Storm Water - Hot Topics: Multi-Sector General Permit

Multi-Sector General Permit 2000 issued October 30, 2000 (expired October 30, 2005, and administratively extended pending issuance of the replacement general permit)- EPA issued this new general permit for storm water discharges associated with industrial activity and it was published in the Federal Register [65 Fed. Reg. No. 210, 64746-64880]. Eligible applicants may use the new Notice of Intent application form. The new permit is easier to understand and one fourth the size of the 1995 permit it replaces and offers coverage for discharges in New Mexico; Indian Country Lands in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Louisiana (there are no Indian Country lands in Arkansas); and for certain oil and gas operations in Oklahoma and Texas.

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EPA, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Urban Water Resources Research Council, several universities and consultants have developed the National Storm Water Database web page which can be found at www.bmpdatabase.org. Their report on this database project can be found at www.epa.gov/earth1r6/6en/sw/asce_bmp_database_2-10-03.pdf

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TNRCC Takes Over MSGP - On Sept. 27th, Texas took over administration of the expiring Multi-sector General Permit (MSGP) for those discharges under the authority of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC). TNRCC issued the replacement permit on August 20, 2001. You can find out more on the TNRCC Industrial Storm Water General Permits web page.

Phone numbers for contacting the TNRCC regarding storm water permits are as follows: Hotline for general information and transition of the MSGP: 512-239-3700 Technical questions only: 512-239-4433

The general storm water web page for TNRCC's storm water program is http://www.tnrcc.state.tx.us/permitting/waterperm/wwperm/tpdestorm.html

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Notice of Intent (NOI):

Contrary to early NOI version instructions, the Latitude and Longitude are required or your NOI will not be administratively complete and permit coverage will not be granted. For help in determining the correct latitude and longitude, you may contact the Tiger Maps web page, or else phone (800)USA-MAPS and ask for special assistance.

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Selection of Best Management Practices:  The Texas Nonpoint SourceBOOK provides some very useful assistance in selecting appropriate Best Management Practices for your SWPPP.  The Best Management Practices section of this web page can be found at <http://WWW.TXNPSBOOK.ORG/BMPs/URBMPS.htm>,

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Monitoring/Sampling Requirements:

If your facility has monitoring requirements, they must be done in accordance with the Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP) issuance date (October 30, 2000) and not the date when you applied for permit coverage. To assist you with completing your monitoring requirements we suggest that you download a copy of EPA's Storm Water Sampling Guidance.  You will need to report the information on Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs). 

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Solid Waste Management Unit (SWMU):

Any discernible waste management unit from which hazardous constituents may migrate, irrespective of whether the unit was intended for management of solid or hazardous wastes.  The types of units considered SWMUs are landfills, surface impoundments, waste piles, land treatment units, incinerators, injection wells, tanks, container storage areas. waste water treatement system, and transfer stations.  In addition, areas associated with production processes at facilities that have become contaminted as a result of routine, systematic, and deliberate releases of wastes (which may include abandoned or discarded product), or hazardous constituents from wastes, are considered SWMUs. 

SWMUs usually meet the definition of industrial activity in 40 CFR 122.26(b)(14)(iv-v), thereby requiring an NPDES storm water permit. A SWMU might not be an industrial activity if it contains no waste materials received from other industrial activities defined in 40 CFR 122.26(b)(14), and the SWMU is not subject to Subtitle C or D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Additionally, SWMUs that only contain radioactive wastes regulated under the Atomic Energy Act (42 USC 201 et seq.), and no other pollutants, may be exempt because the definition of "pollutant" (40 CFR 122.2) excludes certain radioactive wastes.  SWMUs that contain radioactive wastes are regulated by the Department of Energy.

Radioactive waste SWMUs frequently contain other pollutants from industrial activities, thereby subjecting them to the NPDES permitting program.  Such facilities are regulated both by EPA and the Department of Energy. 

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ENDANGERED SPECIES:  EPA's Office of Wastewater Management maintains an Endangered Species Web page at:  http://www.epa.gov/owm/esalst2.htm

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EPA's Office of Water maintains a Marina web page at http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/NPS/marinas/.   This we page addresses NPDES compliance and other Federal Environmental laws effecting Marinas.