General Stormwater Permitting: State-by-State and Federal Initiatives

The EPA issued a revised multi-sector general industrial stormwater permit last year, along with numerous online resources.  However, across the US there is still significant variability in the requirements of general stormwater industrial permits, both among the states, and between the states and the EPA.  As part of the technical session, I will provide a handout which summarizes the requirements of each state's permit as compared to the federal permit
(including analytical and visual sampling requirements, stormwater pollution prevention plan requirements, reporting requirements, and inspection requirements).  Trends in state permits will be discussed in comparison to the federal permit. 

Additionally, there are several stormwater initiatives at the federal level which have either been recently promulgated or are in the process of being developed.  A new construction general stormwater permit with numerical effluent limitations was recently issued, and the EPA has embarked on a process to broaden the scope of permit requirements for municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) and possibly establish specific requirements to control stormwater from new development and redevelopment.  These new initiatives will be summarized and discussed.