Fact Sheet - Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality

Department of Environmental Quality To protect, conserve, and enhance the Quality of Wyoming’s environment for the benefit of current and future generations Matt Mead, Governor Todd Parfitt, Director Factsheet State of Wyoming General Permit for the Renewal of Storm Water Discharges from Municipal Separate Storm Sewers (MS4s) (General Permit Number WYR04‐0000) Introduction. The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) is reissuing this general permit to authorize discharges of storm water from regulated municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s). This general permit will replace the current permit which was issued in December 2008 and expired September 30, 2013 (the 2008 permit has been administratively continued until this new permit is issued). Background. In 1972, the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) was amended to provide that the discharge of any pollutants to surface waters of the United States had to be regulated through the issuance of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Under the CWA, the states were given the authority to assume "primacy" for the issuance of such permits. Wyoming obtained primacy in 1974. The Wyoming program is called the Wyoming Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WYPDES). Congress added section 402 (p) to the CWA in 1987 to establish a comprehensive framework, in two phases, for addressing storm water discharges under the NPDES program. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the Phase 1 storm water regulations on November 16, 1990. Phase 1 regulations require large and medium municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s), those that serve populations of 100,000 or more, to obtain coverage under an NPDES storm water permit and implement a storm water management program to control pollutants in storm water discharges. Wyoming does not have any municipalities that can be considered “large” or “medium” MS4s. On December 8, 1999, the EPA published Phase 2 regulations that extended storm water permit requirements to storm water discharges from “regulated” small MS4s (certain MS4s with populations less than 100,000). A discussion of regulated MS4s is presented below in the “Discharges Covered” paragraph. General permit for storm water discharges from Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems
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General Permits. A "tool" which can be used to issue a large number of permits with a relatively small administrative burden is the "general permit.” Under the general permitting approach, a single generic permit is issued to cover a large number of similar facilities within a geographic area. Discharges Covered. Regulated MS4s include any system within an urbanized area as defined by the U.S. Bureau of the Census and any system designated by the WDEQ pursuant to applicable state and federal regulations. Wyoming currently has two urbanized areas as defined by the latest decennial census. These are the densely populated areas around Cheyenne and Casper and include portions of the cities of Casper and Cheyenne, the towns of Mills and Evansville, the counties of Laramie and Natrona, Warren Air Force Base, and non‐standard MS4s within the urbanized area boundaries. No MS4s outside of urbanized areas have been designated as requiring coverage by the WDEQ at this time. Permit Requirements. The permit requires regulated MS4s to develop a storm water management program (SWMP) which, when implemented, will reduce the discharge of pollutants in storm water to the “maximum extent practicable.” The SWMP must address each of the following six “minimum control measures:” public education and outreach, public participation and involvement, illicit discharge detection and elimination, construction site runoff control, post‐construction runoff control, and pollution prevention and good housekeeping for municipal operations. Covered MS4s must fully develop and implement their SWMP within five years of obtaining authorization under the permit. Effluent Limits. The permit does not establish numeric effluent limits. However, the control measures specified in the SWMP shall ensure that storm water discharges from the MS4 do not cause a violation of state water quality standards as defined in Chapter 1 of the Wyoming Water Quality Rules and Regulations. Notable Changes from the Previous Permit • The discussion of an “urbanized area” has been modified. The regulated area is now the maximum extent of the combined U.S. Census Bureau‐defined urbanized areas from the 2000 and 2010 decennial censuses as required under federal regulation (Part 1.2.1). • Previous MS4 general permits allowed for coverage of storm water discharges associated with industrial activity from municipally‐owned industrial operations. Operators could choose whether to seek coverage under the Industrial General Permit (IGP) or under the MS4 permit. The option to cover industrial facilities under the MS4 permit will no longer be available. Only one community took advantage of the provision. Furthermore, tracking covered industrial facilities proved difficult. Storm water discharges from municipally‐owned industrial operations that require permit coverage will now need to be covered under the IGP. • Definitions for Section 303(d) List and Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) were added to the permit (Parts 2.13 and 2.18). • Sections were added to the permit that describe the required WYPDES permit fee. The previous permit was issued prior to a permit fee requirement (primarily Parts 3.1.3 and 4.0). General permit for storm water discharges from Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems
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The minimum Notice of Intent (NOI) requirements are listed in greater detail than in the previous permit. •
Requirements for a summary of the Storm Water Management Program (SWMP) were moved from another part of the permit to the section “Obtaining Authorization to Discharge.” The SWMP summary is part of the application and inclusion in this section is logical (Part 3.0). •
A discussion on renewing permit coverage was added to the section on Obtaining Authorization. This topic was not discussed in earlier permit versions (Part 3.0). •
A new section that addresses WDEQ’s review of new and renewal applications has been added to this permit. This section also describes how WDEQ will make applications and SWMPs available for public review and comment (Part 3.0). •
Another new section has been added that addresses how an application that is found to be ineligible for general permit coverage will be processed as an application for an individual permit. Similar sections are found in all Wyoming general permits (Part 3.0). •
Part 11.0 in the previous permit, Special Conditions, Management Practices, and Other Limitations, was moved to Part 5.0 and renamed “Effluent Limitations.” Wording changes were minor. The move was made to give this section more prominence in the permit and to change the section title to be consistent with similar sections in other general permits. The “effluent limitations” are narrative in nature, not numeric. •
The discussion of “maximum extent practicable” (Part 6.2) has been expanded to note the availability of the Wyoming “Phase 2 Municipal Guidance” document. The guide is to be used to better define maximum extent practicable (MEP). •
Part 6.6, “Discharges to water‐quality impaired waters or waters with an approved TMDL,” expands the discussion of water‐quality impaired waters compared to the previous permit. MS4s will be required to provide specific information on how they will reduce pollutants subject to a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) or that are listed on the State’s 303(d) list. •
Part 6.7 provides for more specific deadlines to implement SWMPs for both renewing and new permittees. A specific timeline is also provided for MS4s to implement SWMP provisions in areas that are newly included in an urbanized area due to changes in the US Census Bureau‐
defined urbanized boundaries. •
Part 8.3 clarifies that permittee records associated with MS4 permit compliance and development and implementation of the SWMP must be made available to the public, either on the permitted entity’s website or at the MS4’s physical location during regular business hours. General permit for storm water discharges from Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems
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The annual report deadline was moved from February 1st to April 1st of each year (Part 8.4). The February 1st deadline proved to be too short for permittees and the Department has been extending the deadline each year since the current permit was issued. •
Appendix A in the previous permit was a table of Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes regulated under the Industrial General Permit (IGP). Because IGP coverage is no longer part of this permit, this table was deleted. Appendix A is now a list of class 1 waters in Wyoming (formerly Appendix B). Appendix B is now a list of Acronyms that appear in this document or that are commonly used in discussions of storm water regulation. Appendix C in the current permit is a list of industries with federal effluent guidelines. The table is no longer relevant to this permit and was deleted in the draft permit. Location of Covered Discharges. The permit covers all areas within the State of Wyoming except areas within the Wind River Indian Reservation where the State does not have jurisdiction. Permit Expiration. The proposed general permit will expire April 30th, 2020. Barb Sahl Water Quality Division Department of Environmental Quality April 10, 2015 c:\bsahl\storm_water\municipal\2014_permit_renewal\draft_ms4_permit_2014\draft_ms4_factsheet_2015.doc