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Stormwater Phase II Permit Renewals - Are You Ready? It has been nearly five years since the EPA NPDES Stormwater Phase II regulations went into effect on March 10, 2003. Many states are in the process of reissuing and updating their permits. F. X. Browne, Inc. thought it might be helpful to our readers to provide an overview of some of the renewals happening in different states around the Mid-Atlantic region. Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) intends to administratively extend the expiration date of the current General NPDES General Permit for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Construction (PAG-2) by one year from midnight December 7, 2007 to midnight December 7, 2008. This automatically extends the availability of the permit for new activities and also extends the terms and conditions of the permit for currently authorized activities. PA DEP also intends to administratively extend the expiration of the current NPDES Phase II MS4 general permit (PAG-13) by one year from midnight March 9, 2008 to midnight March 9, 2009. If you are using PAG-13, you do not need to file an application for the extension at this time. It is anticipated that your coverage will be automatically extended. Information about the extended PA NPDES General Permits can be found at http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/watershedmgmt/cwp/view.asp?a=1437&q=517807. New Jersey New Jersey's NPDES Stormwater General Permits were not issued until February 2004. The Municipal Stormwater General Permits and Public Complex Stormwater General Permit were subsequently revised in 2005, the Basic Industrial Stormwater permit was revised in 2007, and the Construction Activity Stormwater permit was revised in 2007. Therefore, none of the New Jersey NPDES stormwater permits are up for renewal. Information about New Jersey's General Permits can be found at http://www.state.nj.us/dep/dwq/gp.htm. New York The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) currently has a public comment period open for their new State Pollution Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) General Permits for Stormwater Discharges, which are due to be issued on January 8, 2008. The new permits include a draft SPDES General Permit for Stormwater Discharges from MS4s and a draft SPDES General Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Construction Activities. The draft permits and a fact sheet for each permit can be downloaded and viewed at http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8694.html (see links on upper right side of page). The fact sheets outline the changes in the new permits. Public comments are due by December 10, 2007 to Teresa Diehsner at txdiehsn@gw.dec.state.ny.us. Maryland The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) issued their NPDES General Permit for Discharges from State and Federal MS4s in 2004, so that permit is not due for renewal until 2009. However, the MDE General Permit for Construction Activity is up for renewal on February 28, 2008. MDE will be announcing the renewal shortly and accepting any comments, although they have not made any changes to the permit. It is anticipated that the renewal will be issued and the permit will be effective March 1, 2008 (as per personal communication with Karen Smith, MDE). http://www.mde.state.md.us/Programs/WaterPrograms/SedimentandStormwater/index.asp Delaware The Delaware Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) is responsible for NPDES permitting. The Surface Water Discharge Section in the Division of Water Resources administers the MS4 and industrial stormwater permits and the Sediment and Stormwater Management Section in the Division of Soil & Water Conservation administers the construction stormwater management permits. The MS4 Individual NPDES permits were made effective in July of 2003, and expire on June 30, 2008. The MS4s are currently in the process of getting their permit renewal packages together for DNREC. Both the stormwater construction and industrial general permits were updated in 2006 and are not up for renewal. http://www.swc.dnrec.delaware.gov/SedimentStormwater.htm
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