NPDES Permits in New England

Small MS4 General Permit Update
(12/15/09)

2003 Small MS4 General Permit expired May 1, 2008.

A new general permit for which Operators are eligible is not effective as of May 1, 2009. Therefore, operators covered under the 2003 Small MS4 General Permit were required to submit sixth year annual reports (2008-09) by May 1, 2009 pursuant to Parts II.F, III.F, IV.F or V.F of the 2003 Small MS4 General Permit.

Operators covered by the 2003 Small MS4 General Permit will remain covered until EPA authorizes their MS4 discharges under a new general permit or otherwise revokes permit authorization.

The 2003 Small MS4 General Permit remains fully effective and enforceable until the effective date of a new permit.

Operators must continue to comply with the conditions of the expired permit, including implementation of their Storm Water Management Program (SWMP).

EPA intends to issue separate Small MS4 General Permits for the Operators located in the state of New Hampshire and various watersheds in Massachusetts.

The draft 2008 Small MS4 General Permit for New Hampshire permit is currently available. EPA mailed notices of availability of the draft permit to applicable Operators in New Hampshire in late December 2008. EPA held a public hearing for the draft permit on January 28, 2009. A transcript (PDF) (37 pp., 1.29 MB, about PDF) and recording of the hearing in addition to copies of the written comments are now available. The public comment period for the draft permit ended February 20, 2009. Copies of the draft permit and fact sheet are available on EPA's "Draft New Hampshire Small MS4 General Permit" webpage.

For Massachusetts, EPA anticipates that one or more Small MS4 General Permits will be available for public comment between December 2009 and February 2010. It is anticipated that each Small MS4 General Permit in Massachusetts will cover Operators mostly located in a single geographically-based watershed region. A map (PDF) (1 pg, 1MB, about PDF) showing the Massachusetts communities subject to the Small MS4 General Permits and the location of each community in one of the four watershed regions is available on EPA's "Storm Water" webpage. EPA anticipates that the first Draft Small MS4 General Permit in Massachusetts to be available for public comment will cover the North Coastal region, including, but not limited to the watersheds of the Charles River and Neponset River.

The draft 2008 Small MS4 General Permit for New Hampshire covers municipalities considered "traditional municipalities" (i.e., cities and towns) as well as "non-traditional municipalities" (i.e., Federal and state agencies). EPA anticipates that traditional municipalities in Massachusetts will be eligible for coverage under one of the geographically-based general permits. Non-traditional municipalities that operate regulated MS4s throughout multiple locations in Massachusetts could be covered by up to four of the geographically-based general permits dependant upon the extent of their regulated MS4s.

At the time each general permit is made publicly available, a notice of availability of the draft general permit and fact sheet will be published in the Federal Register; posted on EPA's website; and mailed directly to applicable municipalities covered by the 2003 Small MS4 General Permit. Copies of each draft permit and fact sheet (explaining the basis of the permit provisions) will be posted on EPA's website. EPA will solicit comment on each draft permit during a public notice period of at least thirty (30) days.

Anyone who wishes to receive information regarding a draft general permit should send their contact information to Glenda Velez (velez.glenda@epa.gov) with "Draft MS4 Information Request" indicated in the subject line.

After considering public comments, EPA anticipates that the final permits for each geographic watershed should be available later in 2010. The effective date of each final permit should be no sooner than the date the final permit is signed and made publicly available. To obtain coverage, Operators will be required to submit a new Notice of Intent (NOI) for the permit for which they are eligible. EPA anticipates that NOIs will be due ninety (90) days after the effective date of each final permit.

The new MA draft Small MS4 General Permits will include the same six minimum control measures as the 2003 MS4 General Permit in addition to provisions to protect water quality standards are achieved. To improve the effectiveness of stormwater management programs and reduce the adverse effects of stormwater runoff on receiving waters, EPA anticipates the new draft permits will include:

• enhanced illicit discharge detection and elimination (IDDE) requirements to identify, isolate and remove sanitary and other wastes from the stormwater system;
• water quality monitoring of stormwater discharges;
• encouragement of low impact development and green infrastructure techniques; and
• requirements designed to implement approved total maximum daily load (TMDL) waste load allocations (WLAs).

Questions

2003 Small MS4 General Permit Annual Reporting
Jessica Hing (hing.jessica@epa.gov): (617) 918-1560

2008-2009 Small MS4 General Permits
Thelma Murphy (murphy.thelma@epa.gov): (617) 918-1615
Ray Cody (cody.ray@epa.gov): (617) 918-1366

2003 Small MS4 Permit Compliance
Andrew Spejewski (spejewski.andrew@epa.gov): (617) 918-1014