Phase I Storm Water Regulations
In 1972 the Clean Water Act was established to help the degrading quality of our lakes, streams and rivers. This act made the discharge of pollution illegal, encouraged the use of best achievable pollution control technology and provided billions of dollars for construction of sewage treatment plants. In 1987 the act was amended to strengthen controls on toxic pollutants and allowed states to assume responsibility for federal programs. With this amendment the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established Phase I of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Phase I regulated all the “medium” and “large” municipal separate storm sewer systems (Ms4s) that were serving over 100,000 people. Construction activity that disturbs 5 or more acres of land is also regulated under Phase I.
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Phase II Storm Water Regulations
In 1999 the EPA established the Phase II regulations to reduce the impact of pollution that was being created with the increase of development. The NPDES Phase II requires permit coverage for storm water discharges from small Ms4s in urbanized areas and construction activity that disturbing between 1 and 5 acres of land. The Environmental Protection Agency defines Urbanized Areas as “ a land area comprising one or more places – central place(s) – and the adjacent densely settled surrounding area – urban fringe – that together have a residential population of at least 50,000 and an overall population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile”. There are six minimum control measures required by Phase II.
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What is an Ms4?
An Ms4 is a drainage system including roads, catch basins, curbs, gutters, parking lots, ditches, conduits, pumping devices, or man-made channels that is designated or used for collecting storm water.
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What is Storm Water?
Storm water is the result of rainfall or snowmelt that flows over our lawns, streets, parking lots and buildings. This water then runs into our storm drains and ditches (Ms4s) and directly into our lakes, streams, and rivers, carrying all the pollutants it picks up along the way.
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Why is Storm Water Important?
As storm water flows over lawns, driveways, parking lots and construction sites it is picking up pollutants such as: fertilizers, oil, yard waste, litter, animal waste, and anything else along the way. The storm drain system then transports these pollutants into the nearest lake, stream or river. Everything that goes into the storm drains are ending up in the lakes. These pollutants are causing algae blooms, increased temperature and contributing to the degradation of our lakes, streams and rivers.
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