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

Documents recently submitted to the EPRR

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

April 6, 2023 2022 Update to the Site Discharge Pollution Prevention Plan, NPDES Permit No. NM0030759, Overview

March 30, 2023 Sampling Implementation Plan

March 28, 2023 2022 Sandia Wetland Performance Report
2022 Sandia Wetland Performance Report Appendix D

January 4, 2022 Public Notice Annual Draft Sampling Implementation Plan (SIP) Submittal to EPA for the Los Alamos National Laboratory Storm Water Individual Permit, NPDES Permit No. NM0030759, Issued June 29, 2022 and Effective August 1, 2022

November 2, 2022 Draft Agenda for the November 9, 2022 IP Public Meeting

September 7, 2022 Certification of Installation of Enhanced Control Measures for W-SMA-11.7

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.