Updates on EPA Stormwater Program Jeremy Bauer U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water Washington, DC August 2012 1
OVERVIEW OF STORMWATER IMPACTS 2
Impervious Cover and Stormwater Hydrology Decreased infiltration Altered hydrograph 3
4 Hydrologic Effects
Stormwater Pollutant Loads Sediment Nutrients Spills and Residues Microbes Temperature 5
6 Fishable Swimmable?
7 Additional Effects
8 Well-Documented
9 Regulations
Differences in coverage From State to State Inside versus outside of MS4s 10
Stormwater is a growing water quality concern 11 Urban stormwater identified as source of impairment (2004 WQ Report) 22,559 miles of impaired rivers and streams 701,024 acres of impaired lakes 867 square miles of impaired estuaries ~800,000 acres being developed every year, growing to ~1.2 million acres by 2040 Development increases the amount of impervious cover in the landscape Currently 100 million acres developed; 25% is impervious Discharge from impervious cover is 16x the discharge from undeveloped land Small increase in impervious cover leads to big impacts in receiving waters Watersheds with <1-2% of impervious land area = biological impacts to surface waters Watersheds with >5-15% of impervious land area = surface water declines rapidly to degraded levels, loss of function; Loss in base flow in streams and groundwater recharge 11
12 PARADIGM SHIFT
Smarter Stormwater Management Past approach Convey stormwater quickly from site to MS4 system, detention pond or directly to waterbody. Manage peak flows for flood control, drainage and large scale downstream erosion. New approach Integrate green infrastructure in the design of the project View stormwater as a resource. Slow down the flow, allow to infiltrate. Reduces pollutant loads to waterbodies. Obtain multiple community benefits. 13
STORMWATER RULE UPDATES 14
Key Elements of the Proposed Rule 1. Establish performance standards for discharges from newly developed and redeveloped sites. 2. Require certain regulated MS4s to develop a program to address discharges from existing sites (retrofits). 3. Extend protection of MS4 Program. 15 4. Designating Government-Owned Maintenance Yards as Industrial Sources. 15
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Green Infrastructure Approaches Green infrastructure practices infiltrate, evapotranspire and harvest and use the rain water. o o o o o o o Reduce impervious cover in parking & street designs Bioretention/rain gardens Permeable pavements Green roofs Cisterns & rain barrels Trees & expanded tree boxes Reforestation & restoration Proper operation and maintenance must be ensured. 17 17
Additional Flexibilities Under Consideration for the Performance Standard Alternative state programs Incremental implementation Accommodate site constraints: volume that cannot be retained onsite could be managed through treatment, payment in lieu, or off-site mitigation in the same subwatershed 18 18
Rulemaking Schedule Propose by June 2013 Final Action by December 2014 19
EPA STORMWATER GENERAL PERMIT UPDATES 20
2012 Construction General Permit 21 Implements the 2009 C&D Rule Buffer requirement More frequent inspections and quicker stabilization for impaired waters Special requirements for cationic polymers No numeric limit ID, MA, NH, NM
Multi-sector General Permit Current permit expires September 30 Revision under way Airport de-icing 22
Logging Roads Proposed revisions to clarify that logging roads are not industrial facilities Interagency review EPA continues to study water quality impacts and existing programs 23
GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INITIATIVES 24
Green Infrastructure Initiatives Green Infrastructure Technical Assistance Campus RainWorks Permit and Enforcement Fact Sheets 25
Green Infrastructure Technical $1M to 17 communities Design, modeling, and implementation Assistance 26
Campus RainWorks Registration: September 4 until October 5 Project submittals due December 14 th More information at: http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/greeninfrastru cture/crw_challenge.cfm 27
Permit and Enforcement Fact Sheets Six factsheets and four supplements Integrating green infrastructure approaches into NPDES wet weather programs. CSOs, SSOs, Stormwater, TMDLs, Water Quality Standards 28
INTEGRATED MUNICIPAL STORMWATER AND WASTEWATER PLANNING 29
Integrated Planning Framework Collaborative effort among EPA, states, and municipalities June 5, 2012 memo from EPA HQ to Regions Transmitted framework and overarching principles 30
What is an Integrated Approach? Under an integrated approach, EPA and States would use the flexibility of EPA s existing regulations and policies and encourage municipalities to evaluate how best to meet all of their CWA requirements and within their financial capability to better allow sequencing wastewater and stormwater projects in a way that allows the highest priority environmental projects to come first, and innovative solutions, such as green infrastructure 31
Why an Integrated Approach? Addresses most serious water quality problems sooner More cost-effective, may lower overall cost of compliance Fosters innovative approaches, such as green infrastructure, that are more sustainable 32
Overarching Principles for Integrated Approach Integrated planning will maintain existing regulatory standards that protect public health and water quality Integrated planning will allow a municipality to balance various CWA requirements in a manner that addresses the most pressing public health and environmental protection issues first The responsibility to develop an integrated plan rests with municipalities 33
34 Questions or comments?