Industrial Wastewater Discharge Permit

Businesses that discharge industrial wastewater must follow the Sewer Use Regulations in Title 15 of the Rules of the City of New York (RCNY) Chapter 19.

Different types of industrial wastewater discharge have different requirements. Check the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 40, Parts 400 to 610. This will help you know if your business needs a permit before discharging wastewater into New York City's public combined or sanitary sewers.

If your business discharges 25,000 gallons or more of wastewater per day, you may also need a discharge permit no matter what type of industry you operate in.

• Water & Sewer forms are available.
• If you have questions: email Sophia Rabich at srabich@dep.nyc.gov.

• Permit expiration: Permits expire after five years.
• Automatic reissue: The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) reissues permits before they expire.
• Compliance: You must follow the permit terms.
• Sampling: You need to test the wastewater regularly.

• Check if your business needs a wastewater discharge permit.
• Download: CFR Title 40, Part 403.12.
• Follow the instructions to prepare a Baseline Monitoring Report (BMR).
• Get a licensed engineer or a qualified professional to certify the BMR:
  • If a qualified professional who is not a licensed engineer certifies it, include a statement describing their qualifications.
• Mail the BMR to the DEP.
  • You can also email the BMR.
• DEP engineers will review the BMR to see if your business needs a permit.
• If the BMR is incomplete or unacceptable, DEP will notify you.
• Once DEP gets a complete and acceptable BMR, they will issue a permit.
• You will get a response from DEP within four weeks of submission.
• If you do not get a response within four weeks, contact DEP.