Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems, MS4s:
What Do School Districts Need To Do?
Determine
if the school district is located in a
Designated Urbanized Area. Check to verify if a
specific address falls within a
Designated Urbanized Area (pdf). If
your district does not fall within a Designated Urbanized Area, then
you are not required to comply with the EPA/DEC MS4 regulation.
However, to protect resources and quality of life, New York State
encourages all localities, urban and rural, to manage stormwater
through existing land use approval processes. The State of New York
recommends that every community, whether or not it is regulated
under the state/federal program, adopt a Stormwater Management Local
Law.
If
your district or some of the district property falls within a
Designated Urbanized Area, then
use
NYSDEC, Local School District Decision Tree for MS4 Determination
(pdf), to determine if the district needs to file a Notice of
Intent (NOI) with NYSDEC to obtain a SPDES permit and/or needs to
pursue waiver eligibility with NYSDEC. IMPORTANT: EPA does not
require coverage for a stormwater system that serves a single
building.
If
your district is in a Designated
Urbanized Area, it is recommended that the district contact
their local municipality to see if they have or will cover your MS4s
under their permit or waiver. If they will not, then the district
must comply with the EPA/DEC MS4 requirements by 1/8/08. (NYSDEC is
encouraging municipalities to provide permit coverage for school
districts through agreements. In some instances, municipalities may
own or operate the stormwater systems that serve the school
district).
In addition to obtaining the required permits, MS4’s must also: Develop, implement and enforce a stormwater management program (SWMP) designed to reduce the discharge of pollutants from small MS4’s to the maximum extent practicable (MEP) to protect the water quality and to satisfy the appropriate water quality requirements of the Environmental Conservation Law and the CWA. SWMP’s must include six minimum control measures:
Public
Education and Outreach
Public
Involvement/Participation
Illicit
Discharge Detection and Elimination
Construction
Site Runoff Control
Post-Construction
Storm Water Management in New and Redevelopment
Pollution
Prevention/Good Housekeeping for Municipal Operations
For each of these six minimum measures, measurable goals are to be
selected, identified and management practices implemented to achieve
those measurable goals.
BACKGROUND: In 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the terms of the 1987 amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA), also referred to as the Clean Water Act (CWA), required that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) expand its permitting program to include a new federally mandated program to control stormwater runoff and protect waterways. According to the federal law, commonly known as Stormwater Phase II, permits will be required for stormwater discharges from Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s) in urbanized areas and for construction activities disturbing one or more acres. The NYSDEC has developed two general permits, one for MS4s in urbanized areas and one for construction activities. The permits are part of the State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES). Operators of regulated MS4s and operators of construction activities were required to obtain permit coverage under either an individual SPDES permit or one of the general permits no later than March 10th, 2003 or prior to commencement of construction. EPA/DEC requires stormwater management programs be fully functional by January 8, 2008.
FYI: If you are a New York State School, and are totally lost, the then you may also want to look at your school's 2005 Building Condition Survey, that was submitted to Facilities Planning. See question #40 Site Storm Drainage for some basic information. The engineer doing the survey may have made some observations about your storm sewers.
Additional Resources:
State Education Department Facilities Planning Newsletter/free software for MS4
School Decision Tree on MS4's (pdf)
