The Georgia EPD NPDES Industrial Stormwater Permit is the state permit that lets a covered industrial facility legally discharge rainwater that runs across its site into Georgia’s waters, and you apply for it by filing a Notice of Intent (NOI) for coverage under General Permit GAR050000. The form is filed online through Georgia’s GEOS portal, and it tells the Environmental Protection Division that you intend to follow every rule in the 2022 Industrial General Permit at a named site.
Getting this form wrong is not a small thing. The federal Clean Water Act allows civil penalties of up to roughly $66,000 per day per violation for discharging without coverage, and a missing or rejected NOI means you have no coverage at all. This guide walks you through the current NOI – Version 2022 form, section by section, the way a person who has filed it for 30 years would, so you can submit it right the first time.
Here is what you will learn: – 📋 What the GAR050000 permit is, who must file an NOI, and which version applies right now – 🗂️ Every document, code, and coordinate you need to gather before you open the form – ✍️ A line-by-line walkthrough of all seven sections of the 2022 NOI, with real sample entries – 🏭 Three full filing examples for a metal recycler, a concrete plant, and a “no exposure” warehouse – ⚠️ The exact mistakes that get an NOI returned, plus deadlines, fees, and how to file in GEOS
What the GAR050000 Permit Is and Who Must File It
The NPDES Industrial Stormwater General Permit, numbered GAR050000, is a single statewide permit that covers many similar facilities at once instead of writing one custom permit per site. It is issued by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) under the federal Clean Water Act and the Georgia Water Quality Control Act, O.C.G.A. § 12-5-20 and following. The current version is the 2022 IGP, which became effective June 1, 2022 and expires at midnight on May 31, 2027.
You must file an NOI if your facility falls into one of the industrial categories defined by federal rule 40 CFR 122.26(b)(14), which Georgia lists by four-digit SIC code in Appendix D of the permit. Common covered sectors include metal scrap and recycling yards, ready-mix concrete plants, lumber and wood products, chemical makers, landfills, food processors, and transportation facilities with vehicle maintenance. If rain touches your industrial materials, machinery, or waste and then runs off your property, you almost certainly need coverage.
The permit, the agency, the statute, the deadline, and the penalty all link together. The Clean Water Act bans discharging pollutants without a permit, so EPD issues GAR050000 to give you a legal path, the permit sets deadlines and conditions, and ignoring any of them exposes you to enforcement. A common misconception is that “stormwater is just rain, so it’s clean.” Rain that flows over a scrap pile or an oil-stained yard picks up metals and oil, which is exactly the pollution the permit controls.
If your site has no industrial materials or activities exposed to rain at all, you may instead file a No Exposure Exclusion (NEE) rather than an NOI, which is covered later in this guide.
Before You Start: Documents and Information You Need
The NOI asks for facts you cannot guess, so gather everything before you log in to GEOS. Missing even one item, like a SIC code or a set of coordinates, forces you to stop, hunt for it, and risk a session timeout that loses your work.
Here is your pre-filing checklist: – Facility legal name and physical address. EPD matches your site against its database; a wrong address can attach your filing to the wrong facility record. – Latitude and longitude in decimal degrees. The form uses these to flag nearby impaired waters, and bad coordinates can trigger sampling rules that do not apply to you. – Owner/operator legal name and ownership type. This sets who is legally responsible; a mismatch with state business records can delay approval. – Responsible Official (RO) name, title, email, and phone. Only a qualified RO can sign and submit, so the wrong signer voids the NOI. – Primary four-digit SIC code, plus up to four secondary codes. This drives your sector, your effluent limits, and your monitoring; the wrong code means the wrong rules. – Receiving water name and river basin. EPD ties your discharge to a specific waterbody, and “unknown” is not an acceptable answer. – Number of stormwater outfalls and total impervious area in square feet. These size your monitoring and must be entered as plain numbers. – MS4 operator name, if you drain to a city or county storm sewer. You must send that operator a copy of your NOI, and skipping this breaks a permit condition. – A completed or in-progress SWPPP. The form’s checklist asks you to confirm SWPPP elements, and you certify these under penalty of law. – Georgia’s current 305(b)/303(d) impaired waters list and any TMDL for your stream. These tell you whether extra Appendix C sampling applies.
Pull your SIC code from the list in Appendix D of the 2022 IGP, and confirm coordinates with a GPS reading or a mapping site using the WGS 84 projection. Having these ready turns a frustrating afternoon into a 30-minute filing.
Where to Get the Form and How to Access It
The 2022 NOI is no longer a paper form you mail in; it is an electronic form inside the Georgia EPD Online System, called GEOS. EPD does post a reference-only PDF of the 2022 NOI so you can preview every field, but you cannot submit that PDF; it exists to help you prepare.
To reach the live form, the Responsible Official creates a GEOS account, selects “RO/Owner for Stormwater Industrial,” and then uses “Associate Facility” to find the site. When searching, type a partial name or partial address, not both and not the full string, because the search is picky and a full address often returns nothing. Confirm the “Source” column shows “Storm Water Industrial,” which proves the facility can access the industrial stormwater forms.
If your facility was never covered under the older 2017 permit and does not appear in GEOS, you must first complete EPD’s Facility Information Form and email it to the Industrial Stormwater Team so they can create the facility record, which usually appears within a few days. The RO then verifies identity through E-Verify, EPD’s preferred path, or by mailing an Electronic Subscriber Agreement (ESA) by certified mail if E-Verify fails after three tries. After setup, the RO creates a password, a PIN, and security questions, all of which are needed every time you submit.
A consultant can do the typing if the RO adds them as a Preparer under “Manage Consultants and Preparers,” but only the RO can press submit. A common misconception is that an engineer or safety officer can sign; the permit requires a true RO, such as a president, vice president, manager with budget authority, general partner, proprietor, or ranking public official.
Step-by-Step: How to Fill Out the 2022 NOI Line by Line
The NOI – Version 2022 runs seven labeled sections, A through G, plus a filing-type choice at the very top. Fill them in order, mark any item that does not apply as N/A rather than leaving it blank, and remember that an NOI with blank applicable fields will not be accepted.
Top of Form: Filing Type and NOI Number
The form asks you to check one box: Initial Notification, Previously Permitted under the 2017 IGP, or Change of Information, and to enter your NOI No., if known. In plain English, this tells EPD whether you are brand new, renewing from the last permit cycle, or fixing details on an existing coverage. Check the single box that fits, and leave the NOI number blank only if you have never been issued one.
For example, a metal recycler that held coverage under the old 2017 permit checks Previously Permitted under the 2017 IGP and types its existing NOI number, such as GAR05XXXX. If you are opening a new yard that has never had coverage, you check Initial Notification and leave the number empty. The most common “what if” is a facility that changed only its contact person; that filer checks Change of Information and keeps the same NOI number.
A frequent mistake is checking Initial Notification during a renewal, which can create a duplicate facility record and confuse EPD’s review. The misconception here is that renewal is automatic; it is not, because each new permit cycle requires a fresh NOI even if nothing at your site changed.
Section A: Facility Location Information
This section asks where the site physically sits. Enter the FACILITY NAME, STREET/LOCATION ADDRESS, CITY, COUNTY, ZIP CODE, and then the LATITUDE and LONGITUDE in decimal degrees, formatted as XX.XXXXXX and -XX.XXXXXX. Add the MAILING ADDRESS if it differs from the street address.
For a real example, Phoenix Metal Recycling in Macon writes Phoenix Metal Recycling LLC for the facility name, 1450 Industrial Blvd for the street, Macon for the city, Bibb for the county, 31201 for the zip, 32.840700 for latitude, and -83.632500 for longitude. The longitude is negative because Georgia is west of the prime meridian, and dropping that minus sign is one of the most common errors on the whole form.
