The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking public comment on its
Federal Register proposal to extend by one year the terms of its NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) general permit for stormwater discharges from construction sites - commonly called the 2008 Construction General Permit (CGP). The extension of the 2008 CGP permit is needed, according to EPA, to allow the Agency sufficient time to develop a new CGP that incorporates the Agency's soon-to-be-finalized national stormwater effluent limits (see more information below). EPA also has cited a variety of other "high priority" efforts that are competing for the Agency's attention.
The
2008 CGP regulates the discharge of stormwater from construction sites that disturb one acre or more of land and from smaller sites that are part of a larger, common plan of development. The 2008 CGP applies only where EPA is the permitting authority, which is in five states (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Idaho and Alaska); Washington, D.C.; most territories and most Indian country lands. The permit requires construction site "operators" to comply with stormwater discharge requirements that prevent sediment loss, soil erosion and the discharge of other pollutants at active construction sites. Other states (that are authorized to issue NPDES permits) rely on EPA's CGP as the model for their construction stormwater permits. To access your state's construction stormwater permit and related forms, click
here.
The public has until November 6, 2009, to comment on the EPA's proposal to extend the 2008 CGP's current June 30, 2010, expiration date by one year to June 30, 2011. EPA plans to publish its final decision by the end of November 2009.
Effluent Limitation Guideline
EPA is coordinating its permit with a second effort that is underway to establish national stormwater effluent limits, known as an
effluent limitation guideline (ELG), for the construction and development (C&D) industry. Based on the Agency's proposal, which was made available for public comment earlier this year, the C&D ELG will represent a significant advancement in the control of sediment discharges from construction sites, imposing national requirements on construction activities that disturb one or more acres of land. It may include mandatory best management practices (BMP) or specific design requirements and set sediment or turbidity discharge limits - or some combination/variation of these options.
EPA is under court deadline to issue the final C&D ELG by December 1, 2009. The rule will be posted on EPA's web site at
http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/guide/construction/. In its
comments to the Agency, AGC strongly opposed a numeric discharge limit for stormwater runoff, making the case that it is inappropriate for the construction industry, and the proposed limit would be very expensive to implement. AGC also stressed that any ELG for the construction industry needs to be flexible and based on the "tried and true" BMPs that have already demonstrated their effectiveness in the field.
Upon finalizing a C&D ELG, EPA plans to include its provisions in a new and improved five-year CGP to be reissued no later than July 2011. The new C&D ELG will find its way into all state construction general stormwater permits upon their next reissuance, if not sooner.
Click here to see when your state's permit is scheduled to expire.
Parallel Stormwater Control Efforts
Back in 2008, EPA extended its 2003 CGP for two years and announced its plans to promptly incorporate the terms of its pending ELG in to the CGP. But in an October 19
Federal Register notice, EPA says several other stormwater control efforts have a high priority and will prevent the Agency from developing a new CGP by June 30, 2010, when the current permit will expire.
Other new demands include "expending significant resources in both the short and long term" to respond to a 2008 National Research Council
report that called for "radical changes" to EPA's stormwater control program-- which it says grants "a great deal of discretion to the regulated community to set their own standards and to self-monitor." EPA is also pointing to President Obama's
executive order on restoring the Chesapeake Bay. EPA's strategy for cleaning up the Bay is currently under development -
including a Bay-wide total maximum daily load (TMDL) to set pollution budgets and possible bans on issuing new water discharge permits -- and may serve as a model for other impaired watersheds. Neither effort was known when EPA issued the 2008 CGP and set a 2010 expiration date, the Agency says.
"The current seven-month timeframe to propose and finalize a new permit is impracticable based on EPA's past experience in issuing stormwater general permits, in general, and with the construction general permit specifically," EPA says, adding that completing the tasks required under the executive order "are a high priority for the federal government, and will consume resources that will not be available to issue a new CGP by midnight June 30, 2010."
Don't work in a state where the EPA CGP applies? The Construction Industry Compliance Assistance (
CICA) Center contains links to state permitting information, sample stormwater pollution prevention plans, and much more. AGC worked extensively with the EPA to prepare this online compliance assistance resource tool specific to construction-related environmental requirements.
For more information, contact Leah Pilconis, senior environmental advisor to AGC of America, at pilconisl@agc.org.
