Individual Permit

The Individual Permit authorizes the discharge of storm water associated with historical industrial activities at Los Alamos National Laboratory from specified solid waste management units and areas of concern, collectively referred to as Sites.

Legacy Cleanup

Among other legacy cleanup operations, the work performed under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Individual Permit is managed by N3B for the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office , as of April 30, 2018

What's New

Public Meeting and Public Comment Period for the Copper Water Quality Criteria for the Pajarito Plateau

Public Meeting: 2:00–3:30 p.m. MDT September 26, 2023
Cities of Gold Hotel and Virtual

Public Comment Period: September 25 to November 9, 2023

Cities of Gold Hotel
Tribal Room
10 Cities of Gold Rd
Santa Fe, NM 87506

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On behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office, legacy cleanup contractor Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B) will conduct a public meeting and 45-day public comment period for adopting new water quality criteria for copper for surface waters around Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The water quality criteria is being developed in accordance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s nationally recommended copper water quality criteria for protection of aquatic life.

A draft report is available for comment at n3b-la.com/outreach. Written and oral comments will be given equal weight and N3B will consider all comments received or postmarked by November 9, 2023. Written comments should be sent to N3B Copper Water Quality Criteria Comments, 1200 Trinity Drive, Suite 150, Los Alamos NM 87544, or emailed to: N3BOutreach@em-la.doe.gov

For more information, including virtual meeting details, please visit: n3b-la.com/outreach

Documents recently submitted to the EPRR

August 24, 2023 NPDES Permit No. NM0030759 – Certification of Installation of Enhanced Control Measures for CHQ-SMA-1.02 and M-SMA-12.9

August 24, 2023 NPDES Permit No. NM0030759 – Certification of Installation of Baseline Control Measures for PJ-SMA-9.2, S-SMA-3.61, and S-SMA-3.62

August 24, 2023 Response to New Mexico Environment Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Comments on Pajarito Plateau Site-Specific Water Quality Copper Criteria Demonstration and Copper Site-Specific Water Quality Criteria for the Pajarito Plateau: Demonstration Report

July 27, 2023 NPDES Permit No. NM0030759-Submittal of Compliance Schedule for Corrective Action at 34 Monitoring Sites

July 5, 2023 NPDES Permit No. NM0030759 – Certification of Installation of Enhanced Control Measures for CDB-SMA-0.15, M-SMA-12, M-SMA-12.5, M-SMA-12.8, and M-SMA-13

June 22, 2023 Submittal of the Response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit No. NM0030759 Los Alamos National Laboratory Stormwater Individual Permit Comments on 2022 Annual Sampling Implementation Plan

June 2023, 2023 Surface Water Data at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Water Year 2022

April 17, 2023 2022 Monitoring Report and 2023 Monitoring Plan for Los Alamos/Pueblo Watershed Sediment Transport Mitigation Project
2022 Monitoring Report and 2023 Monitoring Plan for Los Alamos/Pueblo Watershed Sediment Transport Mitigation Project Appendices

What Is the Individual Permit for Storm Water?

The Permit - LANL SWIP Final NPDES Permit - was issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6, on June 29, 2022 to Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos, LLC and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management.
The Individual Permit became effective on August 1, 2022.
The Permit contains nonnumeric technology-based effluent limitations, coupled with a comprehensive, coordinated inspection and monitoring program, to minimize pollutants in the Permittees’ storm water discharges associated with historical industrial activities from specified SWMUs and AOCs. The Permittees are required to implement site-specific control measures (including best management practices [BMPs]) to address the nonnumeric technology-based effluent limits, as necessary, to minimize pollutants in their storm water discharges.
The Permit establishes target action levels (TALs) that are equivalent to New Mexico State water-quality criteria. These TALs are used as benchmarks to determine the effectiveness of control measures implemented under the Permit. That is, confirmation monitoring sample results for an SMA are compared with applicable TALs during the Site Specific demonstration (SSD). The SSD places SMAs into one of three tiers. The Tiers are as follows; Tier 1, Site Deletion; Tier 2, Long-term Stewardship; and Tier 3, Corrective Action.