NPDES Permit for Stormwater Management in the Charles River watershed
Posted by John McAllister on Tue, Jul 26, 2011 @ 02:54 PM
On April 20, 2010 EPA released for public comment a residual designation program under the NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) for three towns within the Charles River watershed: Milford, Bellingham and Franklin. The program aims at controlling water pollution in the Charles River by preventing point sources from discharging pollutants into water. In fact, in spite of many attempts to reduce bacterial contamination in the Charles- like the Clean Charles initiative in 1995 launched by EPA – the River is still impaired by discharges of polluted stormwater and particularly, discharge of phosphorus. The most significant consequence is the development of blooms of toxic algae and plants. Thus, the designation strives to reduce the excessive phosphorus levels in stormwater in the Charles River watershed. The overall goal of the program is to reduce the phosphorus load into the Charles River Watershed by 65%.
In order to do that, EPA will issue permits to the facilities which discharge stormwater from two or more acres of impervious surfaces. Impervious surfaces include buildings, parking areas, and driveways. A property with over two acres of impervious area will be categorized as a “Designated Discharge” (DD) under the program. Theses permits – issued under the NPDES program - will impose different stormwater control requirements and restrictions in the form of Best Management Practices.
There are 12 baseline performance standards that must be addressed for each permittee. Tasks required include the development of a stormwater management plan, and minimizing risks of stormwater pollutants by snow removal and deicing activities, stormwater discharge contamination, exposed soil areas.
The EPA may issue a final permit by the fall of 2011. For more information or to see how the proposed regulations may affect you or your property, please contact John McAllister at (508) 747 – 7900 x 117 or jmcallister@norfolk.com.