useful for agricultural purposes, cf. section 3 of the Statutory Order. The discharge and spraying of waste water and sludge for agricultural purposes are governed by Statutory Order No. 823 of 16 September 1996 concerning the use of waste products for agricultural purposes (the Sludge Order), issued by the Ministry of Environment and Energy. See to Chap. 13 of these Guidelines.

1.2 Application of the Statutory Order to existing waste water systems

Substantial changes to an existing waste water system or the conditions under which it operates, including relocation or restructuring, require the issuing of a renewed discharge licence pursuant to section 2 of the Statutory Order. This also applies in cases where the quantity or composition of the incoming waste water is changed, especially if the intake is increased.

Decisions of whether a change to a waste water system requires a renewed discharge licence are made on a case-by-case basis.

The licensing authority decides whether a change is substantial and therefore subject to a new discharge licence.

Thus, in cases where a waste water system discharging into an infiltration plant for domestic waste water is changed such that the load from the system is increased, for example, if the plumbing of a property is modified by the installation of an extra bathroom, it may be necessary to apply for a new discharge licence. This applies, in particular, to systems that include an old infiltration plant and a small settling tank. In determining whether a new discharge licence must be issued, the licensing authority shall consider both the organics load on the installation and the hydraulic peak load. Usually, merely rearranging systems without changing the number of installations is not subject to relicensing.

This also applies to changes made to a municipal waste water treatment plant that involves altering the plant, for example, by installing new tanks, modifying the aeration equipment etc., whereas changes affecting the capacity of the plant, including increased hydraulic load, are subject to relicensing.