On August 1, 2015, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) issued a new comprehensive Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit to New York City. This permit includes new requirements, which significantly expand the city’s obligation to reduce pollutants discharging to the MS4 system.
The permit requires NYC to develop a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP), inform the public about water quality issues, update maps of the system, eliminate illegal discharges, control runoff during and after construction, identify sources of pollution, and control discharges from the MS4 system. The NYC MS4 system is located in the majority of Staten Island; the northeast, east, and south portions of Queens; the south portion of Brooklyn; around Newtown Creek in Brooklyn and Queens; and scattered portions of the Bronx.
How Is NYC Working to Comply with the Permit?
To meet their permit requirements, the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) began a three-year process of preparing the SWPPP for submission to DEC by August 2018. The DEP process includes a Stormwater Advisory Group that is working with the city in preparing the SWPPP and a Developers/Technical Experts Stakeholders Group reviewing the lot size requiring permits from DEP for construction and post-construction stormwater control.
Robert A. LoPinto, P.E., a Senior Project Manager at Walden, is a member of the Developers/Technical Experts Stakeholders Group. This group met on December 2 and reviewed the work DEP and other city agencies have produced regarding permits for construction and post-construction stormwater control.
The group is assisting the DEP in determining the size of development in a MS4 system area that will require a permit and compliance with control requirements. The lot sizes being considered are considerably less than one acre (less than 43,560 square feet), the current threshold for stormwater permits. Group members are currently responding to a cost analysis survey and will be meeting again in February 2017.
Eventually, the DEP will need to issue rules/regulations implementing the permit requirements, which will affect development in the MS4 areas of the city. This information will also need to be incorporated in the city’s SWPPP.
Stay tuned for further developments.
Contact Walden at 516-271-1948 if you have any questions, or if you would like to speak with a stormwater expert to review how these changes may affect you or your company. Download our stormwater guide for more information.