If your site has no street address, give the spot where your access road meets the nearest named road and explain it in Section F. A wrong or sign-flipped coordinate places your facility in the wrong watershed, which can wrongly attach impaired-water sampling duties or, worse, miss real ones. The misconception is that the coordinates are “close enough” approximations; EPD uses them to auto-screen nearby impaired streams, so precision matters.
Section B: Facility Owner-Operator Information
This section asks who owns and runs the facility and who can legally speak for it. Enter the FACILITY OWNERSHIP TYPE (such as private corporation, partnership, or public), the owner’s LEGAL NAME and MAILING ADDRESS, and then the Responsible Official name, title, email, and phone, plus an On-site Facility Contact with their own name, title, phone, and email.
For example, the RO line reads Maria Delgado, Vice President of Operations, with her work email and direct phone, while the on-site contact is James Carter, Plant Manager. You then answer whether you want to designate the on-site contact as your “duly authorized representative” by checking Yes or No; checking Yes lets that person sign routine reports later.
The legal name must match your state business registration, not a trade name on your sign. A mismatch between the owner’s legal name and state records can stall approval while EPD verifies who is actually responsible. The misconception is that the RO and on-site contact can be the same casual choice; the RO must meet the strict signing authority in Appendix B.7, while the on-site contact is simply your day-to-day stormwater person.
Section C: Site Activity Information (SIC Codes and Sectors)
This is the engine room of the form, because it sets which rules apply to you. You enter your primary four-digit SIC code, mark up to four secondary SIC codes that fall in different sectors, identify the matching Part 8 Sector/Subsector by letter and name, and check whether the facility is subject to effluent limits under Part 8 sectors A, C, D, E, K, L, O, or S.
For example, Phoenix Metal Recycling enters primary SIC code 5093 for scrap and waste materials, identifies Sector N, Scrap Recycling and Waste Recycling Facilities, and reviews whether any effluent-limit sector also applies. A ready-mix concrete plant would instead enter 3273 and land in Sector E, which does carry effluent limits, so it checks that box.
Pick the code for what the site is primarily engaged in, not a minor side activity, and only list secondary codes from different sectors. The single most consequential mistake on the NOI is choosing the wrong primary SIC code, because it assigns the wrong benchmark pollutants and monitoring, which can mean you sample for the wrong things for the entire five-year permit term. The misconception is that “any close code will do”; the code drives your legal obligations, so it must match Appendix D exactly.
Section D: Storm Water Discharge Information
This section maps where your runoff goes and whether it reaches sensitive waters. You enter the name of receiving waters, the river basin, and answer Question 3: does the facility discharge to, or within one linear mile upstream and inside the watershed of, any waterbody on Georgia’s current 305(b)/303(d) impaired list, marking Yes or No.
If you mark Yes, you then check which impairment(s) apply from the long list (such as Pb (Lead), Zn (Zinc), Cu (Copper), FC (Fecal Coliform Bacteria), or DO (Dissolved Oxygen)), and a new permittee must also check eligibility box C.1.1 (prevents all exposure), C.1.2 (documents pollutant not present), or C.1.3 (submits certified non-contribution data). Previous permittees that did impaired-stream sampling indicate their status with boxes C.6, C.7, C.8, or C.11. You also answer Question 6 on whether you discharge into a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4), name the MS4 operator, and check the box confirming you will send the MS4 a copy of your NOI as required by Part 1.3.3.
For example, Phoenix Metal lists Rocky Creek as receiving water and the Ocmulgee river basin, marks Yes to impaired waters, checks Zn (Zinc) and Cu (Copper), and as an existing permittee checks C.6. The most damaging mistake here is answering No to the impaired-waters question when EPD’s coordinate screen says otherwise, which gets the NOI returned; the misconception is that an MS4 copy is optional, when failing to send it is a standalone permit violation.
