Overview of Changes in the Draft MS4 General Permit

December 11, 2019

Today’s Panelists

• Cole Landgraf (presenter)

• Duane Duncanson

• Scott Fox

• Carlee Kjeldahl

• Samantha Connolly

• Chakong Thao

• Rachel Olmanson

• Mike Trojan

• Mike Findorff

• Todd Smith

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Overview

• How to submit formal comments on the draft permit

• Overview of changes in the draft permit

• Estimated timeline

• Question and answer session

PowerPoint slides available atwww.pca.state.mn.us/ms4permit

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How to Submit Questions During the Webinar

• Submit questions to “All Panelists” using the chat box

• Panelists will read and answer questions after:

• MCMs 1, 2, and 3 (Sections 16-18)

• MCMs 4 and 5 (Sections 19 & 20)

• MCM 6 (Section 21) and TMDL requirements (Sections 12 & 22)

• Webinar questions will not be considered formal public comments on the permit

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How to Submit Formal Comments on the Draft Permit

• Submit comments via email, mail, or online survey – visit www.pca.state.mn.us/ms4permit

• Your comments must include:

1. Your interest/role in the draft permit

2. The action you wish the MPCA to take, including specific references to the section of the permit you believe should be changed

3. The reasons for your position, stated with enough specificity to allow the MPCA to investigate the merits of the position

• Public comments accepted through January 11, 2020

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Big Picture Changes

• Permit format

• Clear, specific, and measurable requirements

• Emphasis on annual assessments to evaluate:

• Compliance with the permit

• Effectiveness of local program

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Big Picture Changes

Clear, specific, and measurable

• Education/outreach topics and frequencies

• Periodic training intervals

• Inspection frequencies

• Specificity in written procedures and documentation

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MCM 1: Public Education and Outreach

For cities and townships:

At least once a year, distribute educational materials or equivalent outreach to residents, businesses, commercial facilities, and institutions on:

• Impacts of deicing salt on receiving waters

• Ways to reduce deicing salt use

• Proper storage of salt or other deicing materials

(Permit Item 16.5)

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MCM 1: Public Education and Outreach

For cities and townships:

At least once a year, distribute educational materials or equivalent outreach focused on:

• Impacts of pet waste on receiving waters

• Proper management of pet waste

• Any existing regulatory mechanism(s) for pet waste.

(Permit Item 16.6)

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MCM 1: Public Education and Outreach

• Consider how to engage with low-income residents, people of color, and non-native English speaking residents

• See “Areas of environmental justice concern” link on www.pca.state.mn.us/ej

(Permit item 16.7)

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MCM 1: Public Education and Outreach

• MS4 toolkit: Educational resources (print materials, videos, PowerPoint presentations) you may use

• Go to the Minnesota Stormwater Manual at stormwater.pca.state.mn.us and search for “toolkit”

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MCM 2: Public Participation/Involvement

• Each year, provide a minimum of one public involvement activity that includes a pollution prevention or water quality theme

(Permit item 17.6)

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MCM 3: Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination

For cities, townships, and counties:

• Require pet owners/custodians to properly dispose of feces on permittee owned/operated land areas

(Permit item 18.5)

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MCM 3: Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination

For cities and townships:

Require proper salt storage at commercial, institutional, and non-NPDES permitted industrial facilities. Must require:

• Designated salt storage areas covered or indoors

• Designated salt storage areas located on an impervious surface

• Practices to reduce exposure when transferring material

(Permit item 18.6)

Model ordinance available at www.pca.state.mn.usand search for “statewide chloride resources”

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MCM 3: Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination

Written or mapped inventory of priority areas for illicit discharge inspections, including:

• Non-NPDES permitted business/industrial activities with storage of large quantities of significant materials that could result in an illicit discharge

• Areas where illicit discharges have been identified in the past and continues to pose a risk

Inspect these areas at least once each calendar year

(Permit item 18.9 & 18.10)

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Question & Answer

Questions related to:

• MCM 1: Public Education and Outreach (Section 16)

• MCM 2: Public Participation/Involvement (Section 17)

• MCM 3: Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination (Section 18)

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MCM 4: Construction Site Stormwater Runoff Control

• When the Construction Stormwater Permit (MNR100001) is reissued, if necessary, update your own regulatory mechanism within 12 months (Permit item 19.4)

• Maintain a written or mapped inventory of active construction activity (Permit item 19.7)

• Categorize construction activity as high or low priority and establish an inspection frequency for each (Permit item 19.9)

• Use a checklist that includes your inspection findings on at least 10 specific items (Permit item 19.10)

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MCM 5: Post-Construction Stormwater Management

Permittees regulatory mechanism(s), at a minimum, must require:

• For construction activity (excluding linear projects), the water quality volume must be calculated as one (1) inch times the sum of the new and the fully reconstructed impervious surface. (Permit item 20.6)

• Must first consider onsite, volume reduction practices, before exploring other treatment options

• For linear projects, the water quality volume must be calculated as the larger of one (1) inch times the new impervious surface or one-half (0.5) inch times the sum of the new and the fully reconstructed impervious surface (Permit item 20.7)

• Maximize treatment if unable to achieve full treatment for linear projects

• Infiltration prohibitions align with 2018 Construction Stormwater Permit (Permit item 20.9)

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MCM 5: Post-Construction Stormwater Management

What is “fully reconstructed”?

