Last Updated: Friday, 05-Dec-2008 14:02:14 ESTDraft Renewal of NPDES General Permit for Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4)Note: the documents on this page are in PDF format which requires the Adobe Acrobat™ reader. The reader can be downloaded at no cost from Adobe. If you have problems downloading large PDF files click here. December 17, 2007 On December 24, 2007, Ohio EPA is public noticing a draft renewal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit that would authorize storm water discharges from regulated Small MS4s. This permit would cover the entire State of Ohio. An Ohio EPA public hearing to accept comments on the draft general permit has been scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on February 14, 2008, at the Riffe Government Center, 12th Floor Conference Room, 77 South High Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215. The public hearing will end when everyone in attendance has had an opportunity to provide comments related to the draft general permit. In lieu of attending the public hearing, written comments may be submitted in person or by mail no later than February 21, 2008. Deliver or mail all comments to:
The OEPA permit number should appear next to the above address on the envelope and on each page of any submitted comments. See the documents below for more information.
Federal regulations require that construction projects obtain coverage under an NPDES permit whenever the larger common plan of development or sale is one or more acres of land disturbance. As a result, construction site operators must obtain Ohio EPA’s NPDES Construction Storm Water general permit (CGP) applicable for that area which contains sediment and erosion requirements and also post-construction requirements. Likewise, the MS4 program requires MS4s to develop ordinances or other regulatory mechanisms to require similar elements of the CGP at the local level. Currently, there is no hard requirement that these local requirements mirror the CGP because the current MS4 general permits’ requirements are vague and flexible. The draft renewal Small MS4 general permit requires a regulated Small MS4 operator’s construction and post-construction requirements be at least as stringent and not conflict with the NPDES Construction Storm Water general permit (CGP) applicable for their permit area at the time of issuance of this permit. This approach would deter conflicting requirements and allow for a lessened presence of Ohio EPA in regards to the CGP requirements within MS4 jurisdictions. Under this approach, regulated MS4s located within the Big Darby Creek Watershed would need to have their local regulations be at least as stringent and not conflict with Ohio EPA’s alternative NPDES CGP for the Big Darby Creek Watershed. This condition will also be applicable for portions of the Olentangy River Watershed. All other regulated MS4s would be required to have their local regulations be at least as stringent and not conflict with Ohio EPA’s statewide NPDES CGP. This draft renewal permit provides a two year schedule for MS4s renewing coverage to revise programs to satisfy this requirement. Regulated MS4s should review the Statewide CGP (OHC000003), Big Darby Creek Watershed CGP (OHCD00001) and the Draft Olentangy River Watershed CGP (OHCO00001) at the following:
For additional information contact:Jason Fyffe
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