Environmental
Assessment
for
Proposed
Effluent
Guidelines
and
Standards
for
the
Construction
and
Development
Category
June
2002
Environmental
Assessment
for
Proposed
Effluent
Guidelines
and
Standards
for
the
Construction
and
Development
Category
June
2002
United
States
Environmental
Protection
Agency
Office
of
Water
(4303T)
1200
Pennsylvania
Avenue,
NW
Washington,
DC
20460
www.
epa.
gov/
waterscience/
guide/

[EPA­
821­
R­
02­
009]
Acknowledgments
and
Disclaimer
The
Construction
and
Development
Effluent
Guidelines
proposed
rule
and
support
documents
were
prepared
by
the
C&
D
Project
Team:
Eric
Strassler,
Project
Manager;
Jesse
Pritts,
P.
E.,
Engineer;
George
Denning,
Economist;
Karen
Maher,
Environmental
Assessor;
and
Michael
G.
Lee,
Attorney.
Technical
support
for
this
Environmental
Assessment
was
provided
by
Tetra
Tech,
Inc.

Neither
the
United
States
government
nor
any
of
its
employees,
contractors,
subcontractors
or
other
employees
makes
any
warranty,
expressed
or
implied,
or
assumes
any
legal
liability
or
responsibility
for
any
third
party's
use
of,
or
the
results
of
such
use
of,
any
information,
apparatus,
product
or
process
discussed
in
this
report,
or
represents
that
its
use
by
such
a
third
party
would
not
infringe
on
privately
owned
rights.
Mention
of
trade
names
or
commercial
products
does
not
constitute
endorsement
by
EPA
or
recommendation
for
use.
Environmental
Assessment
of
Construction
and
Development
Proposed
Effluent
Guidelines
June
2002
i
Contents
Section
1
Introduction
and
Background
1.1
Introduction
..........................................................
1­
1
1.2
Organization
of
Environmental
Assessment
.................................
1­
2
1.3
Review
of
Regulatory
History
Related
to
C&
D
Industries
......................
1­
3
1.3.1
Clean
Water
Act
.................................................
1­
3
1.3.1.1
NPDES
Storm
Water
Permit
Program
..........................
1­
3
1.3.2
Other
State
and
Local
Government
Storm
Water
Requirements
............
1­
4
Section
2
Categories
of
Reported
Impacts
and
Pollutants
2.1
Introduction
..........................................................
2­
1
2.2
Pollutants
Associated
with
Construction
and
Land
Development
Storm
Water
Runoff
....................................................
2­
2
2.2.1
Sediment
......................................................
2­
2
2.2.1.1
Sources
of
Sediment
.......................................
2­
2
2.2.1.2
Receiving
Waters
Impacts
...................................
2­
5
2.2.2
Metals
........................................................
2­
7
2.2.2.1
Sources
of
Metal
Runoff
....................................
2­
8
2.2.2.2
Metals
Impacts
on
Receiving
Waters
..........................
2­
10
2.2.3
PAHs,
and
Oil
and
Grease
........................................
2­
11
2.2.3.1
Sources
of
PAHs,
and
Oil
and
Grease
........................
2­
11
2.2.3.2
Receiving
Water
Impacts
...................................
2­
12
2.2.4
Pathogens
....................................................
2­
13
2.2.4.1
Sources
of
Pathogens
......................................
2­
13
2.2.4.2
Receiving
Water
Impacts
..................................
2­
15
2.3
Physical
Impacts
of
Construction
and
Land
Development
Activities
.............
2­
16
2.3.1
Hydrologic
Impacts
.............................................
2­
18
2.3.1.1
Increased
Runoff
Volume
..................................
2­
19
2.3.1.2
Increased
Flood
Peaks
.....................................
2­
22
2.3.1.3
Increased
Frequency
and
Volume
of
Bankfull
Flows
.............
2­
22
2.3.1.4
Changes
in
Baseflow
......................................
2­
22
2.3.2
Impacts
on
Geomorphology/
Sediment
Transport
......................
2­
23
2.3.2.1
Increased
Transport
of
Sediment
.............................
2­
23
2.3.2.2
Decreased
Sediment
Transport
..............................
2­
25
2.3.2.3
Increase
in
Size
of
Channel
.................................
2­
26
2.3.3
Changes
in
Habitat
Structure
......................................
2­
27
2.3.3.1
Embeddedness
...........................................
2­
27
2.3.3.2
Large
Woody
Debris
(LWD)
................................
2­
28
Environmental
Assessment
of
Construction
and
Development
Proposed
Effluent
Guidelines
June
2002
ii
2.3.3.3
Changes
in
Stream
Features
.................................
2­
29
2.3.4
Thermal
Impacts
...............................................
2­
29
2.3.5
Direct
Channel
Impacts
..........................................
2­
30
2.3.5.1
Channel
Straightening
and
Hardening/
Reduction
in
First
Order
Streams
.............................................
2­
30
2.3.5.2
Fish
Blockages
...........................................
2­
30
2.3.6
Site
Differences
in
Physical
Impacts
................................
2­
30
Section
3
Description
of
Assessment
Methodology
3.1
Introduction
..........................................................
3­
1
3.2
Methodology
to
Estimate
Pollutant
Loadings
from
Construction
Runoff
Water
Discharges
......................................................
3­
1
3.3
Characterizing
the
Nation's
Stream
Network
................................
3­
4
3.3.1
Characterizing
the
Stream
Network
within
Developing
Acreage
...........
3­
9
3.3.2
Characterizing
the
Flow
Conditions
in
Stream
Network
.................
3­
12
3.3.3
Converting
Stream
Miles
into
Impact
Estimates
.......................
