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April 10, 1998

AMSA Submits Comments on Proposed Stormwater Rule

On April 9, AMSA submitted its comments on EPA's January 9, 1998 proposed regulations for revision of the water pollution control program addressing storm water discharges. In the comments, AMSA supports the basic regulatory framework for the Phase II program, which addresses one of the major perceived problems of the current Phase I stormwater program by the inclusion of previously unregulated "donut hole" municipalities within Phase I urbanized areas. AMSA also supports the regulation of Phase II municipalities through the NPDES permitting program. AMSA notes that "EPA's efforts to create a "seamless" and "integrated" stormwater program will undoubtedly be helped through a consistent regulatory mechanism for both Phase I and II."

AMSA's overriding concern with EPA's proposal is the potential imposition of numeric effluent limitations in municipal stormwater permits. It is EPA's continued position that the Agency is not precluded from issuing numeric effluent limitations in municipal stormwater permits. In the proposed rule, EPA continuously cites its August 1996 interim stormwater permitting policy which strongly suggests that narrative effluent limitations requiring the use of BMPs as the most appropriate form of effluent limitations for technology- and water-quality based requirements of the CWA, however, this policy does not preclude numeric effluent limits. While AMSA supports EPA's position in this policy concerning the appropriateness of narrative effluent limitations requiring the use of BMPs, AMSA does not believe that the agency has the authority under CWA Section 402(p)(3)(B) to issue municipal stormwater permits which include numeric effluent limitations. AMSA believes that permit requirements for municipal stormwater discharges are limited by this section to the implementation of controls that reduce the discharge of pollutants to the "maximum extent practicable."

In addition to the issue of numeric effluent limitations, AMSA raised several other concerns with the proposal including:

  1. the need for a permitting option allowing regional authorities to implement stormwater program requirements for their respective service areas similar to the Phase I regulations;
  2. opposition to the indirect regulation of local land use activities by requiring non-structural BMPs to "limit growth to identified areas. . . minimize imperviousness, maintain open space";
  3. support for the concept of evaluating permit compliance based upon the implementation of selected BMPs;
  4. opposition to inclusion of locally selected measurable goals as conditions of the permit;
  5. recommendations that any required loading reductions (from municipal stormwater permittees) resulting from an approved TMDL are translated into BMP requirements, and not into numeric effluent limitations.

EPA indicated that it has received over 100 comments on the proposal thus far. The agency plans to work with its Stormwater Phase II federal advisory committee on incorporating the comments into the final rule, which it plans to issue in March 1999.

Municipal Groups Request Meeting with EPA on SSOs

On April 9, the municipal and operator caucus of EPA's Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) advisory committee transmitted a letter to EPA requesting a meeting with the Assistant Administrators of EPA's Office of Water and Office of Enforcement. The caucus was recently consulted by EPA on a draft sanitary sewer overflow strategy, which was met with strong and universal disapproval. The caucus, which includes representatives from AMSA, the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties, WEF, American Public Works Association, Texas AMSA, and Tri-TAC, expressed its hopes to work out some of the issues with EPA's upper management, prior to EPA's release of the final strategy.


Ø AMSA learned this week that EPA has decided to withdraw its proposed rule for maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standard POTWs under section 112 of the Clean Air Act. In light of recent evidence provided by AMSA, EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning & Standards has said it will resubmit a new rule at a later time. (See AMSA FaxAlert 2-27-98 for more information on AMSA's recent negotiations with EPA on this issue.)