Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 9, September 27, 2024
(a) Your NPDES
MS4 permit will require at a minimum that you develop, implement, and enforce a
storm water management program designed to reduce the discharge of pollutants
from your MS4 to the maximum extent practicable (MEP), to protect water
quality, and to satisfy the appropriate water quality requirements of the Clean
Water Act. Your storm water management program must include the minimum control
measures described in paragraph (b) of this section unless you apply for a
permit under section 122.26(d)(d). For purposes of this section, narrative
effluent limitations requiring implementation of best management practices
(BMP) are generally the most appropriate form of effluent limitations when
designed to satisfy technology requirements (including reductions of pollutants
to the maximum extent practicable) and to protect water quality. Implementation
of best management practices consistent with the provisions of the storm water
management program required pursuant to this section and the provisions of the
permit required pursuant to section 122.33 constitutes compliance with the
standard of reducing pollutants to the "maximum extent practicable." The
Department will specify a period of up to 5 years from the date of permit
issuance for you to develop and implement your program.
(b) Minimum control measures:
(1) Public education and outreach on storm
water impacts. You must implement a public education program to distribute
educational materials to the community or conduct equivalent outreach
activities about the impacts of storm water discharges on water bodies and the
steps that the public can take to reduce pollutants in storm water
runoff.
(2) Public
involvement/participation. You must, at a minimum, comply with State and local
public notice requirements when implementing a public involvement/participation
program.
(3) Illicit discharge
detection and elimination.
(i) You must
develop, implement and enforce a program to detect and eliminate illicit
discharges [as defined at section 122.26(b)(2)(b)(2)] into your small
MS4.
(ii) You must:
(A) Develop, if not already completed, a
storm sewer system map, showing the location of all outfalls and the names and
locations of all waters of the United States that receive discharges from those
outfalls;
(B) To the extent
allowable under State or local law, effectively prohibit, through ordinance, or
other regulatory mechanism, non-storm water discharges into your storm sewer
system and implement appropriate enforcement procedures and actions;
(C) Develop and implement a plan to detect
and address non-storm-water discharges, including illegal dumping, to your
system; and
(D) Inform public
employees, businesses, and the general public of hazards associated with
illegal discharges and improper disposal of waste.
(iii) You need address the following
categories of non-storm water discharges or flows (i.e., illicit discharges)
only if you identify them as significant contributors of pollutants to your
small MS4: water line flushing, landscape irrigation, diverted stream flows,
rising ground waters, uncontaminated ground water infiltration [as defined at
40
CFR 35.2005(20)] ,
uncontaminated, pumped ground water, discharges from potable water sources,
foundation drains, air conditioning condensate, irrigation water, springs,
water from crawl space pumps, footing drains, lawn watering, individual
residential car washing, flows from riparian habitats and wetlands,
dechlorinated swimming pool discharges, and street wash water (discharges or
flows from fire fighting activities are excluded from the effective prohibition
against non-storm water and need only be addressed where they are identified as
significant sources of pollutants to waters of the United States).
(4) Construction site storm water
runoff control.
(i) You must develop,
implement, and enforce a program to reduce pollutants in any storm water runoff
to your small MS4 from construction activities that result in a land
disturbance of greater than or equal to one acre. Reduction of storm water
discharges from construction activity disturbing less than one acre must be
included in your program if that construction activity is part of a larger
common plan of development or sale that would disturb one acre or more. If the
Department waives requirements for storm water discharges associated with small
construction activity in accordance with section 122.26(b)(15)(i)(b)(15)(i),
you are not required to develop, implement, and/or enforce a program to reduce
pollutant discharges from such sites.
(ii) Your program must include the
development and implementation of, at a minimum:
(A) An ordinance or other regulatory
mechanism to require erosion and sediment controls, as well as sanctions to
ensure compliance, to the extent allowable under State or local law;
(B) Requirements for construction site
operators to implement appropriate erosion and sediment control best management
practices;
(C) Requirements for
construction site operators to control waste such as discarded building
materials, concrete-truck washout, chemicals, litter, and sanitary waste at the
construction site that may cause adverse impacts to water quality;
(D) Procedures for site plan review which
incorporate consideration of potential water quality impacts;
(E) Procedures for receipt and consideration
of information submitted by the public; and
(F) Procedures for site inspection and
enforcement of control measures.
(5) Post-construction storm water management
in new development and redevelopment.
(i) You
must develop, implement, and enforce a program to address storm water runoff
from new development and redevelopment projects that disturb greater than or
equal to one acre, including projects less than one acre that are part of a
larger common plan of development or sale, that discharge into your small MS4.
Your program must ensure that controls are in place that would prevent or
minimize water quality impacts.
