NPDES Permits in New England
NPDES Phase II Small MS4 General
Permit
Annual Reporting Requirements
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – New England’s (EPA-NE) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems ("Small MS4 Permit" or "Permit") requires submission of annual reports. In Massachusetts and New Hampshire, where EPA is the permitting authority, reports must be submitted to both EPA-NE and the appropriate state agency on May 1 each year throughout the term of the permit. Attached for your consideration is a reporting format that may assist you in the preparation of your annual report. Two versions of the format are included; one is blank (MS Word) (14 pp, 56 K)] and one is annotated (PDF) (16 pp, 166 K, about PDF) with comments and examples shown in italics or <<italics>>. This format serves as information only and does not represent a required form.
The information you provide in Section V. (Program Outputs & Accomplishments) of your Annual Report will continue to prove valuable to EPA and the states in measuring the success of the overall Small MS4 Permit Program as it matures.
Purpose & Content
The purpose of the annual report is to document the status of Storm Water Management Program (SWMP) implementation with information including:
- a self-assessment review of compliance with the permit conditions;
- an assessment of the appropriateness of the selected BMPs;
- an assessment of the progress towards achieving the measurable goals;
- a summary of results of any information that has been collected and analyzed;
- a discussion of activities for the next reporting cycle;
- a discussion of any changes in identified BMPs or measurable goals; and
- reference to any reliance on another entity for achieving any measurable goal.
Signature & Certification
Annual reports must be signed and include a certification in accordance with Part VI.G. of the Permit (specifically, 40 CFR 122.22). Signatory requirements included at 40 CFR 122.22 are excerpted here below and the required certification language is included above the signature
40 CFR 122.22 (Excerpted):
(a) Applications. All permit applications shall be signed as follows:
… (3) For a municipality, State, Federal, or other public agency. By either a principal executive officer or ranking elected official.…
(b) … or by a duly authorized representative of that person. A person is a duly authorized representative only if:
(1) The authorization is made in writing by a person described in paragraph (a) of this section;
(2) The authorization specifies either an individual or a position having responsibility for the overall operation of the regulated facility or activity such as the position of plant manager, operator of a well or a well field, superintendent, position of equivalent responsibility, or an individual or position having overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company, (A duly authorized representative may thus be either a named individual or any individual occupying a named position.) and,
(3) The written authorization is submitted to the Director.
Note: an appropriate signatory would be the same individual who signed and certified the municipality’s Notice of Intent (NOI) seeking Permit coverage, which was determined (in writing) to be administratively complete by EPA-NE.
Submission
Annual Reports may be submitted electronically to EPA OR by mail to EPA and the appropriate State.
Electronic Submission
Email (preferably in PDF format) to: stormwater.reports@epa.gov
Mail Submission
Mail to:
Glenda Velez - CIP
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Region 1
5 Post Office Square – OEP06-01
Boston, MA 02109-3912
Permittees located in Massachusetts must also mail a copy to:
Fred Civian
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
One Winter Street - 5th Floor
Boston, MA 02108
Permittees located in New Hampshire must also mail a copy to:
Jeff Andrews
Wastewater Engineering Bureau
New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
P.O. Box 95
Concord, NH 03302-0095
NPDES Small MS4 Permit Number
To expedite processing, you may include your NPDES Permit Number on your report as shown on the attached reporting format. Your NPDES Permit Number was assigned upon receipt by EPA-NE of your NOI and was included in the subject line of EPA-NE correspondence to you regarding NOI completeness determinations and authorization of discharges. Your NPDES Permit Number begins with a common alphanumeric prefix, followed by a unique 4-digit number. For example, nomenclature for Massachusetts Permittees is MAR04#### and NHR04#### for New Hampshire Permittees. Massachusetts Permittees may also include their assigned MaDEP Transmittal Number (W-######) that was required on Form BRP WM 08A submitted to the Commonwealth.