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Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Priority:
Clean Water Act: Storm Water
Planning Topics
Strategy Summary || Online Resources
The Storm Water national priority strategy aims to achieve maximum compliance with environmental regulations in order to protect human health and the environment. Discharges of storm water runoff can have a significant impact on water quality. Several studies reveal that storm water runoff from urban areas can include a variety of pollutants, such as sediment, bacteria, organic nutrients, hydrocarbons, metals, oil and grease. These pollutants can harm the environment and public health. Storm water discharges from Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s) in urbanized areas are a concern because of the high concentration of pollutants they carry. Storm water picks up and transports these pollutants and then discharges them-untreated-to waterways through storm sewer systems.
EPA will use compliance assistance, compliance monitoring and enforcement tools, as appropriate, towards achieving goals and environmental outcomes of the strategy. During 2008-2010, EPA will focus on three main areas of the storm water program: (1) homebuilding construction; (2) big box store construction; and, (3) ready mix concrete with crushed stone and sand and gravel operations.
Strategy Summary
For each of the national priority areas, EPA has developed a strategy designed to achieve specific goals. The Clean Water Act: Storm Water Strategy Summary of 2008 - 2010 (PDF) (2pp, 30K,About PDF) contains a description of the environmental problem or noncompliance problem; why the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance is addressing the problem; how the problem will be addressed; and, highlights the progress made by The Clean Water Act: Storm Water Strategy Summary of 2005-2007 (PDF) (4pp, 38K,About PDF).
Online Resources
EPA has identified over 400 links to online compliance and enforcement resources that may be helpful in implementing these performance-based strategies. These links can be accessed through the Compliance Assurance Resources Compendium for Fiscal Year 2008 - 2010 National Enforcement and Compliance Priorities (PDF) (60pp, 775K,About PDF), current as of February 2008, is also available.
EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) maintains a focused list of links to its policy, guidance and other relevant documents Compliance and Enforcement Resources
The National Environmental Compliance Assistance Clearinghouse is an interactive web site that links to thousands of compliance assistance resources on specific topics and by geographic locations. Users may add their own links, including links to contact web pages for the Clearinghouse Expert Directory. The following EPA and non-EPA sources resources are on the Clearinghouse:
Compliance Assistance Resources provides links to information related to this priority on how to comply with environmental laws