(ii) You must:
(A) Develop and implement strategies which
include a combination of structural and/or non-structural best management
practices (BMP) appropriate for your community;
(B) Use an ordinance or other regulatory
mechanism to address post-construction runoff from new development and
redevelopment projects to the extent allowable under State, Tribal, or local
law; and
(C) Ensure adequate
long-term operation and maintenance of BMP.
(6) Pollution prevention/good housekeeping
for municipal operations. You must develop and implement an operation and
maintenance program that includes a training component and has the ultimate
goal of preventing or reducing pollutant runoff from municipal operations.
Using training materials that are available from EPA, your State, Tribe, or
other organizations, your program must include employee training to prevent and
reduce storm water pollution from activities such as park and open space
maintenance, fleet and building maintenance, new construction and land
disturbances, and storm water system maintenance.
(c) If an existing, qualifying local program
requires you to implement one or more of the minimum control measures of
paragraph (b) of this section, the Department may include conditions in your
NPDES permit that direct you to follow the Department's requirements rather
than the requirements of paragraph (b) of this section. A qualifying local
program is a local storm water management program that imposes, at a minimum,
the relevant requirements of paragraph (b) of this section.
(d)
(1) In
your permit application (either a notice of intent for coverage under a general
permit or an individual permit application), you must identify and submit to
the Department the following information:
(i)
The best management practices (BMP) that you or another entity will implement
for each of the storm water minimum control measures at paragraphs (b)(1)
through (b)(6) of this section ;
(ii) The measurable goals for each of the BMP
including, as appropriate, the months and years in which you will undertake
required actions, including interim milestones and the frequency of the action;
and
(iii) The person or persons
responsible for implementing or coordinating your storm water management
program.
(2) If you
obtain coverage under a general permit, you are not required to meet any
measurable goal(s) identified in your notice of intent in order to demonstrate
compliance with the minimum control measures in paragraphs (b)(3) through
(b)(6) of this section unless, prior to submitting your NOI, EPA or the
Department has provided or issued a menu of BMP that addresses each such
minimum measure. Even if no regulatory authority issues the menu of BMP,
however, you still must comply with other requirements of the general permit,
including good faith implementation of BMP designed to comply with the minimum
measures.
(e) You must
comply with any more stringent effluent limitations in your permit, including
permit requirements that modify, or are in addition to, the minimum control
measures based on an approved total maximum daily load (TMDL) or equivalent
analysis. The Department may include such more stringent limitations based on a
TMDL or equivalent analysis that determines such limitations are needed to
protect water quality.
(f) You must
comply with other applicable NPDES permit requirements, standards and
conditions established in the individual or general permit, developed
consistent with the provisions of section s122.41 through 122.49, as
appropriate.
(g) Evaluation and
assessment:
(1) Evaluation. You must evaluate
program compliance, the appropriateness of your identified best management
practices, and progress towards achieving your identified measurable goals.
Note to Paragraph (g) (1): The Department may determine
monitoring requirements for you in accordance with State/Tribal monitoring
plans appropriate to your watershed. Participation in a group monitoring
program is encouraged.
(2)
Recordkeeping. You must keep records required by the NPDES permit for at least
3 years. You must submit your records to the Department only when specifically
asked to do so. You must make your records, including a description of your
storm water management program, available to the public at reasonable times
during regular business hours (see section 122.7 for confidentiality
provision). (You may assess a reasonable charge for copying. You may require a
member of the public to provide advance notice.)
(3) Reporting. Unless you are relying on
another entity to satisfy your NPDES permit obligations under section122.35(a),
you must submit annual reports to the Department for your first permit term.
For subsequent permit terms, you must submit reports in year two and four
unless the Department requires more frequent reports. As of December 21, 2020,
all reports submitted in compliance with this section must be submitted
electronically by the owner, operator, or the duly authorized representative of
the small MS4 to the Department as defined in
40
CFR 127.2(b), in compliance
with this section and 40 CFR Part 3 (including, in all cases, subpart D to Part
3), section 122.22, and 40 CFR Part 127. Part 127 is not intended to undo
existing requirements for electronic reporting. Prior to this date, and
independent of Part 127, the owner, operator, or the duly authorize d
representative of the small MS4 may be required to report electronically if
specified by a particular permit or if required to do so by State law. Your
report must include:
(i) The status of
compliance with permit conditions, an assessment of the appropriateness of your
identified best management practices and progress towards achieving your
identified measurable goals for each of the minimum control measures;
(ii) Results of information collected and
analyzed, including monitoring data, if any, during the reporting
period;
(iii) A summary of the
storm water activities you plan to undertake during the next reporting
cycle;
(iv) A change in any
identified best management practices or measurable goals for any of the minimum
control measures; and
(v) Notice
that you are relying on another governmental entity to satisfy some of your
permit obligations (if applicable).
