Salvage Yards

Salvage yards in Arkansas are affected by various environmental regulations, depending on the activities conducted in the yard. These regulations are to prevent the release of liquid hazardous materials such as oils and lead-acid battery contents into the soils, groundwater, and surface waters and the release of air conditioning refrigerants such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) into the atmosphere. Contamination can occur at many stages of salvage operations. Soil, groundwater, and air contamination can occur during vehicle disassembly and fluid drainage operations. Contamination can also result from the improper storage of parts, fluids, and refrigerants.

DEQ Enterprise Services staff offers free, non-regulatory assistance to auto salvage yard operators to aid in understanding and complying with environmental regulations. DEQ has compiled helpful information in the Environmental Guidebook for Arkansas's Automotive Dismantlers and Recyclers. The following information about National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits and Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) is from the guidebook:

NPDES Permit and SWPPP Frequently Asked Questions

You need an NPDES Industrial Stormwater General permit if:

  • Your facility dismantles automotive vehicles to recover, use, or sell used parts
  • Your facility has a primary or secondary Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code of 5015 or 5093 (for example, if your primary source of income is the sale of used vehicles [SIC Code 5521] but your second most important source of income is the sale of used parts [SIC Code 5015])
  • Rain (stormwater) runs off your business property or could run off the property to any ditch, canal, stream, or lake or to a city storm sewer (different from sanitary sewer) through a curb, gutter, ditch, drain inlet, wetland, or other surface water body

To obtain coverage under the NPDES Industrial Stormwater General Permit, you must fill out and mail a document called a Notice of Intent (NOI) and a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP).

For paper copies of the NOI and SWPPP, contact the Stormwater Section of the Water Office at DEQ, 5301 Northshore Drive, North Little Rock, AR 72118, 501-682-0623.

Send DEQ a completed NOI, SWPPP, and check for $200.

The NPDES Industrial Stormwater General Permit requires facilities to write and implement a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP), conduct annual employee training on spill cleanup and good housekeeping, and conduct quarterly and annual inspections of their property as well as sample annually and complete a Stormwater Annual Report (SWAR) by January 31st each year.

A Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) is a document that:

  • Describes the facility and its operations
  • Identifies potential sources of stormwater pollution at the facility
  • Specifies appropriate Best Management Practices (BMPs) or pollution control
  • Measures to reduce the discharge of pollutants in stormwater runoff and provide for periodic review of the SWPPP

The SWPPP outlines your plans to continually ensure that potential pollutants are not exposed to rain or stormwater. The goal is to eliminate or minimize the chances of polluting stormwater that would leave your facility. You will be expected to review the success of your SWPPP and to make changes to the SWPPP as needed.

You can either use the attached fill-in-the-blank plan or write a plan using the instructions in the Stormwater Permit. The SWPPP must be kept on-site and routinely updated.

All facilities are required to sample once per year. All industries are required to sample for Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and pH, but some SIC codes require additional sampling. SIC code 5093 also requires the following additional samples: Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Oil & Grease (O&G), Total Aluminum, Total Copper, Total Iron, Total Lead, and Total Zinc. The samples must be analyzed by a certified laboratory. The measurement must be taken for pH within 15 minutes of collecting the sample. For additional information regarding sampling, please reference the Industrial Stormwater General Permit Section 3.

All facilities are required to submit an Annual Report, even if monitoring requirements have been waived, that includes findings from site inspections (including visual monitoring of outfalls) and any corrective action plans written under Part 3.11.2. Stormwater Annual Reports (SWAR) must be completed by January 31 each year for the previous January-December reporting period. The report does not need to be submitted to DEQ, but maintained on-site with the previous year’s sampling results. The documents will be reviewed at the time of inspection.

Required Documents

Submit following documents to apply for an industrial stormwater permit:

Word versions of these forms and templates can be found in the Industrial Stormwater Program in DEQ's Water Office.

  • Stormwater Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs)

    Stormwater DMRs are also required. Beginning December 21, 2016, Arkansas NPDES permittees are required to submit discharge monitoring reports (DMRs) electronically using the web-based tool NetDMR. Permittees can complete reports that are specific to their permit limits and transfer them to the EPA through a secure internet application.