AGENDA #3
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Public Hearing on NPDES Phase 2 Permit Application
DATE: January 22, 2003
The attached draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Phase 2 (NPDES-II) permit application is required under the Federal Clean Water Act. The deadline for submittal of the permit application to the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Water Quality, is March 10, 2003.
Tonight’s Public Hearing provides an opportunity for citizens with an interest in this matter to provide comments and questions for consideration by the Town Council prior to taking action on the permit application in February.
The Town of Chapel Hill has been identified in the Federal Register as an urbanized area and an owner/operator of a municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) pursuant to Federal Regulation 40 CFR 122.26(b)(8). Based on this designation, and on North Carolina Administrative Code 15A NCAC 2H .0126 Stormwater Discharges, the Town must submit an NPDES-II permit application to the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Water Quality, by March 10, 2003.
We have been preparing for submittal of the NPDES-II permit application for the past year. We used a standard template purchased from the League of Municipalities to assist us in preparing the application document. However, due to delays by the State in adopting the regulations, and problems with the template, Chapel Hill and most other designated communities were unable to begin significant preparation of the permit application before December 2002. Despite the limited preparation time, we think that the attached draft permit application document responds adequately to the requirements imposed by the NPDES-II regulations.
The regulations allow for flexibility at the local level, where the minimum measures and associated Best Management Practices (BMP’S) can be tailored to the needs and goals of the local community. The attached draft permit application includes basic BMP’s that would allow the Town to address the six minimum measures in an effective and practical way and at a reasonable cost. Many of the policy issues and implementation procedures associated with elements of the NPDES-II permit application will be addressed during the Stormwater Utility development process that the Council has authorized us to begin working on this winter.
The six NPDES-II minimum measures involve program development and associated responses to the following:
Public Education and Outreach: Targets schools, businesses and the community-at-large with information about stormwater management, pollutants, etc.
Public Involvement/Participation: Includes tonight’s Public Hearing as well as continuing involvement opportunities such as committee participation, stream clean-ups, etc.
Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination: Includes mapping the storm sewer system and finding and removing non-stormwater inputs to the system.
Construction Site Stormwater Runoff Control: Includes means and measures to reduce stormwater pollution from construction sites where land is disturbed.
Post-construction Stormwater Management: Includes means and measures to reduce stormwater pollution from developed sites following construction.
Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping: Includes evaluation of existing programs and development/implementation of new operations and maintenance programs intended to prevent and/or reduce pollution from municipal operations, including applicable education of personnel and modification of operational and maintenance activities to reduce pollution.
The practices we propose to address the minimum measure are identified in the permit application, including implementation deadlines and measurable goals. We expect to improve and supplement the practices proposed in this initial permit application as the Town’s Stormwater Management Program is improved with the expected implementation of a local stormwater utility.
CONCLUSION
The attached draft permit application is intended to respond to the NPDES-II regulatory requirements by describing existing conditions in Chapel Hill and outlining proposed responses to the six minimum measures noted above.
Following tonight’s Public Hearing, we will evaluate comments and questions received from the Council and from interested citizens and revise the draft document as appropriate. We will return to the Council at its February 10th regular meeting for approval of a final permit application document to submit to the State before the March 10th deadline.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Draft NPDES-II Permit Application Documents (p. 3).