Corey Day and Heraclio Pimentel Outline Wastewater Requirements for Distilleries

In an article for Artisan Spirit Magazine, litigator and alcoholic beverage attorney Corey Day and natural resources attorney Heraclio Pimentel provide an overview of the national permitting scheme under the federal Clean Water Act (CWA)—which governs the quality of surface water in the U.S.—and how it applies to distilleries.

The CWA requires a person to be covered under a permit, commonly known as a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, before discharging a pollutant from any “point source” into “navigable waters.” NPDES programs are administered by authorized state agencies or by the EPA through its regional offices.

Not all waste discharges from distilleries fall under the requirements of the CWA, and Day and Pimentel stress the need for distilleries to consult an attorney or qualified environmental professional to determine whether discharges are covered by the CWA or by local permitting requirements and regulations.

Day and Pimentel conclude: “[A]s the craft distilling industry continues to boom, chances are that this growth will catch the eyes of regulators, lawmakers, and the general public. For this reason, it is important to keep up to date with changes in applicable laws regulating the discharge of industrial wastewater from facilities.”

You can read the full article here.