EPA recently finalized its new stormwater rules that will impact nearly every construction and development project in the United States. The so-called Construction and Development Effluent Limitations Guidelines (C&D ELG) rule for the first time imposes an enforceable numeric limit on stormwater discharges from sites disturbing 10 acres or more at one time, requires monitoring to ensure compliance with the numeric limit, and requires nearly all construction sites to implement a range of prescriptive erosion and sediment controls and pollution prevention measures. Both the homebuilding industry and the U.S. Small Business Administration have taken legal action to challenge EPA's C&D ELG rule and, in particular, its numeric turbidity standard that dictates how murky stormwater can be when it runs off regulated construction sites.
The new C&D ELG requirements, published in the Federal Register on December 1, 2009, will directly apply to a construction site "operator" when they are incorporated into an individual or general NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) stormwater permit that applies to his/her project(s). Construction stormwater permits are good for five years. States are required by EPA to incorporate the new ELG requirements into their permits upon next reissuance. For detailed information on the ELG rule and a list of state permit expiration dates, click here for an AGC article.
Click here to find out more about the challenges brought against EPA's national stormwater rules.
For more information, please contact Leah Pilconis at (703) 837-5332 or pilconisl@agc.org.
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