Revised 03/15/2011
PROPOSED FORMAT
NPDES WATERSHED-BASED MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORM SEWER SYSTEM (MS4)
GENERAL PERMIT
FOR THE MIDDLE RIO GRANDE
MARCH 2011
1. Entities Included in Watershed-Based Permit
a. This permit shall apply to all entities within the Middle Rio Grande Permitted
Watershed that have authority over and/or responsibility for storm water
collection, conveyance or discharge, and to those entities within the Permitted
Watershed that have been designated by EPA (“qualifying entities”). See
attached watershed map.
b. Each qualifying entity, as described above, shall submit a notice of intent to
obtain coverage under the Watershed-Based MS4 General Permit.
c. Any qualifying entity, as described above, that elects not to submit a notice of
intent to obtain coverage under the Watershed-Based MS4 General Permit, shall
submit to EPA Region 6 an application for an individual MS4 permit.
2. General Compliance Requirements
a. Except as noted in Sections 3(d) and 5(b), each MS4 Phase 1 co-Permittee shall
comply with all requirements of the Phase 1 permit, in addition to requirements
of the Watershed-Based General Permit.
b. Except as noted in Sections 3(d) and 5(b), each Phase 2 permittee shall comply
with all requirements of the Phase 2 MS4 General permit, in addition to
requirements of the Watershed-Based General Permit.
c. Permittees that are not eligible for a Phase 1 or a Phase 2 permit shall comply
with all requirements of the Watershed-Based General Permit.
3. Interagency Storm Water Management Plan
a. All Permittees included in the Watershed-Based General Permit shall participate
in a cooperative program to reduce discharges of E. coli bacteria, hightemperature runoff, oxygen-demanding substances and PCBs into the Middle Rio
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Grande, and to reduce the discharge of nutrients and turbidity-causing
substances into Tijeras Creek and Las Huertas Creek.
b. The Permittees shall jointly produce a written Interagency Storm Water
Management Plan (SWMP). In addition to the elements described in Section
3(d), the interagency SWMP shall address equitable joint funding of activities
required by the Watershed-Based Permit, based on population, acreage,
impervious area and/or other factors.
c. The Interagency SWMP and any future revisions thereto shall be approved in
writing by EPA before any version is implemented.
d. Participation in the activities defined in the Interagency SWMP shall constitute
compliance with corresponding requirements in Phase 1 and Phase 2 MS4
permits.
e. The Interagency SWMP shall include implementation programs with
measureable goals for the following elements.
i. Public Involvement. The Permittees shall conduct joint public meetings
to gather information to inform the continued improvement of the InterAgency SWMP.
ii. Public Education and Outreach. The Permittees shall jointly fund, design
and implement an ongoing education and outreach campaign to, at a
minimum, inform the public about the problem of stormwater-borne
pollution of the Rio Grande and available control measures for E. coli
bacteria, oxygen-demanding substances, nutrients, PCBs and hightemperature runoff.
iii. Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination.
1. The Permittees shall jointly fund, design and implement a
program for training field personnel employed by each entity at
least annually about illicit discharges to storm sewers. The
training shall include information about construction site runoff
control required by the USEPA Construction General Permit (CGP)
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and industrial site pollution control measures required by the
USEPA Multi Sector General Permit (MSGP) for Industrial
Activities.
2. The Permittees shall jointly develop a mechanism by which field
personnel can report suspected illicit discharges to storm sewers,
or suspected non-compliance with the CGP or the MSGP, and
policies and procedures for responding to such reports.
3. Permittees that own and operate MS4s and for which adequate
jurisdiction and/or authority exists shall individually adopt rules,
ordinances, federal procedures or other instruments, consistent
with their respective rulemaking procedures, prohibiting the
discharge of substances that contribute to elevated
concentrations in stormwater of E. coli bacteria, high temperature
runoff, oxygen demanding substances, nutrients or PCBs, and
providing an enforcement response plan and penalties for
violators.
iv. Post-Construction Runoff Control.
1. The Permittees shall individually prepare and adopt development
review requirements that require the incorporation of low impact
development and green infrastructure principles for new
development projects and for redevelopment projects.