Questions 7 and 8 round out the section: you note whether quantitative discharge data is available and its most recent year, the hardness of the receiving water if relevant, any other NPDES permit numbers, the total number of stormwater outfalls, and the total impervious surface area entered in square feet with no commas, decimals, or text. Entering “about 2 acres” instead of 87120 will reject the field, because the system reads only a clean number.
Section E: Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) Information and Checklist
This section confirms you have the plan that the permit is built around. You enter the SWPPP Contact Name, Email, and Primary Phone, then complete an outfall table listing each outfall’s identifier (001, 002), latitude, longitude, receiving waterbody, Part 8 sector, and whether it is a substantially identical outfall or subject to benchmark, impaired-waters, or effluent-limit sampling.
Below that sits the SWPPP Checklist, where you check boxes confirming you have a pollution prevention team, site description, location and site maps, a summary of pollutant sources, control measures, and schedules for housekeeping, maintenance, spill response, erosion control, training, monitoring, and inspections, each tied to a specific permit part such as Part 5.1.1 or Part 2.1.2. For a new facility, checking a box means the task is done; for an existing facility, it means you will update the SWPPP within 90 days and fully implement it within 180 days of the permit’s effective date.
For example, the SWPPP contact is James Carter, the table lists outfall 001 at the yard’s drain to Rocky Creek with benchmark sampling checked, and the checklist boxes are all marked because the plan is written and posted. The most common mistake is checking every box to “look compliant” without an actual SWPPP, which is a false certification you sign under penalty of law in Section G. The misconception is that the SWPPP is filed with the NOI; it is not submitted, but you must keep it on-site and produce it on request.
Section F: Comments
This open box lets you explain anything unusual on the form. You write free-text notes here and, if a comment refers to a specific field, mark that field with a small symbol and repeat the symbol next to your comment so EPD knows what you mean.
For example, a filer without a street address writes here: Facility located 0.4 miles east where Old Mill Rd meets State Route 49; no posted street number. Another filer might note that a coordinate sits at the property’s drainage point rather than its center. Use this box honestly and sparingly; it is your chance to prevent confusion, not to argue with the rules.
Leaving needed context out is the mistake, because a reviewer who cannot match your address to a map may return the NOI for clarification. The misconception is that comments are ignored; EPD reviewers read them, and a clear note often prevents a back-and-forth that delays approval by weeks.
Section G: Certification and Signature
This final block is your legal oath. You enter the Printed Name, Title, Signature, and Date of the Responsible Official, certifying under penalty of law that the information was gathered by qualified people and is true, accurate, and complete, with explicit warning of fines and even imprisonment for knowing false statements.
For example, Maria Delgado, Vice President of Operations, signs electronically in GEOS using her PIN and security answers on 06/15/2026. In the online system, the “signature” is the RO’s verified e-signature, which is why only the RO, not a preparer, can press submit. A corporation needs a responsible corporate officer, a partnership needs a general partner, a sole proprietorship needs the proprietor, and a public body needs a principal executive or ranking elected official.
Signing when you do not meet the RO definition is the mistake, and it voids the entire NOI, leaving you with no coverage and full exposure to penalties. The misconception is that the certification is a formality; it is a sworn federal statement, and false certifications are exactly what trigger the harshest Clean Water Act enforcement.
Three Filled-Out Examples Using Real Scenarios
Seeing the whole form for a real site makes the pieces click. Below are three of the most common Georgia filers: a scrap metal recycler, a ready-mix concrete plant, and a warehouse seeking the No Exposure Exclusion.
