NPDES II Rule Changes Will Impact Many Municipalities
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NPDESII protects surface waters under the Clean Water Act |
A Fall 2000 Road Business article described the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, Phase II (NPDES II) regulations. In this issue we report on two recent changes that will impact New Hampshire municipalities. This article introduces the articles with an overview of NPDES II.
NPDES II consists of three sets of rules.
· Industrial Activities.
· Regulated Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s).
· Construction Activities.
Industrial Activities
NPDES II covers municipal garages, truck and vehicle washing, salt and sand storage, recycling centers, refuse transfer stations. and wastewater treatment plants. Municipalities will need a permit or a No Exposure Certification for each activity where stormwater flows into surface waters. To obtain a certification, a municipality must show that materials “are not exposed to storm water” during storage or handling operations. To get a permit will likely require a commitment to achieve a No Exposure Certification. The deadline for applications is March 10, 2003.
The “NPDES II and Highway Garage Complexes” article (Page 4) describes what cities and town must do to comply with these rules for
· Vehicle maintenance, repair, and lubrication
· Painting
· Fueling
· Salt and sand/salt storage
· Vehicle, equipment, and materials storage
· Waste storage
· Equipment and vehicle washing
Some municipalities will have to construct new or modify existing facilities. Many will have to establish a number of management practices.
Regulated
MS4s
An MS4, or “municipal separate storm sewer system,” is a road drainage system owned by a municipality: NPDES II regulates all MS4s located in “urbanized areas” (UAs) as defined by the Bureau of the Census. As described in “NPDES II Impacts More Municipalities” (Page 3), EPA has designated 19 more cities and towns as MS4s. EPA has also expanded areas in many previously designated MS4s. Each regulated MS4 will have to develop a Storm Water Management Program (SWMP).
That program must contain six “minimum control measures.” Each is summarized below.
1. Public Education and Outreach. Inform citizens about the impacts polluted storm water runoff can have on water quality.
2. Public Participation/Involvement. Encourage citizen participation in program development and implementation.
3. Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination. Develop and implement a plan to detect and eliminate illicit discharges to the storm sewer system.
4. Construction Site Runoff Control. Develop, implement, and enforce an erosion and sediment control program for construction activities that disturb one or more acres of land.
5. Post-Construction Runoff Control. Develop, implement, and enforce a program to address discharges from new development and redevelopment areas.
6. Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping, Develop and implement a program to prevent and reduce pollutant runoff from municipal operations.
Construction Activities
Operators of a construction site must obtain a permit if they disturb one or more acres of land. If part of a larger development, areas less than one acre are also regulated. The “construction site operator” is the party or parties with operational control of plans and specifications or of day-to-day activities. (See EPA Fact Sheet 3.0, available on page 9).
If a municipality is a construction operator, it must obtain a permit. Construction activity does not include routine maintenance of roads and ditches.
As noted above, regulated MS4 municipalities must control construction site and post-construction site runoff. Their planning regulations should require construction operators to obtain permits. Their regulations should also address post-construction discharges.