EPA Releases Final Rulemaking on Construction Activity Stormwater Management
On December 1, 2009, EPA released their final rulemaking on Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELG) for construction activities to control turbidity. Turbidity is the measure of water clarity, a natural water body’s clarity can be affected by stormwater runoff.
This rulemaking was the result of legal action taken against EPA. Both NAHB and HBAV participated in the rulemaking process, submitting comments at the appropriate time to EPA throughout the last year. This rulemaking is separate from the Chesapeake Bay TMDL, which is scheduled for completion in 2010, and the national stormwater management rulemaking that has just begun and should be completed in November 2012.
The ELG rules apply to construction activity only, and are not meant to be incorporated into post-development runoff calculations. EPA has adopted a schedule of implementation for the new standards that will apply to land disturbances of 20 acres or more after August 2011, and to land disturbances of 10 acres or more after February 2014. However, for states that have authorized permitting programs, like Virginia, the requirements will not be effective until they are incorporated into that state’s General Permit for Construction Activity.
There is an error in the EPA documentation stating that Virginia is in the process of revising their General Permit now. Virginia completed its revision of the General Permit in December 2008. The permit became effective on July 1, 2009 and will not be reauthorized until July 1, 2014. This means that the new EPA standards will not be applicable in Virginia until the middle of 2014.
While the new rule sets a numeric turbidity standard of 280 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTUs), there is no prescribed method of achieving that standard. The picture accompanying this article shows a scale of NTU samples. The approved standard of 280 NTUs is an improvement over the originally suggested standard of 13 NTUs and is higher than the standard already enforced in a handful of states. The rule has prescribed monitoring requirements, and contains standards for the prevention of discharge of cleaning solvents and other construction site waste. A fact sheet from NAHB is available by following this link. Also available is the final rulemaking in the Federal Register.
For more information on the EPA’s rulemaking on ELG’s please contact Barrett Hardiman at bhardiman@hbav.com.
