2011 Congressional City Conference
EPA Stormwater &
Water Regulations:
Local Impacts &
Balancing Power
Slide 1
Who am I?
 Randy Neprash, P.E.
Slide # 2
Basic Concepts #1
 Stormwater pollution and water quality are
legitimate and important issues for cities
Slide #3
Basic Concepts #2
 Writing good regulations is very, very hard
to do
 Regulations are always clumsy
 We are still learning about stormwater and
water quality
 Very few regulators understand how cities
function
 This means they need our assistance
 Regs should be meaningful & manageable
Slide #4
Delegated Permit Authority
Slide #5
Local Impacts – types of regs
 TMDLs
 Total Maximum Daily Load
 NPDES permits
 Wastewater
 Construction sites
 Industrial facilities
 MS4
 Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems
Slide #6
TMDLs
 Waste Load Allocations are linked to NPDES
permits – legal liabilities for MS4 cities
 Achievability is not the highest priority
 It’s the receiving water and “science” that
count
 The TMDL must result in meeting the WQ
standard
 Some WLAs have very large load reductions
Slide #7
TMDLs
 Reasonable Assurance for MS4s is very weak
 Typical “boilerplate” language in Minnesota
 “Under the MS4 program, each permitted
community must develop a Storm Water
Pollution Prevention Program, or SWPPP, that
lays out the ways in which the community will
actively and effectively manage its stormwater.
SWPPPs are required to incorporate the results
of any approved TMDLs within their area of
jurisdiction, subject to review by the MPCA.”
Slide #8
TMDLs
 Inexorable logic
 WLA reductions are enforced through
permits
 LA reductions are voluntary
 Incentive money will go to LA sources
 Permits will get more stringent for MS4
cities
Slide #9
MS4 Permitting Program
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NPDES permits for urban stormwater runoff
EPA rules – 1990, 1999, now
761 Phase I MS4s
5,862 Phase II MS4s – 5,182 MS4 cities
Slide #10
MS4 Permitting Program
 Six Minimum Control Measures
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Public Education & Outreach
Public Participation
Illicit Discharge Detection & Elimination
Construction Site Runoff Control
Post-Construction Stormwater Management
Pollution Prevention/Municipal Good
Housekeeping
Slide #11
MS4 Permitting Program
 140 employees
 11 departments
 9 external
partners
Slide #12
MS4 Permitting Program
Slide #13
MS4 Permitting Program
Slide #14
MS4 Permitting Program
Slide #15
MS4 Permitting Program
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MCMs #1 & 2 - $101,385
MCM #3 - $131,500
MCM #4 - $174,840
MCM #5 - $236,118
MCM #6 - $839,200
Admin & Asset Depreciation - $1,697,600
 Total - $3,180,643
 Does not include cost to city construction projects
Slide #16
City Participation in the
Regulatory Process
 Driven by local impacts
 Meaningful participation
 Develop our own guidance materials
 Genuine partner with state agency – MPCA
 Be involved in water quality & stormwater
stakeholder groups
 Influence policy, legislation, and regulations
 Communicate among cities – share materials
Slide #17
Challenges
 Multiple aspects of “meaningful
participation”
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Policy
Politics
Technical – water resources engineering
Implementation experience
 Beyond the capacity of any individual cities
 Very difficult if many individuals are doing
separate activities
Slide #18
Challenges
 Genuine partnership with state agency
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Know the staff
Know internal protocols
Know the agency’s intent
Know the legal aspects – Federal and state
Know the politics – at the Legislature
Make use of administrative functions
 Formal comments, contested case hearing
petitions
 Balance of power
Slide #19
We formed the MCSC
 Minnesota Cities Stormwater Coalition
 Membership of 87 cities
 of 162 MS4 cities
 Affiliated with the League of Minnesota
Cities
 Fiscal administration
 Political & policy alliance
 Technical consultant – 80 hours per month
Slide #20
MCSC
 Minnesota Cities Stormwater Coalition
 11-member Steering Committee
 Meets monthly
 Annual budget = $85,000
 Annual membership fee
 Annual membership meeting
Slide #21
MCSC – Annual Fee Schedule
Population Range
Annual Fee
0 - 3,000
3,001 – 6,000
$375
$470
6,001 – 10,000
$565
10,001 – 20,000
20,001 – 30,000
$690
$875
30,001 – 50,000
50,001 – 100,000
$1,125
$1,625
Saint Paul
$4,500
Minneapolis
$5,500
Slide #22
MCSC’s Actions
 Guide Plan Project
 For Phase II cities – in 2002
 Created our own program guidance
 Consistent format for submittals
 Contested case hearing petition – 2006
 Negotiated significant permit revisions
 Solution for nondegradation court ruling
 We generated the strategy to resolve the
problem
Slide #23
MCSC’s Actions - Current
 Minimal Impact Design Standards
 Credit system for the broad range of Best
Management Practices
 Draft MS4 Permit
 Technical seminars for member cities
 PAH stormwater pond sediment contamination
 TMDL guidance for member cities
 Communication & sharing materials
 Address challenges with volume control
Slide #24
Summary
 Water quality & stormwater pollution are
important issues that have to be
addressed by cities
 The impacts of WQ & SW regs is significant
and will increase
 A coalition of regulated cities is useful for:
 Coordination
 Sharing information & materials
 Balancing power with state agencies
Slide #25
Federal Rulemaking
 Informed by National Research Council
report
 46 people involved
 Committee members
 Advice & input
 Reviewers
 4 from Phase I cities
 0 from Phase II cities
 Out of 5,182 regulated cities
Slide #26
 Randy Neprash
 randy.neprash@bonestroo.com
 651-604-4703
Slide #27