Virgin Globe,NPDES SWPPP clean water environment protection,water resources and swpp awarness

The Clean Water Act , amended in 1987, requires that all point sources discharging into waters of the United States to obtain a National Pollutant Elimination Discharge System (NPDES) permit. For this purpose, in 1990 the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a set of regulations for controlling pollutants in discharges of storm water runoff called NPDES Storm Water Program Phase I .

swppp and npdes image 04 In California, for example, the EPA has delegated its authority to issue NPDES permits to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards (RWQCB) .

Phase I of NPDES permit covers all medium and large Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s) cites or jurisdictional entities serving populations over 100,000 in addition to operators of construction activities disturbing more than 5 acres (2 hectares) and 11 categories of industrial activities. Basically, the main requirement of NPDES permit, Phase I for storm water discharges from construction activities is to prepare and implement a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) to identify water pollutants and control water pollution during and after construction of all projects resulting in 5 acres (2 hectares) or more of soil disturbance.

On December 1999, the EPA published the NPDES Storm Water Program Phase II. Although the permit coverage under phase II will not be compulsory till March 2003, the amount of preliminary work to get permit coverage can be extensive and those who will be regulated should begin now the process of determining what they need to do to be in compliance when Phase II starts ruling.

swppp and npdes image 05 The NPDES Storm Water Program Phase II is an extension of Phase I and will regulate small construction activities (soil disturbance between 1 and 5 acres) and small Municipals Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s), i.e. with population less than 100,000.

To be updated in all related storm water and surface water quality issues you can subscribe for free to Storm Water Pollution Prevention Awareness E-zine SWPP Awareness . It is a monthly publication, which include the latest news, articles and cutting edge technologies in storm water field. SWPP Awareness will be issued at the beginning of each month directly to your Email box for free.