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Public Works-Storm Water Department
Room 127
865-457-6245
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NPDES PHASE II STORM WATER PROGRAM
In 1972, Congress amended the Federal Water Pollution Control Act [commonly referred to as the Clean Water Act (CWA)] to prohibit the discharge of any pollutant to waters of the United States unless the discharge is authorized by a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. The NPDES program is designed to track point sources and require the implementation of the controls necessary to minimize the discharge of pollutants from targeted point sources such as industrial and sewage treatment plants. As pollution control measures for industrial process wastewater and municipal sewage were implemented and refined, it became increasingly evident that more diffuse sources of water pollution were also significant causes of water quality impairment.
Although the NPDES program has been effective at improving water quality for lakes and streams in urban areas, it also became evident that additional measures were needed to target non-point sources such as soil erosion, aerially deposited particles, roadside trash and debris, automotive fluids from leaking vehicles, incomplete combustion products, food processing wastes, and transportation spills of chemicals and other pollutants. In 1987, Congress amended the CWA to require implementation, in two phases, of a comprehensive national program for addressing non-point source discharges (e.g. storm water). The first phase of the program, commonly referred to as “Phase I,” was promulgated on November 16, 1990 (55 CFR 47990). Phase I required NPDES permits for storm water discharge from medium and large municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) generally serving populations of 100,000 or more and several categories of industrial activity, including construction activity that disturbed five or more acres of land. The cities of Knoxville, Chattanooga, Nashville, and Memphis were included in the NPDES program under Phase I.
The second phase (Phase II) of the storm water program required permits for certain small MS4s and construction activity disturbing between 1 or more acres. Specific requirements included cities/towns or counties with a population exceeding 10,000 people and/or areas with population densities exceeding 1,000 people per square mile (referred to as “urbanized areas”). The Phase II Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on December 8, 1999 (64 CFR 68722). Implementation of Phase II resulted in the inclusion of approximately 85 counties and municipalities throughout the state of Tennessee including Anderson County, Oak Ridge, Blount County, Alcoa, and Maryville. Clinton, Oliver Springs, Lake City, and Norris were excluded from the Phase II requirements because they did not meet the population requirement of 10,000 people. On March 10, 2003 Anderson County submitted a Phase II NPDES permit “Notice of Intent” (NOI) to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation-Division of Water Pollution Control (TDEC-WPC). Anderson received Notice of Coverage under the Tennessee NPDES general permit TNS00000 on October 29, 2003.
In accordance with the Phase II compliance timeline, Anderson County has until the end of the first permit term (March 2008) to fully implement its storm water management programs. The storm water management program must include management practices; control techniques and system design and engineering methods needed to reduce the discharge of pollutants, to protect water quality, and to satisfy the appropriate water quality requirements of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1251, et seq.), and the Tennessee Water Quality Control Act of 1977 (T.C.A. 69-3-101, et seq.). | |
Six Minimum Measures
EPA and TDEC-WPC require that the following six minimum measures be included in all storm water programs included in the Phase II program:
1. Public Education and Outreach: An informed and knowledgeable community is crucial to the success of the storm water program since it helps to ensure the following: | ||
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Greater support for the program as the public gains a better
understanding of the reasons why it is necessary and important. Public support
is particularly important when new funding initiatives are instituted or
volunteers are sought to help implement the program. Greater compliance with the program as the public becomes aware of the personal responsibilities expected of them and others in the community, including the individual actions they can take to protect or improve the quality of area waters. Implement a public education program to distribute educational materials to the community, or conduct equivalent outreach activities about the impacts of storm water discharges on local water bodies and the steps that can be taken to reduce storm water pollution. | ||
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2. Public Participation/Involvement: EPA believes that the public can provide valuable input and assistance and recommends that the public be given opportunities to play an active role in both the development and implementation of the program. An active and involved community is crucial to the success of a storm water management program because it allows for:
The type of activities that will be completed for public participation include items such as public meetings, citizen panels, volunteer water quality monitoring, volunteer educators/speakers, storm drain stenciling, community clean-ups, citizen watch groups, and an Adopt-A-Stream Program.
3. Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination: Federal regulations define an illicit discharge as “…any discharge to a municipal separate storm water system that is not composed entirely of storm water…” with some exceptions. These exceptions include discharges from NPDES-permitted industrial sources and discharges from fire-fighting activities. Illicit discharges are considered “illicit” because MS4s are not designed to accept, process, or discharge non-storm water wastes.
Illicit discharges enter the system through either direct connections (e.g. wastewater piping either mistakenly or deliberately connected to the storm drain system) or indirect connections such as infiltration from cracked sanitary systems, spills or discharges to the drainage system.
The EPA final rule requires that the operator of a regulated small MS4 (Anderson County) develop and implement an illicit discharge detection and elimination system. The program must include the following:
A storm sewer map showing the location of all outfalls and the names and location of all waters of the State and/or U.S. that receive discharges from the outfalls;
4. Construction Site Storm Water Runoff Control: This minimum measure requires that Anderson County develop, implement, and enforce a program to reduce pollutants in storm water runoff from construction activities that disturb one acre or more of land. The program must also address development activities that disturb less than one acre if it is part of a larger common plan that will disturb more than one acre (e.g. subdivision, mobile home park, industrial park, etc.). The Storm Water Management and Pollution Control Resolution of Anderson, County was developed to address the specific requirements outlined by TDEC in their NPDES General Permit for Discharges from Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (TNS00000).
5. Control of Post-Construction Runoff: Post-Construction run-off control is similar to construction runoff control. Post-Construction runoff control requirements are also addressed in the Anderson County storm water management and pollution control resolution.
6. Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping for Municipal Operations: This minimum measure requires the County to examine and subsequently alter (as necessary) actions to ensure a reduction in the pollutants that collect on streets, parking lots, and storage and vehicle maintenance areas and/or results from potentially environmentally damaging land development or flood management practices.
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