R 323.2161a Municipal storm water discharge; national permit minimum requirements.

Rule 2161a. (1) The national permit for a regulated MS4 shall require, at a minimum, that the permittee develop, implement, and enforce a storm water management program designed to do both of the following: (a) Reduce the discharge of storm water pollutants to the maximum extent practicable (MEP). (b) Protect water quality and satisfy the appropriate water quality requirements of the federal act. (2) Unless authorized to discharge under an individual national permit applied for under 40 C.F.R. §122.26(d) (2000) or authorized to discharge under another permit that the regional administrator has determined is adequate to meet the requirements of the federal act, a person with a national permit for a regulated MS4 shall comply with the requirements of 40 C.F.R. §122.34 (2000) as specified in R 323.2161a(3) to (12). (3) A storm water management program for a regulated MS4 shall include a plan for implementing, at a minimum, the measures described as follows: (a) A public education program to distribute educational materials to the community or conduct equivalent outreach activities about the impacts of storm water discharges on water bodies and the steps that the public can take to reduce pollutants in storm water runoff. (b) At a minimum, comply with state and local public notice requirements when implementing a public involvement/participation program. (c) A program to detect and eliminate illicit connections and discharges. Under the illicit discharge elimination program, a permittee shall, at a minimum, perform all of the following: (i) Develop, if not already completed, a storm sewer system map, showing the location of all outfalls the permittee owns or operates, or points of discharge into an MS4 owned or operated by another public body, and the names and location of all waters of the state that receive discharges from the permittee's MS4. (ii) Develop and implement a plan to detect and address non-storm water discharges to the municipal separate storm sewer system, including illegal dumping and failing on-site sewage disposal systems as appropriate. (iii) Inform public employees, businesses, and the general public of hazards associated with illegal discharges and improper disposal of waste into the municipal separate storm sewer system. (iv) To the extent allowable under state or local law, effectively prohibit, through ordinance, or other regulatory mechanism, non-storm water discharges into the municipal separate storm sewer system and implement appropriate enforcement procedures and actions. Discharges already authorized under an NPDES permit are excluded from this requirement. Discharges or flows from fire fighting activities are excluded from the effective prohibition against non-storm water and need only be addressed where they are identified as significant sources of pollutants to waters of the state. The following categories of non-storm water discharges or flows need to be prohibited only if identified as significant contributors to violations of state water quality standards: (A) Water line flushing. (B) Landscape irrigation. (C) Diverted stream flows. (D) Rising ground waters. (E) Uncontaminated ground water seepage into storm sewers. (F) Uncontaminated pumped ground water, except for groundwater cleanups. (G) Discharges from potable water sources. (H) Foundation drains. (I) Air conditioning condensation. (J) Irrigation water. (K) Springs. (L) Water from crawl space pumps. (M) Footing drains. (N) Lawn watering. (O) Water from noncommercial car washing. (P) Flows from riparian habitats and wetlands. (Q) Residential swimming pool discharges and dechlorinated swimming pool discharges. (R) Street wash water. (d) A storm water management program for areas of construction activity, which shall include all of the following: (i) A procedure to notify the part 91 permitting entity and the department when soil or sediment are deposited to the regulated MS4 from a construction activity in violation of section 9116 of part 91 of the act or in violation of the effective prohibition on non-storm water discharges into the regulated MS4 separate storm sewer system as required in subdivision (c)(iv) of this subrule. (ii) A procedure to ensure adequate allowance for soil erosion and sedimentation controls on preliminary site plans, as applicable. (iii) A procedure for receipt and consideration of complaints or other information submitted by the public. (e) A program to address post-construction storm water runoff from new development and redevelopment projects that disturb 1 or more acres, including projects less than 1 acre that are part of a larger common plan of development or sale, that discharge into the regulated MS4. The program shall include an ordinance or other regulatory mechanism to address post-construction runoff from new development and redevelopment projects to the extent allowable under state or local law. The ordinance or other regulatory mechanism shall be designed to prevent or minimize water quality impacts, including resource impairment resulting from extreme flow volumes and flow conditions, and shall include all of the following: (i) A requirement for review of post-construction storm water best management practices during initial site plan review, as applicable. (ii) Strategies for implementation of structural or non-structural, or both, best management practices appropriate for the community. (iii) Requirements for adequate long-term operation and maintenance of best management practices. (f) An operation and storm water maintenance program that includes a staff training component and has the ultimate goal of preventing or reducing pollutant runoff from municipal operations, using training materials that are available from EPA, the state, or other organizations. The storm water management program shall include employee training to prevent and reduce storm water pollution from activities such as park and open space maintenance, fleet and building maintenance, new construction and land disturbances, and storm water system maintenance. (4) A city, village, or township shall comply with the terms and conditions of its national MS4 permit in all areas within its political or territorial boundaries for which a permit application is required under R 323.2161(1)(c), (d), (e), or (f). (5) A public body, other than a city, village, or township, that holds a national permit for a municipal separate storm sewer system or systems it owns or operates, shall comply with the terms and conditions of the national permit for the municipal separate storm drain sewer system or systems it owns or operates and for which a national permit application was submitted in accordance with R 323.2161(1)(c), (d), (e), or (f). (6) If an existing qualifying local program requires the permittee to implement 1 or more of the minimum control measures of subrule (3) of this rule, the department may include conditions in the national permit that direct the permittee to follow that qualifying program's requirements rather than the requirements of subrule (3) of this rule. A qualifying local program is a local or state municipal storm water management program that imposes, at a minimum, the relevant requirements of subrule (3) of this rule. (7) To request authorization to discharge in accordance with a general permit for a municipal separate storm sewer system, a public body shall submit to the department, on a form provided by the department, a national permit application which shall include the name of a contact person responsible for implementing or coordinating the storm water management program. (8) A permittee shall comply with any more stringent effluent limitations in the national permit, including permit requirements that modify, or are in addition to, the minimum measures based on a total maximum daily load (TMDL) or equivalent analysis. The department may include more stringent limitations based on a TMDL or equivalent analysis that determines that more stringent limitations are needed to protect water quality. (9) A permittee shall comply with other applicable national permit requirements, standards, and conditions established in the individual or general permit, developed consistent with the provisions of 40 C.F.R.