Land Application Permits

Wastewater Land Application Permitting

This page contains the Department’s wastewater land application permitting process information and the required submittals in order to obtain land application permits. Wastewater land application projects that incorporate new and/or additional wastewater land application sites and/or storage, treatment and disposal systems are required to obtain a site approval, facility plan/engineering report approval, construction permit and operation permit from the Department. The operation permit will be issued along with the facility plan approval for projects without additional construction; along with the construction permit for projects that require a construction permit.

Review of the land application projects for construction and operation shall be based on the criteria contained in the "Iowa Wastewater Facilities Design Standards," the Ten States Standards, applicable federal guidelines and standards, standard textbooks, current technical literature and applicable safety standards, Iowa Code Section 455B.174 and rule 567 IAC 64.

Applications for Land Application permits must be submitted to the Department at least 120 days in advance of the date of start of construction and operation. The Department will issue permits within 60 days of receipt of a complete application or deny the permit in writing unless a longer review period is required and the applicant is so notified in writing.

Work Record Requests

To initiate a land application project, a work record request must be submitted. All new work record requests for a DNR project manager assignment shall be submitted to Wastewater Engineering Section as an attachment in an email to wastewater-engineering@dnr.iowa.gov. The email subject line shall include Work Request – Facility – Work Title. An automated response will be sent to the requestor acknowledging DNR receipt of the work request.

Contact Information:

Should you have any questions regarding the land application permitting process, contact Suresh Kumar at Suresh.kumar@dnr.iowa.gov or at 515-725-8429.