EPA issues new permit for industrial stormwater discharges

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a new Stormwater Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP) for an estimated 4,100 industrial facilities in 29 sectors to implement site-specific stormwater pollution prevention plans to protect water quality. Facilities are required to install control measures that meet established technology- and water quality-based effluent limits and must develop a stormwater pollution prevention plan.

"These new controls will help prevent stormwater pollution, one of the country’s greatest threats to water, and improve reporting and accountability at industrial sites," said Benjamin H. Grumbles, EPA’s assistant administrator for water.

According to EPA, the new permit offers several improvements compared with the previous MSGP, including easier to understand discharge requirements; fast and easy electronic filing of Notices of Intent (NOIs) and monitoring reports; web-based tools for locating waterbodies and determining impairment status; and updated monitoring, inspection, and corrective action schedules.

The MSGP applies to facilities in states and territories not authorized to implement EPA’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program, including Alaska, Idaho, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, parts of Texas and Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the District of Columbia, and the territories of Guam, American Samoa, Johnston Atoll, and Midway and Wake Islands. The MSGP also applies to facilities located in Indian Country lands in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, California, Nevada, Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, as well as to industrial activities taking place on federal facilities in Vermont, Delaware, and Washington.

Under the Clean Water Act, all facilities that discharge pollutants into waters of the United States must obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. The new permit replaces the MSGP issued in 2000.

More information on the MSGP is available online at www.epa.gov/npdes/stormwater/msgp.