For the first time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set a nationwide numeric discharge limit for construction site stormwater runoff and set strict stormwater discharge monitoring requirements for sites that are subject to the numeric limit.

The rule dictates the allowable level of turbidity (i.e., murkiness) of stormwater discharged from a construction site during a storm event, and it also specifies the exact best management practices that contractors must include (at a minimum) in their stormwater pollution prevention plans for all job sites that disturb one or more acres of land. For companies found in noncompliance, EPA enforcement can yield significant penalties (up to $37,500 per day per violation) and onerous decrees requiring implementation of compliance programs that go well beyond the requirements of general permits. The new rule is called Construction and Development Effluent Limitations Guidelines (C&D ELG).

Join AGC for this important webinar as EPA experts explain:

• When the C&D ELG rule will apply to "operators" of construction projects; and
• The new numeric turbidity limit and discharge monitoring requirements;
• The mandatory erosion and sediment controls and pollution prevention measures for all sites required to obtain stormwater permit coverage; and
• The process by which EPA and state water permitting authorities are working to establish the details of how to sample stormwater from construction sites (through their respective NPDES construction general permits) and report on results.
• A proposed first-time nationwide rule planned for November 2012 that would restrict stormwater discharges from newly developed and redeveloped sites.

In addition, AGC's outside legal counsel will discuss why the C&D ELG rule is likely to result in increased exposure of construction stormwater permittees to state and EPA enforcement actions and the Association's response to recent national stormwater initiatives aimed at restricting stormwater runoff from construction sites.

Pricing

Member: $79
Non-member: $119

Speakers

Jesse Pritts, P.E., U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington D.C., served as project manager for the Construction and Development Effluent Limitations Guidelines (C&D ELG) rule and is working on new rules to further strengthen the national stormwater program.

Greg Schaner, Esq., is an attorney advisor in the Water Permits Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington D.C., currently working to incorporate the new C&D ELG requirements into the federal Construction General (Stormwater) Permit.

Jeffrey S. Longsworth, Esq., is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Barnes & Thornburg LLP, and is the administrator of the Environmental Practice Group in that office. He works closely within the federal rulemaking process with the U.S. EPA and many other federal/state regulatory agencies and serves as outside counsel to AGC on many construction stormwater-related environmental matters.