• Where impervious surfaces have been removed down to the underlying soils

• NOT structure renovation, mill and overlay projects, and other pavement rehabilitation projects that don’t expose underlying soils

• NOT maintenance activities such as catch basin and pipe repair/replacement, lighting, and pedestrian ramp improvements

(Permit item 27.12)

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MCM 5: Post-Construction Stormwater Management

• Fully reconstructed impervious surface example (roadway)

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Removal down to this elevation would represent the “exposure of underlying soils”

A roadway is comprised of several layers of imported materials. There will be one or more layers of surface course, typically concrete or bituminous. There will be one or more base courses of engineered material that is imported and compacted. The subbase is the “underlying soils”. Underlying soils typically consist of existing soils or the soils that were available in the area, sometimes referred to as “common fill”.

MCM 5: Post-Construction Stormwater Management

• Fully reconstructed impervious surface example (building)

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Removal down to the elevation of the “grade” in this diagram would represent the “exposure of underlying soils”

A typical slab on grade construction consists of a layer of concrete over some type of engineered compacted fill material. These types of building would not be considered fully reconstructed unless the concrete and compacted fill are removed. In some case there may not be a compacted fill layer.

MCM 5: Post-Construction Stormwater Management

• MCM 5 Compliance Flowchart shows when post-constructionrequirements are triggered

• Find flowchart atwww.pca.state.mn.us/ms4permit

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MCM 5: Post-Construction Stormwater Management

• Written or mapped inventory of structural stormwater BMPs that include a long term maintenance agreement

• Applies to BMPs implemented since August 1, 2013 to meet the permittee’s post-construction stormwater management requirements

(Permit item 20.16)

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Question & Answer

Questions related to:

• MCM 4: Construction Site Stormwater Runoff Control (Section 19)

• MCM 5: Post-Construction Stormwater Management (Section 20)

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MCM 6: Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping for Municipal Operations

• Proper salt storage

• Covered or indoors

• Located on an impervious surface

• Practices to reduce exposure when transferring material (Item 21.5)

• Snow and ice management policy (Item 21.6)

• Each year, train individuals that perform winter maintenance activities (Item 21.7)

• Visit www.pca.state.mn.us and search for “statewide chloride resources”

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Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Requirements

• If you have any applicable waste load allocations (WLAs) for dissolved oxygen or oxygen demand, nitrate, total suspended solids (TSS), and total phosphrous(TP)—You have two options at the time of application:

1. Documentation demonstrating you are meeting your WLAs (Permit item 12.9)

• Modeling, monitoring, MPCA Simple Estimator

2. Compliance schedule with BMPs and/or activities that you will implement over the permit term (Permit item 12.8)

• Estimated load reductions for TSS and TP

• Target year to achieve WLAs

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TMDL Requirements

• Performance-based approach for:

• Bacteria

• Chloride

• Temperature

• Permittees who have an applicable WLA for these pollutants will not need to complete a compliance schedule. Instead, meet the following requirements…

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TMDL Requirements

• If the permittee has an applicable WLA for bacteria:

• Maintain a written or mapped inventory of potential areas and sources of bacteria (e.g., dense populations of waterfowl or other bird, dog parks). (Permit item 22.3)

• Maintain a written plan to prioritize reduction activities to address the areas and sources identified in the inventory. (Permit item 22.4)

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TMDL Requirements

• If the permittee has an applicable WLA for chloride:

• Document the amount of deicer applied each winter maintenance season (Permit item 22.5)

• Each year conduct an assessment of your winter maintenance operations to reduce the amount of deicing salt applied and determine opportunities to improve BMPs (Permit item 22.6)

• May use the MPCA’s Smart Salting Assessment Tool to meet this requirement. Available at: smartsaltingtool.com

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Photo by David R. Gonzalez of the Minnesota Department of Transportation

TMDL Requirements

• If the permittee has an applicable WLA for temperature:

• Maintain a written plan that identifies specific activities the permittee will implement to reduce thermal loading during the permit term.

(Permit item 22.7)

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Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Midwest Region

TMDL Requirements

• To find applicable WLAs for each permittee, download the Municipal stormwater permit TMDL wasteloadallocations list at www.pca.state.mn.us/ms4permit

• To find guidance materials for TMDL requirements, visit stormwater.pca.state.mn.us and search for “total maximum daily loads”

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Question & Answer

Questions related to:

• MCM 6: Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping for Municipal Operations (Section 21)

• TMDL requirements (Sections 12 & 22)

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How to Submit Formal Comments on the Draft Permit

• Submit comments via email, mail, or online survey – visit www.pca.state.mn.us/ms4permit

• Your comments must include:

1. Your interest/role in the draft permit

2. The action you wish the MPCA to take, including specific references to the section of the permit you believe should be changed

3. The reasons for your position, stated with enough specificity to allow the MPCA to investigate the merits of the position

• Public comments accepted through January 11, 2020

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Guidance Materials

• Examples and guidance materials to help meet new permit requirements:Go to stormwater.pca.state.mn.usand search for “new permit requirements”

• In the process of developing a model ordinance for MCMs 4 and 5

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Estimated Timeline

January 11, 2020

Public comment

period ends

January –Summer

2020

MPCA reviews

comments and revises

permit

Summer 2020Final

permit issued

Summer – Fall 2020

Permittees have 150 days to

submit a complete Part 2

permit application

(SWPPP document).

Winter 2020

MPCA staff review applications for completeness.

Complete applications go on

public notice for 30 days

Winter 2020 – Spring 2021

Coverage is issued after permittee

addresses any public comments. Permittees

have 12 months to meet new permit

requirements.12/10/2019 35

Question & Answer

• Question and answer session

• If your question does not get answered today, please submit a formal public comment

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