Opinion ID: 216847
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Phase I Stormwater Regulations

Text: In 1990, EPA promulgated Phase I regulations for the storm water discharges specified in § 402(p). 55 Fed.Reg. 47990 (Nov. 16, 1990); 40 C.F.R. § 122.26. For discharges associated with industrial activity, which require NPDES permits, EPA's regulations provide: Storm water discharge associated with industrial activity means the discharge from any conveyance that is used for collecting and conveying storm water and that is directly related to manufacturing, processing or raw materials storage areas at an industrial plant. The term does not include discharges from facilities or activities excluded from the NPDES program under this part 122. 40 C.F.R. § 122.26(b)(14). The last sentence of this regulation refers to the Silvicultural Rule, thereby purporting to exempt from the definition of discharges associated with industrial activity any activity that is defined as a nonpoint source in the Silvicultural Rule. See id. The preamble to the Phase I regulations makes clear EPA's intent to exempt nonpoint sources as defined in the Silvicultural Rule from the permitting program mandated by § 402(p). The preamble provides: The definition of discharge associated with industrial activity does not include activities or facilities that are currently exempt from permitting under NPDES. EPA does not intend to change the scope of 40 CFR 122.27 in this rulemaking. Accordingly, the definition of storm water discharge associated with industrial activity does not include sources . . . which are excluded under 40 CFR 122.27. 55 Fed.Reg. 47990, 48011 (Nov. 16, 1990). In the 1987 amendments, Congress exempted many stormwater discharges from the NPDES permitting process. However, Congress made clear in § 402(p) that it did not exempt discharges associated with industrial activity. 33 U.S.C. § 1342(p)(2)(B). Indeed, Congress specifically mandated that EPA establish a permitting process for such discharges. See 33 U.S.C. § 1342(p)(4)(A) ([T]he Administrator shall establish regulations setting forth the permit application requirements for stormwater discharges described in paragraphs (2)(B) [discharge[s] associated with industrial activity] and (2)(C). (emphasis added)). In NRDC v. EPA, 966 F.2d 1292 (9th Cir.1992), we struck down a part of EPA's Phase I regulations exempting point source discharges from construction sites of less than five acres. We wrote, [I]f construction activity is industrial in nature, and EPA concedes that it is, EPA is not free to create exemptions from permitting requirements for such activity. Id. at 1306. Similarly, if silvicultural activity is industrial in nature, § 402(p) requires that discharges from such activity obtain NPDES permits. Industries covered by the Phase I associated with industrial activity regulation are defined in accordance with Standard Industrial Classifications (SIC). The applicable (and unchallenged) regulation provides that facilities classified as SIC 24 are among those considered to be engaging in `industrial activity.' 40 C.F.R. § 122.26(b)(14)(ii). It is undisputed that logging, which is covered under SIC 2411 (part of SIC 24), is an industrial activity. SIC 2411 defines logging as [e]stablishments primarily engaged in cutting timber and in producing . . . primary forest or wood raw materials . . . in the field. The regulation further defines the term stormwater discharge associated with industrial activity as follows: For the categories of industries identified in this section, the term includes, but is not limited to, storm water discharges from industrial plant yards; immediate access roads and rail lines used or traveled by carriers of raw materials, manufactured products, waste material, or by-products used or created by the facility; material handling sites;. . . . 40 C.F.R. § 122.26(b)(14)(ii) (emphasis added). The Timber Defendants contend that logging roads are not immediate access roads because they are not confined to the immediate area of the site where the logging takes place. We disagree. The Timber Defendants misunderstand the meaning of the term immediate as it is used in the regulations. The preamble to the Phase I regulations provides that immediate access roads means roads which are exclusively or primarily dedicated for use by the industrial facility. 55 Fed. Reg. 47990, 48009 (Nov. 16, 1990). The Timber Defendants also contend that logging roads are not primarily dedicated for use by the logging companies. Again, we disagree. We recognize that logging roads are often used for recreation, but that is not their primary use. Logging companies build and maintain the roads and their drainage systems pursuant to contracts with the State. Logging is also the roads' sine qua non: If there were no logging, there would be no logging roads. Finally, the Timber Defendants contend that, even if the logging industry is classified by the Phase I rule and SIC 2411 as industrial, the logging sites are not industrial facilities because they are not typical industrial plants. Therefore, according to the Timber Defendants, any roads serving logging sites cannot be the immediate access roads covered by this rule. We continue to disagree. The definition of a facility engaging in industrial activity is very broad. The applicable Phase I rule provides that many industrial facilities beyond traditional industrial plants are considered to be engaging in `industrial activity,' including mines, landfills, junkyards, and construction sites. 40 C.F.R. § 122.26(b)(14)(iii), (v), (x). EPA's comments to the Phase I rules explain the breadth of the definition: In describing the scope of the term associated with industrial activity, several members of Congress explained in the legislative history that the term applied if a discharge was directly related to manufacturing, processing or raw materials storage areas at an industrial plant. 55 Fed.Reg. at 48007. However, EPA stated that it was not limiting the coverage of the rule to discharges referenced in this legislative history. It explained: Today's rule clarifies the regulatory definition of associated with industrial activity by adopting the language used in the legislative history and supplementing it with a description of various types of areas that are directly related to an industrial process ( e.g., industrial plant yards, immediate access roads and rail lines, drainage ponds, material handling sites, sites used for the application or disposal of process waters, sites used for the storage and maintenance of material handling equipment, and known sites that are presently or have been in the past used for residual treatment, storage or disposal). Id. We therefore hold that the 1987 amendments to the CWA do not exempt from the NPDES permitting process stormwater runoff from logging roads that is collected in a system of ditches, culverts, and channels, and is then discharged into streams and rivers. This collected runoff constitutes a point source discharge of stormwater associated with industrial activity under the terms of § 502(14) and § 402(p). Such a discharge requires an NPDES permit. As we explained in NRDC v. EPA, 966 F.2d at 1306, if[logging] activity is industrial in nature, and EPA concedes that it is [ see SIC 2411], EPA is not free to create exemptions from permitting requirements for such activity. The reference to the Silvicultural Rule in 40 C.F.R. § 122.26(b)(14) does not, indeed cannot, exempt such discharges from EPA's Phase I regulations requiring permits for discharges associated with industrial activity.