NetDMR Account Creation, Facility Association, & DMR Submittal

With the issuance of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s (EPD) 2022 Industrial General Stormwater Permit (IGP), several changes were made to stormwater monitoring requirements.Firstly, the EPD adjusted the due date for annual monitoring. This includes sector-specific benchmark monitoring, the new indicator monitoring, as well as numerical effluent monitoring. The new deadline is June 30^th, instead of December 31^st, so it is even more important to collect your stormwater sample in a timely manner. Georgia’s summer months have a history of either no rain or flash thunderstorms in which discharge occurs outside of normal operating hours.

Secondly, as of January 1, 2023, permittees are now required to submit stormwater sampling results on electronic Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs) through NetDMR. Historically, this data was required to be summarized on the Annual Report through the GEOS portal. Due to the various monitoring requirements required in the EPD’s IGP with multiple deadlines, the EPD now requires permittees to submit quarterly DMRs. The DMR submittal due date is 45 days after the end of the monitoring period, so permittees will need to ensure that their NetDMR account is created and associated with the facility in time to submit the first DMR by May 15^th 2023. Below is a table explaining the quarterly DMR submittal due dates.

To get started with this process, the permittee will need to select a duly authorized individual to be designated as the “Permit Authority (Signatory)” (PA). This individual will have signatory and submittal authority to approve and submit the DMRs within NetDMR. This individual will need to have an appropriate title to be approved by NetDMR as the PA. NetDMR is stricter in this regard as compared to GEOS, so, even if you are listed as the Responsible Official (RO) on the Notice of Intent (NOI) in GEOS, NetDMR staff will revoke your access unless you have a title similar to EHS Manager, Plant Manager, President, ect.

NetDMR operates with the EPA’s Central Database Exchange (CDX), so permittees will need to create a CDX account to then gain access to NetDMR. Please see below an instructional video released by the GA EPD on how to create your CDX account.

Once the CDX account has been created, the PA will need to request access to the facility’s account/permit within NetDMR. To continue, the PA will need access to the permittee’s site specific permit number. For Georgia facilities this will be GAIS#####. The GAIS number can be found either on the Approved 2022 NOI or on the 2022 Annual Report. When entering the GAIS number in NetDMR you will need to replace the “0000” as notated in GEOS with GAIS.

Below is an instructional video released by the GA EPD on how to associate your NetDMR account with the permitted facility.

Once these steps have been completed, you will be able to log into CDX, search the Georgia NetDMR program, select your facility, create a blank DMR to fill in with stormwater sampling data, and submit. As the PA you can grant other users access to enter sampling data as well as signatory/submittal authority. The user (whether it be another individual at the facility or a third party consultant or contractor) will need to request access.

Once samples are collected and results received, the data will need to be entered into NetDMR on the correct DMR. That can be done by checking the “Monitoring Period End Date” column and selecting the DMR that matches the monitoring period in which the samples were collected. Each outfall will have its own DMR entry that will need to be completed and submitted. Make sure to be conscientious of rotational substantially identical outfalls to make sure data is entered in the correct DMR. The EPD has provided an instructional video on how to enter data into your NetDMR, see the video below.

Please reach out to Conversion Technology Inc. if you need any assistance with NetDMR account creation or entering data into your DMR.