ADEQ established permit amendment submission phases to help regulate the incoming volume of permit applications due to the new or adjusted AWQS. We assigned the early phases based on the monitoring requirements of the facility. Facilities subject to only ongoing discharge monitoring will complete their baseline monitoring earlier than facilities subject to only ongoing groundwater monitor. 

We assigned each facility to a phase to spread out the work over several years. To find the phase you are in: 

• Visit our AWQS resources page | View Resource Page >
• Go to the AWQS Permit Amendment Submission Schedule listed in the right-hand column.
• Click the link for Phase 1 and search for your facility by Place ID or Place Name.
• If your facility isn’t listed in Phase 1, check the lists for Phases 2 through 5 until you find your facility.

If you still can’t find your facility or are unsure which phase applies to you, email us | Email > 

Submittal time frames for amendments are dependent on the assigned phase listed below: 

• Phase 1: Aug. 4, 2025 – Dec. 31, 2025
• Phase 2: Jan. 1, 2026 – Dec. 31, 2026
• Phase 3: Jan. 1, 2027 – Dec. 31, 2027
• Phase 4: Jan. 1, 2028 – Dec. 31, 2028
• Phase 5: Jan. 1, 2029 – Aug. 4, 2029

Most Individual APP permit holders with ongoing discharge or groundwater monitoring requirements must begin Baseline Monitoring within three months of the effective date of a new or adjusted standard. In the case of the seven new or adjusted AWQS, the effective date is Aug. 4, 2025, and three months thereafter is Nov. 4, 2025.

You need to sample for the following seven parameters: arsenic, bromate, chlorite, haloacetic acids, fecal coliform or E. coli, Total Trihalomethanes and uranium.

• Each discharge monitoring location or groundwater POC must be monitored for all seven parameters
• Many facilities already have limits for Total Trihalomethanes and arsenic. Permittees subject to Baseline Monitoring may use previous data and data collected through baseline monitoring to meet the requirements of Baseline Monitoring in the AWQS Implementation rule.

Both methods are allowed, but dissolved arsenic and uranium are preferred.

• Discharge monitoring: Permits with ongoing discharge monitoring requirements will sample monthly for one year, unless an alternative timeframe, duration or frequency form is submitted to ADEQ and approved.
• Groundwater monitoring: Permits with ongoing groundwater monitoring requirements will sample for eight quarters, unless an alternative timeframe, duration or frequency form is submitted to ADEQ and approved.

No. Once you finish baseline monitoring, you can stop sampling for the seven parameters with new or adjusted AWQS. The original ongoing monitoring requirements in the permit continue.

You will need to compile a Baseline Monitoring Report pursuant to R18-9-A215(F), including the analysis of your monitoring data and proposed Alert Levels, Discharge Limitations and Aquifer Quality Limits, as applicable. Then, you will submit an “Other” amendment application to ADEQ during the assigned permit amendment timeframe or “phase”. ADEQ will then review the Baseline Monitoring Report and determine whether new or adjusted limits are necessary for the permit.

Yes. A POC well is monitored for compliance with the AWQS. Ongoing groundwater monitoring occurs at a POC well in individual Aquifer Protection Program permits.

No. If your permit describes the POC well as conceptual, and you are not currently required to monitor groundwater, you do not need to drill or monitor a well at this time.

If your monitoring well is consistently dry or does not recover enough to sample after purging three borehole volumes, you will need to investigate whether the well is viable (usable). This might involve maintenance, changing the screening interval, or replacing the well.

If this is the case, contact ADEQ by filling out a pre-application meeting request to discuss options as soon as possible | View Form >

ADEQ has provided a template to help guide your request. This template explains the information ADEQ needs to review an alternative monitoring schedule, duration, or frequency.

Guidance documents can be found on the AWQS rulemaking resources page | View Guidance Documents >

Upon completion of a request, please submit to the AWQS email | Email >

A parameter with a new or adjusted AWQS that is demonstrated to be unlikely to be present in the discharge of a facility may be removed from the scope of otherwise required Baseline Monitoring. ADEQ has developed a template for use as guidance in developing these demonstrations, which can be found on the AWQS rulemaking resources page | View Resources >

Upon completion of a demonstration, please submit to the AWQS email | Email >

The implementation rule at R18-9-A215(E)(4) specifies the sampling and analytical methodologies to be used for the purposes of Baseline Monitoring.  The rule states that “[s]ampling for each pollutant with a new or adjusted AWQS shall be conducted using Arizona Department of Health Services-approved (ADHS) methods under A.A.C. R9-14-610, including methods on the ADHS Director Approved List, if available. If an ADHS-approved method does not exist, sampling shall be conducted using an appropriate EPA-approved method or a method specified by the ADEQ Director.” Upon the contingency that an ADEQ Director specified method is necessary, the following list is provided: 

Analyte & Analytical Method

• Arsenic — EPA 200.8, SM 3113B, SM 3114B
• Bromate — EPA 300.1, EPA 317.0 Rev 2.0, EPA 321.8, EPA 326.0, EPA 557
• Chlorite — EPA 300.0, EPA 300.1, EPA 317.0 Rev 2.0, EPA 326.0
• HAA5 — EPA 552.1, EPA 552.2, EPA 552.3, SM 6251B
• Fecal Coliform — SM 9223B
• E. coli — SM 9223B
• TTHM — EPA 502.2 , EPA524.2, EPA552.3,  EPA557, SM 6251B
• Uranium — EPA 200.8

ADHS has a list of labs that are certified on their website | View ADHS Website >

The cost depends on how long it takes ADEQ staff to review your amendment application, determine whether new or adjusted limits are necessary and then issue the amended permit. 

For example, at an hourly rate of $180, a review of 10 hours would cost $1,800. If the application is more complex or has additional issues that need correction, the cost may be higher — but it will not go over the legal maximum set in rule.

Per the fee rule | View R18-14-102 >

Yes. ADEQ staff must spend time reviewing your documentation. Review fees apply even if monitoring is waived.