March 10 is almost here: The permit coverage deadline for small MS4s covered under Phase II of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. You might feel prepared to meet it, or you might be scrambling as the date approaches. Either way, you’ll probably agree that Phase II has brought about monumental changes in the way we perceive nonpoint-source pollution, in the technologies to control it, and in the way we work day to day.
Phase II covers about 4,000 local governments and jurisdictions – the final number is still not certain – and, possibly of more immediate importance for many ESC professionals, it will affect more than a hundred thousand construction sites each year. As EPA notes, runoff from construction sites commonly contains 10-20 times more sediment than that from farmland, and up to 2,000 times that from most forestland. A poorly managed site can do more damage to surface waters in a few months than years – or centuries – of runoff from less-disturbed ground.
And few sites are exempt from Phase II’s reach. Where NPDES Phase I covered construction sites larger than 5 ac., and Phase II automatically covers those disturbing between 1 and 5 ac., thousands of even smaller sites are subject to permit coverage as well. If a less-than-1-ac. site is considered as part of a larger development plan, or if the permitting authority or EPA decides a site of whatever size might be a significant source of pollutants, it falls under Phase II as well. If you work in or around construction, you work with the new rules.
A basic but encouraging comment we’ve heard at Erosion Control again and again as Phase II preparations have been gearing up over the last couple of years is how dramatically the new rules have simply increased awareness of ESC. Both those who applaud the more stringent measures and those who see them mainly as a burdensome and costly addition to the workload have noted the changing climate. One construction company owner in the Midwest commented that because of Phase II, “The whole awareness of erosion control [measures] – putting it in and putting it in properly and maintaining it – has gone up dramatically in the last year. People are taking it a lot more seriously.” A county employee in the West, responsible for setting up a program to ensure construction-site NPDES compliance, notes that whether developers and construction-site contractors decide to adopt more effective ESC practices willingly, or whether the threat of fines and project delays gives them a harsher incentive, their landscape, so to speak, is changing.
New technologies have been developed – and will continue to be – to help Phase II communities meet water-quality goals. Consultants are in fierce demand, helping permittees understand not only the technical, hydrological aspects of what’s required, but also the political niceties of Phase II: how to get stakeholders involved, options available to help pay for new programs, how to avoid lawsuits. Federal policy, local implementation, and our own ways of dealing with both will keep evolving, but on March 10, we reset the meter. In a year, and in five, and in 10, we’ll look at back at this deadline as a tangible marker to gauge what’s changed and how far our knowledge – and the quality of our water – have progressed.
