April 16, 2004

MEMORANDUM Subje c t : I mple me nting the Partia l Re mand of the Stor mwa t e r Pha s e I IRe g u la tions Re g ar d ing Notic e s of In te nt & NPDES Ge ne r a l Pe r mitting f o r

Pha s e I IMS4s F r om: J ames A. Hanlon /s/ Di rect or, Offi ce of W a st ewat er Manag e m e nt To: W ater Manag e ment Divisi on Directors, Reg i ons I- X The purpose of this memorandum is to pr ovide g u idance on implementing a partial remand of the Stormwater Phase I Ireg u lations. Th e U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently denied EPA’s petition for rehearing in the Phase I Ilitig ation. Environmental Defense Center, et al. v. EPA , No. 70014 & consolidated cases (9 thCir., Sept. 15, 2003)

. The Department of J u stice has informed us that further review by the U.S. Suprem e Court is not available. This memorandum provides interim g u idance to EPA and State NPDES permitting authorities pending a rulemaking to conform the Phase I Irule to the court' s order. The Relevant Provisions of the Rules Thi s case chal l e ng ed t h e NP DES st orm w at er reg u l a t i ons i ssued pursuant t o C l ean W a t e r Act (“CW A”) section 402(p)(6). That secti on directs EPA to “establish a comprehensive pr og r am to r e g u la te ” stor mwa t e r discharg es desig n ated by EPA. W e commonly describe these r e g u la tions a s stor mwa t e r “ P ha se I I

. ” The r e g u la tions r e quir e NPDES pe r mits f o r

disc har g e s f r o m c e rta in munic i pa l se par a te stor m se we r sy ste m s ( “ MS4s” ) f o r

whic h NPDES pe r mits we r e not required under CW A section 402(p )(2) and the Phase 1 reg u lations. The Phase I Ireg u lations require that MS4s reduce the discharg e of pollutants “to the m a x i m u m ex t e ntpract i cabl e” (or “t he MEP st anda rd”). The reg u lations also require the MS4s to develop, implement and enforce a stormwater manag e ment prog ram c ontaining , among other thing s , best manag e ment pract i ces (“BMP s ”) i d ent i f i e d by the discharg er. The reg u lations a

u thor ize the use of “ g e n e r a l pe r mits” and r e quir e tha tthe s e B M Ps ( a s we ll a s me a s ur a b le g o a l s a ssoc i a t e d with the s e B M Ps) be ide n tif ie d in the Notic e of In te nt ( “ NOI ” ) f ile d by the MS4 in seeking authoriz ation under a g e ne ral permit. Relying on the “tra ditional” g e nera l permit model, the Ag ency did not require NOI s to be subject to public hearing s .The Ninth Circuit’s Decision The Ninth Circuit held that these NOIrequi rements violated various provisions of CW A section 402. They concluded that “the EPA’s failure to require review of NOI s, which are the functional equivale nts of permits under the Phase I IGene ral Permit option, and its failure to make NOI s available to the public or subject to public hearing s contravene the ex press requirements of the Clean W a ter Act.” The re mand raises important que stions r e g ar d ing the procedures that would be a ppropriate for authoriz ation of Phase I IMS4 discharg es other than thr oug h anindividua l pe r mit. Indenyi ng EP A’s m ot i on for reheari ngt h e court“vacat ed” t h e port i ons of t h e P h ase I I r u le tha ta ddr e ss the pr oc e dur a l issue s r e la ting to the g e ne r a l pe r mitting option f or

Pha s e I I MS4s. The r e f or e , the Ag e nc y ne e d s to take a f f i r

m a tive a c tion to c l ar if y

the g e ne r a l pe r mitting option for Phase I IMS4s. Inany such action, we believe it is imperativ e that implementation of the MEP standar d r e ma in an“ ite r a tive ” pr oc e ss tha toptimize s the r e duc tion of stor mwa t e r pollutants, r a the r thana static pollution reduc tion requirement. In looking at options for implementing the court’s decision, we want to continue to pr ovide Sta t e s with ma x imum f l e x ibility

. Some Sta t e Pha s e I IMS4 pe r mitting pr oc e dur e s a l r e a dy a

ppe ar to me e tthe c ourt’ s inte nt and will not ne e d c hang e s. Howe ve r , the g e ne r a l pe r mits and pr oc e dur e s of othe r Sta t e s , a l ong with the pr ovisions de ve lope d by EPA in Sta t e s where EPA has prog ram implement ation responsibilities, will need to chang e . To assist MS4 pe r mitting a u thor itie s in moving f or

w ar d with imple me nting pr og r am r e visions whe r e ne e de d, EPA provides the following recommendations to address the court' s decision. Guidanc e f or

I ssuanc e of Ne w Ge ne r a l Pe r mits 1. Public ava ila bility of NOI s The P h ase I Irul e s al ready requi re t h at P h ase I IMS 4 permittees make the records of their stormw ater manag e ment plan s publicly available at reasonable times during reg u lar bus iness hours. 40 C.F

. R. 122.34(g )(2 ). NOI s (which essentially summariz e stormwater manag e ment plans) should also be made publicly available. Permitting authorities can ensure the public availability of Phase I IMS4 NOI s by providing notice on the web of the facilities applyi ng fo r coverag e under a g e neral per mit with either an electronic posting of the NOI s or information on how NOI s can be accessed. NOI s could also be public noticed in a newspaper, or by another effective manner. Unless a permitting authority has already othe rwise incorporated public notice procedures into its pr oc e sse s f or

issuanc e of Pha s e I IMS4 g e ne r a l pe r mits, NPDES a g e nc i e s tha thave not y e t issued final permits should include permit lang uag e ex plai ning that (and how) NOI s will be made available to the public with sufficient time to allow for meaning f ul public comment. EPA recommends that permitting authoritie s make the NOI s available to th e public at least thirty day s before authoriz ation to discharg e.

