2020 Multi-Sector General Permit for Stormwater – Are You Ready?

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If you operate an industrial facility in the United States, your facility is very likely subject to the Multi-Sector General Permit for Stormwater, or MSGP. Simply put, when it rains, the stormwater that discharges from your industrial facility site is considered an industrial waste discharge. Typically, this runoff goes to surface waters via asphalt, concrete or soil conveyances. In rare instances, stormwater might be directed to the local Wastewater Treatment Plant and indirectly discharged to surface waters after treatment. If your facility is a significant source of industrial discharges, you might need to be covered under an individual stormwater permit. 

47 states have primacy for enforcing the Clean Water Act, so this MSGP directly affects facilities in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Mexico, District of Columbia and U.S. Territories. Idaho is expected to be approved for primacy by the effective date of this rule. However, if you are in a state that generally follows the MSGP, you can expect your state to revise its Industrial General Permit for Stormwater to be at least as stringent as the 2020 MSGP.

Final comments on the draft 2020 MSGP were due June 1, 2020, and U.S. EPA received a lot of comments on this rule. The changes from the 2015 and the 2020 MSGP were prompted by a landmark settlement between U.S. EPA and Waterkeeper Alliance (along with several other Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).

Key changes in the proposed 2020 MSGP for Stormwater:

  1. Tiered Response Actions, called Additional Implementation Measures (AIM) – 3 Tiers

    • Tier 1 – Evaluate sources and implement additional BMPs

    • Tier 2 – All feasible controls must be implemented (see item 10 below)

    • Tier 3 – Advanced BMPs like stormwater treatment

  2. Restrictions on use of Coal Tar Sealants

  3. Public signage at the site, including information about how to contact U.S. EPA “if stormwater pollution is observed in the discharge”

  4. Eligibility criteria for discharges at federal CERCLA sites

  5. Benchmark sampling for all covered dischargers – quarterly sampling (4 times per year)

    • Analyze for pH, Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)

    • Additional parameters may require sampling if you are in certain SIC codes

  6. Online, electronic reporting

  7. Eliminated the Iron benchmark

  8. If your facility is located in an area that is subject to major flooding, you must develop, implement and maintain an emergency response and training plan.

    • The rule suggests this plan be based on FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area zones.

  9. Dischargers to impaired waters may be required to sample for the impairments in their stormwater discharges.

    • Can discontinue after 3 years of regular sampling and results that are all non detect

  10. Appendix Q is a list of sector specific Best Management Practices (BMPs). As it is currently written, the permit requires each facility in a sector to either implement all the BMPs for its sector, or provide justification regarding why a particular BMP is not feasible.

    • This Appendix is more than 650 pages long and contains some long outdated BMPs for quite a few sectors.

What should your facility do?

  • Existing facilities must renew or file a Notice of Termination within 90 days of the date of the final rule, which is likely in November 2020.

  • New facilities must file at least 30 days prior to the stormwater discharge.

  • If you live in a state that follows the MSGP – get ready for the changes.

    • Some states, like California, Oregon and Washington, have already moved their IGPs in this direction, requiring tiered response actions with increasingly more robust and expensive responses if exceedances are not adequately addressed.

    • See if additional BMPs or sampling requirements will apply to the facility, and get an idea if your facility might exceed new benchmarks. If so, early planning helps keep costs down and gives you more flexibility.

KERAMIDA’s experienced stormwater consultants can provide your facility with effective solutions to mitigate the efforts and cost of compliance. KERAMIDA’s GIS mapping solutions can document stormwater activities at your facility on an interactive figure and map, which provides an easy, user-friendly, and effective way to stay on top of your stormwater compliance needs.

For assistance with management, MSGP compliance, and industrial stormwater permitting, contact us or call (800) 508-8034 today to speak with one of our stormwater consultants.

Blog Author

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Jodie Crandell, QISP, QEP, TOR
Senior Project Manager
KERAMIDA Inc.

Contact Jodie at jcrandell@keramida.com.