Connecticut Rethinks Stormwater Permit, Water Quality Standards

The current general permit originally expired on September 30, 2007. It has been reissued without modification three times, most recently on April 14, and this latest version is set to expire September 30, 2010. The most recent renewal requires permittees to reregister their facilities.

On July 30, 2008, DEP Commissioner Gina McCarthy published a Notice of Tentative Determination to renew the general permit with modifications. Based on that notice, stakeholders filed petitions for a public hearing and requests to intervene. As a result, the DEP suspended the proceedings and worked with stakeholders to address the issues and concerns that were raised and to further revise the proposed general permit.

Stakeholders included the Connecticut Business and Industries Association, Connecticut Construction Industries Association, Connecticut Marine Trades Association, Connecticut Fund for the Environment and Long Island Soundkeeper.

Due to the extensive revisions to the proposed general permit, the DEP determined, with the agreement of the stakeholders, that the July 30, 2008 notice would be withdrawn and replaced with a new tentative determination and public hearing process. That process has now begun.

On June 4, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection is holding a meeting to identify parties and outline issues for hearing on the agency's latest notice of its intent to renew the General Permit with modifications. The meeting will be held at 1 pm at the DEP headquarters office on Elm Street in Hartford.

Then, on June 17, DEP will hold a meeting to review proposed evidence, witnesses, and issues in advance of a public hearing on renewal of the general permit. That meeting takes place at 10 am at the DEP headquarters. The public hearing is set for June 24, also at DEP headquarters.

Click here to view the draft General Permit issued on May 20.

The Connecticut Business and Industries Association has posted an extensive fact sheet on the modifications the DEP has written into the General Permit.

Low impact development controls stormwater at the Jordon Cove project in Waterford, Connecticut along the coast of Long Island Sound. (Photo courtesy U. of Connecticut)

The new format incorporates a new separate section with 10 sectors covering specific industries: asphalt plants; nonmetallic mines and quarries; refuse systems; auto salvage yards; scrap recycling facilities; electric power generation; transportation and public works facilities; marinas, yacht clubs and boat dealers; ship and boat building and repair; and small scale composting facilities.

Each sector has specific requirements for those facilities in that particular sector that are in addition to, or in lieu of, the basic general requirements of the permit.

Not all industrial activities are included in a sector. Facilities not in a sector must comply only with the general requirements of the permit. Most of the provisions of the previous Connecticut general permits have been continued in the general requirements. However, these requirements have been expanded, made more prescriptive and reorganized in a format similar to the EPA permit.

The general permit proposes new requirements for stormwater discharges to impaired waters. The permit will include requirements for existing facilities that discharge to an impaired water with or without a completed Total Maximum Daily Load, TMDL. There are separate requirements and restrictions for discharges to impaired waters by new facilities.

In addition, the DEP is soliciting public input for its triennial review of Connecticut's Water Quality Standards.

The review will evaluate the need to update or revise the Water Quality Standards in order to remain consistent with state and federal law and to ensure that Connecticut's standards continue to reflect the best available science and support sound water quality management policies to improve and protect the water resources of the state.

The department is particularly interested in comments on areas that are currently being considered for revision - the anti-degradation provisions of the Water Quality Standards, dissolved oxygen criteria for marine waters, a nutrient control implementation strategy and updating the criteria for toxic pollutants.

Water Quality Standards provide guidance about existing water quality in the state as well as the DEP's goals for maintaining or improving that quality.

They indicate the general types of discharges allowed and ensure the segregation of drinking water supplies from waters used for waste assimilation.

The standards show areas of conflict between usages, and areas where ground and surface waters are degraded. They provide the standards for toxicity consideration to protect aquatic life; provide a framework for the establishment of priorities for pollution abatement, dispensation of state funding, and remediation goals; and finally, provide clear guidance for location decisions for business and industry.

Comments should be submitted to dep.wqsreview@ct.gov no later than July 15 for consideration during this triennial review.

The Department expects to complete its review of the Water Quality Standards, including any comments received, and begin the process of formally revising the standards towards the end of 2009.

Prior to adoption, notice of any proposed revisions will be published and a public hearing will be held to receive formal comment on the proposals. Final action to adopt any revisions and submission of those revisions to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is anticipated by the middle of 2010.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2009. All rights reserved.