Environmental Protection Agency Announces New Actions to Control Stormwater Pollution in the Charles, Mystic and Neponset River Watersheds

The Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has announced that it will be exercising its residual designation authority under the Clean Water Act to require permits for otherwise unregulated stormwater discharges to control nutrient and bacterial pollution. Commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities with more than one acre of impervious area in the Charles, Mystic, and Neponset watersheds will be required to obtain permits for stormwater discharges. Impervious areas include parking lots, roofs, and other surfaces that make it difficult for rainwater to infiltrate into the soil.

Currently the EPA anticipates one or more general permits specifying what must be done to reduce stormwater pollution, with an option to seek an individual permit. The general permits are currently being drafted and will be released for public comment in the near future. The permits are being written to emphasize proven and easily implemented best practices such as litter removal and lot sweeping, reducing impermeable area, and planting rain gardens and tree cover.

If you’d like to understand the potential implications of a Clean Water Act stormwater permit at your facility or discuss your stormwater management approach in general, please reach out to your GZA contact or Rosalie Starvish.