Scenario 1: Phoenix Metal Recycling (Renewal, Sector N)
| Form Section | What Phoenix Metal Enters |
|---|---|
| Filing Type | Previously Permitted under the 2017 IGP, NOI No. GAR05XXXX |
| A. Facility Location | Phoenix Metal Recycling LLC, 1450 Industrial Blvd, Macon, Bibb County, 31201 |
| A. Coordinates | Latitude 32.840700, Longitude -83.632500 |
| B. Owner/RO | Maria Delgado, Vice President of Operations, private corporation |
| C. SIC / Sector | Primary SIC 5093, Sector N – Scrap and Waste Recycling |
| D. Receiving Water | Rocky Creek, Ocmulgee basin; impaired Yes – Zn, Cu; box C.6 |
| D. Outfalls / Area | Outfalls 2, impervious area 87120 |
| E. SWPPP | Contact James Carter; checklist complete, benchmark sampling on outfall 001 |
| G. Certification | Signed Maria Delgado, 06/15/2026 |
Scenario 2: Statewide Ready-Mix Concrete (New Facility, Sector E)
| Form Section | What Statewide Ready-Mix Enters |
|---|---|
| Filing Type | Initial Notification, NOI No. left blank |
| A. Facility Location | Statewide Ready-Mix Inc., 88 Quarry Rd, Cartersville, Bartow County, 30120 |
| A. Coordinates | Latitude 34.165400, Longitude -84.799800 |
| B. Owner/RO | Daniel Pruitt, General Manager (budget authority), private corporation |
| C. SIC / Sector | Primary SIC 3273, Sector E – Glass, Clay, Cement, Concrete; effluent limits Yes |
| D. Receiving Water | Pettit Creek, Coosa basin; impaired No |
| D. Outfalls / Area | Outfalls 1, impervious area 54450 |
| E. SWPPP | Contact Daniel Pruitt; new-facility boxes checked as completed |
| G. Certification | Signed Daniel Pruitt, 07/02/2026 |
Scenario 3: Summit Logistics Warehouse (No Exposure Exclusion)
| Form Section | What Summit Logistics Enters |
|---|---|
| Form Type | No Exposure Exclusion (NEE) instead of NOI |
| Facility Location | Summit Logistics LLC, 200 Distribution Way, Savannah, Chatham County, 31408 |
| Coordinates | Latitude 32.116900, Longitude -81.198800 |
| Owner/RO | Angela Boyd, Director of Facilities, private corporation |
| Activity | All materials, loading, and equipment stored fully indoors |
| Exposure Certification | Certifies no industrial materials or activities exposed to rain |
| Receiving Water | Pipemakers Canal, Savannah basin |
| Re-certification | Acknowledges NEE must be renewed every 5 years |
| Certification | Signed Angela Boyd, 07/10/2026 |
Across these examples, notice how the SIC code in Section C decides everything downstream: Phoenix samples for metals, Statewide faces concrete effluent limits, and Summit avoids monitoring entirely by proving no exposure.
How to File the Completed NOI
Filing is done entirely online through GEOS; EPD has retired routine paper NOI submittals for facilities already in the system. Once your form is complete, the Responsible Official selects Action, then Renewal for an existing facility, or Submittal > Start a New Submittal > Start for a new one, then completes and submits the form with their PIN and security answers.
Here is how each channel works: – GEOS online portal (standard path). Submit at geos.epd.georgia.gov; the RO signs electronically, and the system records the submittal ID as your proof of filing. There is an annual permit fee billed through GEOS, so keep your payment confirmation. – Facility Information Form by email (new facilities only). A site never covered before emails the Facility Information Form to Industrial.SW@dnr.ga.gov so EPD can create the record, usually within a few business days, before you can file the NOI online. – Electronic Subscriber Agreement by certified mail (identity fallback). If E-Verify fails three times, mail the signed ESA by certified mail to EPD IT at the address printed on the form, and keep the certified-mail receipt. – Notice of Termination by paper (legacy only). If a facility was terminated before the 2022 permit was reissued on June 1, 2022, contact EPD for a paper Notice of Termination.
New dischargers must submit the NOI at least seven days before discharge begins, while existing permittees renewing into the 2022 IGP are authorized to discharge under the new terms once the NOI is properly submitted. Save your GEOS submittal ID and any email confirmations, because EPD does not mail a paper receipt and that record is your only proof you filed on time.
