U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - October 2007

Compliance and Enforcement National Priority

Clean Water Act, Wet Weather, Storm Water

What is the Environmental Problem?

Storm water discharges continues to be a national enforcement and
compliance priority.  Storm water runoff from urban areas, including
discharges from municipal storm sewers, industrial facilities and
construction sites can have significant adverse impacts on water
quality.  These water quality impacts can be defined by two key problems
- storm water quality and storm water quantity.  EPA’s National Water
Quality Inventory: 2000 Report, prepared under Section 305(b) of the
Clean Water Act, states that urban storm water runoff and discharges
from storm sewers are a primary cause of impaired water quality in the
United States.  Runoff from rain and melting snow is responsible for
beach closings, swimming and fishing advisories, and habitat
degradation.

As storm water flows through urbanized areas, or over construction or
industrial sites, it can pick up a variety of pollutants that can harm
the environment and public health, including bacteria, sediment, debris,
pesticides, petroleum products, chemicals, solvents, asphalts and acids.
 Without on-site controls, this storm water generally flows untreated
directly to the nearest waterway.  The large number of municipal
separate storm water sewer systems or Municipal Separate Storm Sewer
Systems (MS4s) (about 8,000), construction sites (over 240,000 new sites
per year), and industrial sites (over 100,000), and the diversity of
these activities, make this a large and complex problem.

Changes in land use associated with development and urban sprawl affect
the volume and rate of storm water discharged to receiving streams.  The
volume and rate of storm water runoff will continue to grow as
development replaces porous surfaces with impervious blacktop, rooftops,
compacted soil, and concrete.  In urban areas, it is not uncommon for
impervious surfaces to account for 45% or more of the land cover.  The
increasing volumes and rates of storm water runoff can affect the
equilibrium that exists in natural, undisturbed waters, resulting in
such impacts as increased stream bank erosion, which in turn causes
increased silt in waterways and habitat destruction.  With land
development and sprawl increasing at a rate faster than population
growth, urbanization’s negative impact on water quality is a
significant problem that may only get worse without more aggressive
controls.

How and Why OECA is Addressing the Problem?

EPA will use compliance assistance, compliance monitoring and
enforcement tools, as appropriate, towards achieving goals and
environmental outcomes of the strategy.  During 2008 - 2010, EPA will
focus on three main areas of the storm water program: 

(1) homebuilding construction; (2) big box store construction; and, (3)
ready mix concrete with crushed stone and sand and gravel operations. 
The size and diversity of these sectors, and the levels of observed
noncompliance, reveal the problem to be national in scope.  As a result,
the Agency can play a unique and significant role in addressing this
problem.  For example, many construction and industrial companies
operate nationwide in multiple states, and EPA has the ability to take
enforcement actions that address these companies on a national basis. 
In addition, EPA is able to provide consistent and widespread compliance
assistance to these sectors.  Finally, EPA is also exploring whether the
following sectors should be considered for additional focus in future
years:  MS4s, Ports, Road Building, and Federal Facility Construction. 

Highlights from the FY 2005-2007 Planning Cycle

From 2000 - 2006, EPA has conducted over 4,500 storm water inspections
and 37 MS4 audits.  Compliance and enforcement activities in the
construction sector have reduced the amount of sediment that would have
been discharged by an estimated 281 million pounds in FY2005 and 195
million pounds in FY2006.  EPA has provided compliance assistance to
state agencies and the regulated community, and has developed several
enforcement and compliance tools to help meet the strategy goals.  For
example, EPA finalized the Storm Water Post-Inspection Implementation
Guide and its associated fact sheet and web site, and a brochure,
“Role of Local Governments in Implementing the NPDES Storm Water
Program for Construction Sites,” which provide information to the
regulated community about the storm water program.  EPA also provided
numerous seminars and workshops to the regulated community and states on
the storm water program to increase awareness, improve understanding,
improve environmental management practices, and reduce pollution.  To
measure reductions in pollutants discharged as a result of enforcement
activities, EPA developed pollutant reduction calculators for 19 of the
29 non-construction industries included in the Multi-Sector General
Permit.   EPA also issued revised guidance for Expedited Settlement
Offers for the construction sector in response to concerns from the
regulated community, and developed a MS4 Audit/Inspection
Train-the-Trainer Workshop to improve and enhance state capability to
conduct audits and inspections of MS4 permittees. 

 Big Box Store:

There is no universal definition of a Big Box Store.  As a result the
Strategy focused on three factors: average square footage of a company's
store (average footprint), the company's total revenues, and the number
of new stores a company projects will be constructed over the next 3
years.  Taken together these factors can be an indicator of a company's
potential impact on the environment.   

 Ready Mix Concrete/Crushed Stone/Sand and Gravel:

The Strategy focuses on a group of sectors composed of three
“sub-groups”: 1) sand and gravel producers (SIC code 144), 2)
crushed stone producers (SIC code 142), and 3) ready-mix concrete
producers (SIC 3273).  These sectors were selected based on EPA
inspections which indicated noncompliance and environmental impacts
associated with each sub-sector to be significant and approximately
equivalent.

Final: Storm Water Summary		October 2007	

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