Penn. DEP Issues Revised Municipal Storm Water Permit Improving Local Control, Flexibility

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced this week that PAG-13, a general permit for municipal separate storm sewer systems, will be renewed with revisions that allow local governments to effectively manage storm water runoff, effective March 2013.

"We are delighted that [the U.S.] EPA has finally dropped its longstanding objections to this change, which go back more than two years," DEP Secretary Mike Krancer said.

"Each municipality regulated by the new permit will have the flexibility to develop and implement its own Chesapeake Bay Pollutant Reduction Plan, which can account for local conditions and allow for local decision-making," Krancer said. "Municipalities will also be able to rely on the state's existing robust post-construction storm water control requirements to address their construction- and post-construction-related control measures."

The present PAG-13 was set to expire in June 2012, but DEP provided a nine-month extension in order to allow municipalities time to assess their storm sewer systems and apply for the revised permit while the state's discussions with EPA continued. Municipalities must now apply six months prior to the termination of their present PAG-13 permit, which will expire in March 2013.

As with the previous edition of the general permit, municipalities must develop minimum control measures in six categories: public outreach and education; public participation and involvement; illicit discharge detection and elimination; construction activities greater than one acre; post-construction in new and redeveloped areas; and good housekeeping for municipal operations.

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection