- (1) The applicant shall publish notice for each application in such a manner to inform and seek comments from interested and potentially interested persons.
(2) The public notice shall be in a form provided by the department and shall include at least the following:
- (a) Name, address, and phone number of the office of the department issuing the public notice;
- (b) Name and address of the applicant, and if different, of the facility or activity to be permitted;
- (c) Brief description of the applicant's activities or operations which result in the discharge described in the application (e.g. municipal waste treatment plant, steel manufacturing, drainage from mining activities);
- (d) A brief description of the discharge point(s);
- (e) A statement of any tentative determination to issue or deny a permit for the discharge described in the application;
- (f) A brief description of the procedures for the formulation of final determinations, including the thirty-day comment period required by subsection (6) of this section and any other means by which interested persons may influence or comment upon those determinations; and
- (g) Address and phone number of the office of the department at which interested persons may obtain further information.
- (3) Circulation of public notice shall include at least publishing once each week for two consecutive weeks, at applicants' expense, a public notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county of the proposal. The department shall also, in the case of a discharge into a municipal sewerage system, notify the municipality of the intent to issue or deny a permit.
(4) The department may require the following additional public notification requirements:
- (a) Mailing the notice to persons who have expressed an interest in being notified;
- (b) Mailing the notice to other state agencies and local governments with a regulatory interest in the proposal;
- (c) Posting the notice on the premises.
- (5) The public notification requirements do not apply for permit renewal, if there are no increases in volume or changes in characteristics of discharge beyond those previously authorized.
- (6) The public notice shall include a statement that any person may express their views in writing to the department within thirty days of the last date of publication.
- (7) Any person submitting written comment or any other person may, upon request, obtain a copy of the department's final decision.
- (8) The applicant shall provide the department with an affidavit of publication.
- (9) The department shall add the name of any person, upon request, to a mailing list to receive copies of notices for all applications within the state or within a geographical area.
[Statutory Authority: Chapters 43.21A and 90.48 RCW. WSR 83-23-073 (Order DE 83-29), § 173-216-090, filed 11/18/83.]