What Happens After You File
After you submit, EPD’s Industrial Stormwater Team reviews the NOI, and the system tracks it for you. If the form is approved, the RO receives an automated approval email from GEOS, and your facility appears on the dashboard as covered.
If something is off, EPD returns the form with comments, and the RO gets an email saying the submittal came back. You find it under Submittal > Edit Pending Submittals, where the returned form is highlighted in red; click the notepad-and-pencil icon to read the comments. A practical tip from long experience: copy those comments into a separate document first, because they disappear from view once you move to the edit screen.
Approval is not the finish line. Once your NOI is approved, you must implement your SWPPP, conduct the inspections and any benchmark, impaired-waters, or effluent monitoring your sector requires, and file an Annual Report in GEOS by the deadline each year, pulling your NOI data into the report with the “Get NOI/NEE Information” button. The Annual Report is generally due by January 31 for the prior monitoring year, and missing it is a common, avoidable violation.
Mistakes to Avoid When Filling Out the NOI
Each field on this form is its own chance to slip, so review carefully before you submit. – Dropping the minus sign on longitude. The coordinate lands in the wrong place and can misassign impaired-water sampling. – Choosing the wrong primary SIC code. Your entire sector, benchmarks, and monitoring become wrong for five years. – Leaving applicable fields blank. An NOI with blank applicable fields will not be accepted. – Entering impervious area with commas or text. The number field rejects anything but a clean figure like 87120. – Answering “No” to impaired waters when EPD’s screen says yes. The form is returned for correction and your coverage is delayed. – Forgetting to send your NOI copy to the MS4. This is a standalone violation of Part 1.3.3 even if the NOI itself is fine. – Letting a non-RO sign or submit. The NOI is invalid, so you have no coverage at all. – Checking every SWPPP box without a real SWPPP. You have made a false certification under penalty of law. – Filing “Initial Notification” during a renewal. This creates duplicate records and confuses EPD’s review. – Using a trade name instead of the legal owner name. EPD cannot match you to business records, stalling approval. – Missing the seven-day-before-discharge window for new sites. You discharge without coverage and face daily penalties. – Forgetting your GEOS PIN or security answers. You cannot sign or submit, and you lose time resetting access.
Do’s and Don’ts
A few simple habits keep your NOI clean and your coverage solid.
Do: – Do gather every code and coordinate first, because the GEOS session can time out and lose unsaved work. – Do confirm your SIC code against Appendix D, since it sets every rule that follows. – Do double-check the longitude minus sign, as a flipped sign misplaces your facility. – Do save your submittal ID and confirmation emails, because EPD sends no paper receipt. – Do keep your SWPPP on-site and current, since you certify it exists and must produce it. – Do send the MS4 operator a copy when you discharge to a storm sewer, as the permit requires it.
Don’t: – Don’t leave applicable fields blank, because the NOI will be rejected. – Don’t let a consultant sign, since only a qualified RO can submit a valid NOI. – Don’t guess your receiving water, as “unknown” is not accepted and can be verified against maps. – Don’t check SWPPP boxes you haven’t completed, because that is a sworn false statement. – Don’t assume renewal is automatic, since each permit cycle needs a fresh NOI. – Don’t ignore returned-form comments, as an unaddressed return leaves you without coverage.
Pros and Cons of Filing on Your Own vs. With a Consultant
Many facilities file the NOI themselves, while others hire an environmental consultant as their GEOS Preparer. The right choice depends on your site’s complexity and your comfort with the rules.
Pros of filing on your own: – Lower cost, because you avoid consultant fees on a form you can complete in-house. – Faster turnaround, since you are not waiting on a third party’s schedule. – Direct control, as the RO already knows the facility better than any outsider. – Builds in-house knowledge, which helps with future annual reports and renewals. – Simple for low-risk sites, where a single outfall and no impaired waters make the form straightforward.
