Water Quality Permits | National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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Water Quality Permits

Clean Water Program

GSFC maintains several strict permits that govern the discharge of industrial wastewater and stormwater to the sanitary sewer and storm drainage system. The permits set limits on the amount and types of pollutants that may be discharged to the environment. GSFC conducts routine monitoring of the permitted discharges to maintain water quality and compliance with Federal and State clean water regulations. As a GSFC employee or contractor, you are required to comply with environmental regulations and our permits. Goddard Procedural Requirement (GPR) 8500.5, Water Management, describes how GSFC integrates its environmental goals and requirements with the regulatory requirements pertaining to water discharges, or potential discharges, of pollutants into the sanitary sewer, storm water system, groundwater, or the environment in general.

Some key guidelines to manage your wastewater onsite are as follows:

Do not allow any wastewater at GSFC to be discharged by a process or by hand to the storm drain or a body of water without prior evaluation by Code 250 Environmental Management.
Accumulate and dispose of chemical or laboratory waste properly. Submit a waste characterization or pickup request from Code 250 via MOSI.
Only residual amounts of hazardous materials/waste (e.g., rinsate from laboratory containers) should be discharged to the sanitary sewer (e.g., down the drain) unless larger quantities are authorized by Code 250 Environmental Management.
Submit an Environmental and Safety Review Checklist online via MOSI before implementing operational or process changes that may significantly increase wastewater production or introduce new or larger quantities of potential pollutants into the sanitary sewer.
Prior to installation, notify Code 250 of any new process that generates wastewater, and allow time for Code 250 to conduct an evaluation.
Report all spills and unauthorized discharges, including releases of petroleum products, domestic water line breaks, and sewage overflows, no matter how small.

For more information concerning Clean Water Programs, view a poster explaining GSFC’s clean water permits.

Program Contacts

Lori Levine 301-286-6741 (Oil Operations/Tank Program; Clean Water Programs - general storm water discharges, erosion, and sediment control)
Janine Pollack 301-286-0509 (groundwater appropriations; NPDES and sanitary sewer industrial discharges)