§§122.41 to 122.49 (2000), as appropriate. (10) A permittee shall evaluate compliance with the minimum measures required under subrule (3) of this rule, the appropriateness of the best management practices implemented to comply with the minimum measures, and progress towards achieving the measurable goals reported pursuant to subrule (12)(a)(ii) of this rule. The department may establish monitoring requirements in accordance with state or watershed specific monitoring plans or as needed for a permittee to demonstrate the pollution reduction achieved by implementing best management practices. (11) A permittee shall keep records required by the national permit for not less than 3 years. A permittee shall submit the records to the NPDES authority if specifically asked to do so. The records, including a description of the storm water management program, shall be available to the public at reasonable times during regular business hours unless confidentiality is protected under 40 C.F.R. §122.7 (2000). (12) A permittee shall submit annual reports to the department for the first permit term. For subsequent permit terms, the permittee shall submit reports in years 2 and 4 unless the department or national permit requires more frequent reports. The department may establish a reporting format that shall be followed by the permittee. Unless the department specifies otherwise, the annual reports shall include the following minimum information: (a) The first annual report submitted by a permittee for approval by the department shall consist of a storm water management program plan which includes descriptions of all of the following: (i) The best management practices that will be implemented for each of the storm water minimum measures specified in subrule (3)(a) to (f) of this rule. (ii) Measurable goals for each of the best management practices, including, as appropriate, the years in which the required actions will be undertaken, interim milestones, the frequency of the action, anticipated water quality benefit, and a description of water quality monitoring, if any, during the reporting period. The permittee is not required to meet the measurable goals identified in the first annual report in order to demonstrate compliance with any minimum measure in subrule (2)(c) to (f) of this rule for which the department has not issued a menu of best management practices. If the department does not issue a menu of best management practices, the permittee still shall comply with other requirements of the national permit, including good faith implementation of best management practices designed to comply with the minimum measures. (iii) A summary of the storm water control activities to be undertaken during the next reporting cycle pursuant to the storm water management program plan. (iv) The status of the water quality in the waters of the state within the permittee's political, territorial, property, or right-of-way boundaries. Narrative descriptions and/or numeric descriptions may be submitted. Narrative descriptions may include, but are not limited to, reports of unnatural physical properties such as turbidity, color, oil film, floating solids, foams, settleable solids, suspended solids or deposits, presence or absence of indicator animals, algae or bacteria, presence of trash and floatables, and streambank and streambed conditions. For numeric descriptions, permittees may seek alternatives to instream water chemistry monitoring or may limitchemical monitoring to a small number of parameters. Biological indexes are acceptable numeric descriptions. Permittees may partner to gather information, or may report information collected by other entities including county, state, or federal governments. (v) An identification and prioritization of the stresses on the receiving waters within the permittee's political, territorial, property, or right-of-way boundaries. Stresses are negative impacts on surface water quality, navigation, industrial water supply, public water supply at the point of water intake, fish and other indigenous aquatic life and wildlife, human body contact recreation, and agricultural uses. Stresses include known or suspected pollutant sources that result in water quality status concerns reported under paragraph (iv) of this subdivision. (vi) Notice that the permittee is relying on another owner or operator of a regulated MS4 to satisfy national permit obligations under 1 or both of the following conditions: (A) The permittee lacks power or authority to comply with the national permit obligation. (B) The other regulated MS4 owner or operator is already implementing a program that meets the national permit obligation for the permittee. (vii) Notice provided under paragraph (vi) of this subrule is valid only if the other regulated MS4 owner or operator has national permit authorization to discharge and provides notice under paragraph (viii) of this subdivision for the applicable national permit obligations. (viii) Notice that the permittee will satisfy some of the national permit obligations of another regulated MS4 owner or operator, if applicable. (ix) A city, village, or township permittee shall submit to the department the identification of regulated MS4 owners and operators other than itself within its political or territorial boundaries that have applied for or will apply for national permits, and shall submit descriptions of either the MS4s or the areas within its boundaries for which the other regulated MS4 owners and operators claim authority. (b) All annual reports subsequent to the first annual report shall include all of the following information: (i) The status of compliance with the storm water management program plan and other national permit conditions for which the permittee is responsible, an assessment of the appropriateness of the best management practices identified in the storm water management program plan, and an assessment of progress towards achieving the identified measurable goals for each of the best management practices. (ii) Results of information collected and analyzed, including monitoring data, if any, during the reporting period. (iii) A summary of the storm water activities to be undertaken during the next reporting cycle pursuant to the storm water management program plan. (iv) Notice of a change in any identified best management practices or measurable goals for any of the minimum measures. (v) A description of change in status of any agreement or agreements used by the permittee to rely on another public body to satisfy some of the national permit obligations, if applicable.