Important News

• EPA’s 2015 Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP) expired on June 3, 2020, at 11:59PM and has been administratively continued. The 2015 MSGP remains in force and effect for discharges that were covered prior to permit expiration.
  • For more information for existing and new facilities/operators, see EPA's 2015 MSGP.
     
• EPA issued a No Action Assurance for new facilities that commence discharging stormwater on or after June 4, 2020.
  • No Action Assurance Memorandum
  • For Frequent Questions with Answers, see EPA's 2015 MSGP.
     
• The comment period for the 2020 reissuance of the Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP) closed on June 1, 2020. EPA will consider all submitted comments during the finalization of the new MSGP.
  • For details, see Proposed 2020 MSGP.
     
• National Academies of Sciences (NAS) Study of MSGP Issues Exit
  As part of the Settlement Agreement between EPA, environmental petitioners, and intervenors on the challenge to EPA’s 2015 MSGP, EPA has provided financing for a study on potential permit improvements to be conducted by NAS. NAS has posted an announcement on its website of the study and has solicited comments and any relevant information from the public. 
   
• EPA has improved the security of the NPDES e-Reporting Tool (NeT) to ensure organizations only have access to their permit forms and information. NeT users will now "own" or have access to specific NPDES IDs to prepare or submit: Changes to NOIs, Notices of Terminations (NOTs), or Annual Reports associated with that NPDES ID. 
  • NPDES Security Enhancement: Details for MSGP Certifiers(5 pp, 214 K)
  • NPDES Security Enhancement: Details for MSGP Preparers and Duly Authorized Representative for Certifiers (DARCs)(3 pp, 135 K)

Industrial Overview

Material handling and storage, equipment maintenance and cleaning, and other activities at industrial facilities are often exposed to the weather. Runoff from rainfall or snowmelt that comes in contact with these activities can pick up pollutants, and transport them directly to a nearby river, lake, or coastal water or indirectly via a storm sewer and degrade water quality.

Federal regulations at 40 CFR 122.26(b)(14)(i)-(xi) require stormwater discharges associated with specific categories of industrial activity to be covered under NPDES permits (unless otherwise excluded). One of the categories—construction sites that disturb five acres or more—is generally permitted separately because of the significant differences between those activities and the others. The 11 categories of regulated industrial activities are:

• Category One (i): Facilities subject to federal stormwater effluent discharge standards at 40 CFR Parts 405-471
• Category Two (ii): Heavy manufacturing (e.g., paper mills, chemical plants, petroleum refineries, steel mills and foundries)
• Category Three (iii): Coal and mineral mining and oil and gas exploration and processing
• Category Four (iv): Hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities
• Category Five (v): Landfills, land application sites, and open dumps with industrial wastes
• Category Six (vi): Metal scrapyards, salvage yards, automobile junkyards, and battery reclaimers
• Category Seven (vii): Steam electric power generating plants
• Category Eight (viii): Transportation facilities that have vehicle maintenance, equipment cleaning, or airport deicing operations
• Category Nine (ix): Treatment works treating domestic sewage with a design flow of 1 million gallons a day or more
• Category Ten (x): Construction sites that disturb 5 acres or more (permitted separately)

Category Eleven (xi): Light manufacturing (e.g., food processing, printing and publishing, electronic and other electrical equipment manufacturing, public warehousing and storage)

EPA has authorized many states to administer the NPDES stormwater permitting program. Most industrial facilities will need to obtain NPDES permit coverage through their state. EPA remains the permitting authority in a few states, most territories, and most Indian country. For industrial facilities located in those areas, permit coverage is available under EPA’s 2015 Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP).

• Authorization Status for EPA's Construction and Industrial Stormwater Programs  – Find out if EPA or your state is the permitting authority for industrial activities.

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