3­
14
Section
4
Environmental
Benefits
Assessment
of
Evaluated
Regulatory
Options
4.1
Total
Suspended
Solids
Loadings
.........................................
4­
1
4.2
Total
Suspended
Solid
In­
Stream
Concentrations
.............................
4­
3
4.3
Miscellaneous
Impacts
..................................................
4­
4
Section
5
References
.......................................................
5­
1
Appendices
A.
Evaluating
Pollutant
Loadings
from
Construction
Activities
that
Potentially
Impact
the
Environment
......................................................
A­
1
B.
Inventorying
of
Streams
Potentially
Impacted
by
Construction
Activities
..........
B­
1
C.
Impacts
of
Construction
Activity
on
Hydrology
..............................
C­
1
Tables
Table
1­
1.
Regulatory
Options
Evaluated
for
Controlling
Discharges
from
Construction
Activities
...........................................
1­
2
Table
2­
1.
Studies
of
Soil
Erosion
as
TSS
From
Construction
Sites
.................
2­
3
Table
2­
2.
Sources
of
Sediment
in
Urban
Areas
.................................
2­
4
Table
2­
3.
Source
Area
Concentrations
for
TSS
in
Urban
Areas
....................
2­
4
Environmental
Assessment
of
Construction
and
Development
Proposed
Effluent
Guidelines
June
2002
iii
Table
2­
4.
Sediment
Impacts
on
Receiving
Waters
..............................
2­
6
Table
2­
5.
Metal
Sources
and
Hot
Spots
in
Urban
Areas
..........................
2­
9
Table
2­
6.
Metal
Source
Area
Concentrations
in
Urban
Areas
....................
2­
10
Table
2­
7.
Metals
Impacts
on
Receiving
Waters
................................
2­
11
Table
2­
8.
Effects
of
PAHs
and
Oil
and
Grease
on
Receiving
Waters
...............
2­
13
Table
2­
9.
Percentage
Detection
of
Giardia
Cysts
and
Cryptosporidium
Oocysts
in
Subwatersheds
and
Wastewater
Treatment
Plant
Effluent
in
the
New
York
City
Water
Supply
Watersheds
...........................
2­
15
Table
2­
10.
Effects
of
Bacteria
on
Receiving
Waters
.............................
2­
16
Table
2­
11.
Physical
Impacts
on
Streams
......................................
2­
17
Table
2­
12.
Hydrologic
Differences
Between
a
Parking
Lot
and
a
Meadow
...........
2­
20
Table
2­
13.
Comparison
of
Bulk
Density
for
Undisturbed
Soils
and
Common
Urban
Conditions
..............................................
2­
21
Table
3­
1.
Common
Construction
Erosion
and
Sediment
Control
BMPs
.............
3­
2
Table
3­
2.
Site
BMPs
Evaluated
by
EPA
for
Effluent
Guidelines
Development
........
3­
3
Table
3­
3.
Results
of
the
National
Stream
Survey
...............................
3­
6
Table
3­
4.
Land
Development
Annually
in
Ecoregions
.........................
3­
11
Table
3­
5.
Characterization
of
Stream
Orders
for
Ecoregions
.....................
3­
13
Table
3­
6.
Characterization
of
Stream
Length
by
Flow
Type
for
Ecoregions
.........
3­
14
Table
3­
7.
Estimated
Miles
of
Streams
Potentially
Affected
by
One
Year's
Construction
...................................................
3­
16
Table
3­
8.
Active
Construction
Site
Runoff
Scenarios
for
Option
1
and
Option
2
.....
3­
18
Table
3­
9.
Runoff
Coefficients
for
Land
Uses
.................................
3­
18
Table
3­
10.
Runoff
EMCs
for
Acres
Within
a
Watershed
.........................
3­
20
Table
4­
1.
Regulatory
Options
Evaluated
for
Controlling
Discharges
from
Construction
Activities
...........................................
4­
1
Table
4­
2.
Estimated
TSS
Loadings
Reductions
for
Proposed
Regulatory
Options
......
4­
2
Table
4­
3.
Development
Scenarios
Used
to
Estimate
Impacts
of
Regulatory
Options
....
4­
3
Table
4­
4.
Estimated
Average
In­
Stream
TSS
Concentrations
Reduction
.............
4­
4
Figures
Figure
2­
1.
Ultimate
Channel
Enlargement
....................................
2­
18
Figure
2­
2.
Altered
Hydrograph
in
Response
to
Urbanization
.....................
2­
19
Figure
2­
3.
Runoff
Coefficient
Versus
Impervious
Cover
........................
2­
20
Figure
2­
4.
Baseflow
in
Response
to
Urbanization:
Nassau
County,
NY
.............
2­
23
Figure
2­
5.
Increased
Shear
Stress
from
an
Urban
Hydrograph
....................
2­
24
Figure
2­
6.
Sediment
Production
from
Construction
Sites
........................
2­
25
Figure
2­
7.
Drainage
Network
of
Rock
Creek,
Maryland,
Before
and
After
Urbanization.
.............................................
2­
26
Environmental
Assessment
of
Construction
and
Development
Proposed
Effluent
Guidelines
June
2002
iv
Figure
2­
8.
Channel
Enlargement
in
Watts
Branch,
Maryland
.....................
2­
27
Figure
2­
9.
Large
Woody
Debris
as
a
Function
of
Watershed
Imperviousness
........
2­
28
Figure
2­
10.
Stream
Temperature
Increase
in
Response
to
Urbanization
..............
2­
29
Figure
3­
1.
Ecoregions
for
Stream
Inventorying
.................................
3­
5
Figure
3­
2.
Land
Use
Distribution
of
a
Watershed
...............................
3­
15