Cons of filing on your own (and pros of using a consultant): – SIC and sector errors are easy to make, and a consultant who files these daily catches them. – Impaired-waters and TMDL analysis is technical, and getting Appendix C eligibility wrong is costly. – SWPPP development is real engineering work, which consultants are equipped to produce and certify support for. – Monitoring design can be complex, especially for sectors with effluent limits like E or N. – Time cost is real, since the RO’s hours may be worth more than the consultant’s fee on a complicated site.
FAQs
Do I have to file an NOI if my facility is small?
Yes. Size does not exempt you; coverage is based on your SIC code and whether industrial materials are exposed to rain, so even a small covered facility must file an NOI or qualify for a No Exposure Exclusion.
Is the 2022 permit still the current version in 2026?
Yes. The 2022 IGP (GAR050000) took effect June 1, 2022 and remains active until it expires at midnight on May 31, 2027, so it is the version you file under now.
Do I write my primary SIC code or my secondary code first in Section C?
Yes, the primary code goes first; enter the four-digit code for what your facility is mostly engaged in, then add up to four secondary codes only if they fall in different sectors.
Does the longitude really need a minus sign in Section A?
Yes. Georgia sits west of the prime meridian, so longitude is negative, formatted like -83.632500; dropping the sign misplaces your facility on EPD’s map.
Do I enter the impervious area with commas in Section D?
No. Enter the total impervious surface area in square feet as a plain number with no commas, decimals, or text, such as 87120, or the field will reject your entry.
Can my consultant sign and submit the NOI for me?
No. A consultant can be added as a Preparer to complete the form, but only the qualified Responsible Official can electronically sign and submit it in GEOS.
Do I mail the paper NOI to EPD?
No. NOIs for facilities in the system are submitted electronically through GEOS; the posted PDF is reference-only and cannot be mailed in as a valid filing.
Does answering “Yes” to impaired waters block my coverage?
No, not by itself; you can still get coverage by certifying eligibility under box C.1.1, C.1.2, or C.1.3 and meeting the related sampling requirements in Appendix C.
Do I have to send my NOI to the local MS4?
Yes. If you discharge into a municipal storm sewer, Part 1.3.3 requires you to send the MS4 operator a copy of your NOI, and you check the box confirming you will.
Is a No Exposure Exclusion the same as an NOI?
No. The NEE is a separate filing for sites with no industrial materials or activities exposed to rain, and it removes the need for most permit conditions, but it must be renewed every five years.
Do I need my SWPPP finished before I file?
Yes for new facilities, which must have the SWPPP implemented before operations begin; existing permittees may file while updating it within 90 days and fully implementing within 180 days.
Does EPD send a paper receipt confirming my NOI?
No. EPD does not mail acknowledgment; your GEOS submittal ID and the system’s approval email are your proof of filing, so save them.
Do I file a new NOI when only my contact person changes?
Yes, but as a Change of Information filing, keeping your existing NOI number rather than starting a brand-new initial notification.
Does the wrong SIC code really matter that much?
Yes. The SIC code sets your sector, benchmark pollutants, effluent limits, and monitoring, so an error can lock you into the wrong requirements for the entire five-year permit term.
Related reading
- How to Fill Out the MassDEP / EPA NPDES Industrial Stormwater Notice of Intent (With Examples) + FAQs
- How to Fill Out the Washington Ecology NPDES Industrial Stormwater Permit (NOI) + FAQs
- How to Fill Out the Ohio EPA NPDES Industrial Stormwater Permit (OHR000007) + FAQs
- How to Fill Out the Georgia EPD Erosion and Sedimentation Control Notice of Intent (NOI) + FAQs
- How to Fill Out a Georgia EPD Groundwater Withdrawal Permit + FAQs
- How to Fill Out the Georgia EPD NPDES Construction Stormwater Permit (Notice of Intent) + FAQs
- How to Fill Out the Washington Ecology Water Quality Modification Permit + FAQs