ARIZONA MINING PERMITTING GUIDE - AZGS Document Repository

Individual Aquifer Protection Permit
Arizona Mining Permitting Guide
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ)
Groundwater Section
1110 West Washington Street, 5415B-3
Phoenix, AZ 85007
602-771-4428
www.azdeq.gov/environ/water/index.html
PERMITS, AUTHORIZATIONS OR FILINGS:
Individual Aquifer Protection Permit (APP)
LEGAL AUTHORITY:
A.R.S. § 49-241 et seq.
A.A.C. R18-9 Articles 1-4
CONDITIONS REQUIRING PERMITS, AUTHORIZATIONS OR FILINGS:
An aquifer protection permit is needed if you own or operate a facility that discharges either
directly to an aquifer or to the land surface or the vadose zone in such a manner that there is a
reasonable probability that the pollutant will reach an aquifer. In addition, the following
facilities are categorized as discharging facilities:
Surface impoundments, pits, ponds and lagoons
Solid waste disposal facilities, except for mining overburden and wall rock that has
not been subject to mine leaching operations
Injection wells
Land treatment facilities
Facilities adding pollutants to a salt dome, salt beds or salt formations, drywells,
underground caves, or mines
Mine tailings piles and ponds
Mine leaching operations
Underground water storage facilities (if reclaimed water is recharged)
Sewage treatment facilities, including on-site wastewater treatment facilities
Wetlands designed and constructed to treat wastewater for underground storage
The applicant for an individual APP must demonstrate the following: that Best Available
Demonstrated Control Technology (BADCT) will be utilized to prevent or eliminate the
discharge of pollutants, that aquifer water quality standards will not be violated in
groundwater at the point of compliance, that the applicant has financial and technical
capability to comply with the permit, and that the property has been properly zoned for the
activity. BADCT guidance is available on the ADEQ website.
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