2. The Permittees shall jointly coordinate their development review
requirements to ensure consistency between jurisdictions.
v. Good Housekeeping Practices.
1. The Permittees shall jointly fund, design and implement a
program for training operations personnel employed by each
entity at least annually about good housekeeping practices that
can prevent or reduce pollutant concentrations in stormwater
runoff.
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2. Each Permittee shall individually develop an internal auditing
program to annually review adherence to good housekeeping
practices by their personnel.
vi. Watershed-Wide Information Sharing.
1. The Permittees shall jointly fund, design and implement an
internet-based tool for sharing information among the
Permittees, NMED and EPA.
2. Shared information shall include, but shall not be limited to,
permit compliance results and non-proprietary water quality
results pertaining to stormwater management.
vii. Water quality monitoring. The Permittees shall jointly fund, design and
implement a water quality monitoring program, in accordance with the
requirements of Section 4.
4. Water Quality Monitoring
a. The Permittees shall jointly fund, design and implement a monitoring program
to assess progress toward water quality improvement benchmarks within the
permitted watershed.
b. The joint monitoring program shall not substitute for monitoring requirements
included in any existing Phase 1 or Phase 2 MS4 permit.
c. Water quality sampling locations, frequencies, parameters and analytical
methods shall be specified in the Interagency SWMP, and may be modified by
revision of the Interagency SWMP.
d. To establish baseline data for attainment of water quality standards, during the
first two years of the Watershed-Based MS4 Permit, the Rio Grande shall be
monitored as follows.
i. Rio Grande water shall be monitored twice each year during non-storm
periods and twice each year during storm events at each location for
each parameter described below.
ii. Rio Grande water shall be monitored at the following locations:
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1. The Angostura diversion structure;
2. The NM Highway 550 Bridge;
3. The Alameda Boulevard Bridge;
4. The Rio Bravo Street Bridge; and
5. The NM Highway 147 Bridge.
iii. Rio Grande water shall be tested for concentrations of E. coli bacteria,
PCBs and oxygen-demanding substances, and water temperatures shall
be determined. Analytical methods specified in the latest revision of
40CFR Part 136 shall be used, except that EPA Method 1668C shall be
used to determine PCB concentrations.
e. To establish baseline data for attainment of water quality standards, during the
first two years of the Watershed-Based Permit, Las Huertas Creek shall be
monitored as follows.
i. Las Huertas Creek water shall be sampled at its junction with NM 165
near Placitas, or at the nearest upstream perennial section, once per
calendar quarter.
ii. Las Huertas Creek water shall be tested for turbidity and for
concentrations of total Kjeldahl nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen and total
phosphorus, using analytical methods specified in the latest revision of
40CFR Part 136.
f. To establish baseline data for attainment of water quality standards, during the
first two years of the Watershed-Based Permit, Tijeras Creek shall be monitored
as follows.
i. Tijeras Creek water shall be sampled at or near A. Montoya Elementary
School in Tijeras four times per year during storm events.
ii. Tijeras Creek water shall be tested for concentrations of total Kjeldahl
nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen and total phosphorus, using analytical methods
specified in the latest revision of 40CFR Part 136.
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5. Reporting
a. The Permittees shall jointly submit an annual report to EPA.
i. The annual report shall detail activities, accomplishments and
measurable outcomes for activities listed in the Interagency SWMP, for
each Permittee.
ii. The annual report shall include the results of water quality monitoring
described in Section 4.
iii. For any requirements not met during the reporting period, the annual
report shall include a corrective action plan for achieving compliance.
b. The joint annual report required by Section 5 shall not substitute for reporting
requirements included in Phase 1 and Phase 2 MS4 permits. However, Phase 1
and Phase 2 MS4 permit annual reports may reference the Watershed-Based
General Permit annual report for compliance purposes, as described in Section
3(d).
6. Enforcement
a. The annual report required in Section 5 shall be the basis for determining that
each individual Permittee has fulfilled its responsibilities under the Inter-Agency
SWMP required in Section 3.
b. Each Permittee shall be individually subject to enforcement for failure to fulfill
its responsibilities under the Inter-Agency SWMP required in Section 3.
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WATERSHED MAP
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