22. Opportunity for public hearing The court’s decision require s that the public be g i ven an opportunity to request a public hearing

. I f the Phase I IMS4 g e neral permittee provides public notice for the NOI , the permitting authority will s till need to provide the public an opportunity to r e que st a he ar ing

. EPA r e c o mme nds tha tpe r mitting a u thor itie s inc l ude pe r mit lang ua g e ex plaining the process for requesting a public hearing on an NOI , the standard by which such requests will be judg ed, the procedures for c onducting public hearing reque sts that are g r anted, and the pr oc e dur e s f or

pe r mitting a u thor ity c onside r a tion of the inf or

m a tion submitte d a tthe he ar ing in de te r mining whe t he r to g r an t a u thor iza tion to disc har g e to the submitte r of the NOI

. I f a public hearing is requested, th e permitting authority should consider both whether to g r ant a hearing and the rang e of options for the conduct of the hearing , including , for ex ample, a sing le public he ar ing f or

c onside r a tion of multiple Pha s e I IMS4 pe r mitte e NOI s. 3. Pe r mitting Author ity r e vie w s of NOI s The permitting authority will need to conduct an a ppr opr ia te r e vie wof Pha s e I IMS4s’ NOI s to e n sur e c onsiste nc y with the pe r mit. Ge ne r a l permits should, to the ex tent practicable, specify inobjective terms what is ex pected of a Phase I I MS4 in order to meet the MEP standard. Due to the ite r a tive na tur e of the MEP standard, we do not be lie ve of f i c i a l “ a ppr ova l” of NOI s is ne c e ssar y , but the g e ne r a l pe r mits will ne e d to spe c i f y whe na u thor iza tion oc c ur s , suc ha s a f te r notic e f r o m the pe r mitting a u thor ity tha tr e vie wis complete, or after a specified waiting period. EP A notes that this process does not preclude the pe r mitting a u thor ity f

r o m de nying anMS4 a u thor iza tion to disc har g e . Eithe r of the s e timing options should provide the permitting authority w ith sufficient time to review NOI s, to ensure that NOI s have been publicly available, and that there has been an opportunity to request a public hearing to provide input. Guidanc e f or

Ge ne r a l Pe r mits Alr e a dy I ssue d f

or

MS4s Permitting authorities that already have issued g e neral per mits should determine the most e f

f e c tive way to pr ovide public notic e and r e vie wof MS4 NOI s. Unle ss a pe r mitting a u thor ity has al ready ot herwi s e i n corporat ed such procedur es i nt o i t s processes for i ssuance of P h ase I I MS4 g e neral permits, NPDES ag encies th at have issued final permits should:

• L ist on the Sta t e or EPA Re g i on’ s we b site those MS4 pe r mitte e s who have submitte d NOI s and how NOI s can be reviewed by the public. In clude information on how comments can be submitted and a hearing canbe requested. I f a public hearing is requested, the permitting author ity should consider both whether to g r ant a hearing and the rang e of options for the conduct of the h earing , including , for ex ample, a sing le public he ar ing f or

c onside r a tion of multiple Pha s e I IMS4 pe r mitte e NOI s.

• C onduct an appropriate reviewof submitted NOI s (to dete rmine compliance with the pe r mit) and c onta c tthe MS4 whe n c hang e s a ppe ar to be ne e de d. MS4s continue to have an oblig ation to apply for permit coverag e , whether under an individua l NPDES pe r mit or anNPDES g e ne r a l pe r mit. We do not be lie ve tha tthe c ourt r u ling

3c r e a t e s le g a l vulne r a bility f

or

viola tions of the CWA f or

Pha s e I IMS4 pe r mitte e s tha thave f ile d time ly a

pplic a tions, whe t he r or not a u thor iza tion ha s be e ng r an te d. The Pha s e I Ir e g u la tions e s ta blish a pplic a tion de a d line s , not a u thor iza tion de a d line s . Eve nwhe nPha s e I IMS4 pe r mitte e s ar e a u thor ize d, the r e g u la tions do not r e quir e imme dia t e c o mplianc e with the MEP standar d, i.e ., de ve lopme n t and f u ll imple me ntation of the Phase I IMS4 stormw ater manag e ment prog ram. In stead, the permitting authority specifies the app licable time period, which may b e be as long as f i ve y e ar s a f te r pe r mit issuanc e . W e request that y ou communicate this g u idan ce to States within y our Reg i on which are a

u thor ize d to a dministe r the NPDES pr og r am. I f y ou have questions or concerns, please contact L i nda B oornaz i an at (202) 564- 0221 or W e ndy B e ll at (202) 564-0746.

cc: B e n Grumbles, OW NPDES B r anch Chiefs, EPA Reg i ons I- X Susan L e pow, OGC Mar k

Pollins, ORE Robbi Savag e , ASI W PCA

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