STATE OF FLORIDA CERTIFIED VETERAN OWNED BUSINESS-Diversity/Minority (Native American) Business

History of Stormwater Program

The Clean Water Act, passed in 1972, prohibited the discharge of any pollutant to navigable waters from a point source unless the discharge was authorized by a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. In 1973, EPA adopted regulations which exempted stormwater discharges from permitting requirements except where their discharges were identified as significant contributors to water pollution. The National Urban Runoff Program (NURP) of 1983 report identified that contaminated stormwater as one of the major cause for degraded water quality. On February 4, 1987, Congress enacted the Water Quality Act of 1987 to address the stormwater runoff. The 1987 Water Quality Act added section 402 (p) to the Clean Water Act, requiring that EPA issue NPDES permits for five categories of stormwater discharges. On November 16, 1990, EPA promulgated regulations (40 CFR § 122.26) , which is known as Phase I Stormwater Program, for stormwater discharges from MS4 serving a population 100,000 & more and stormwater discharges from industrial activity. The Phase I industrial stormwater program requires permitting for construction sites which disturb five or more acres and for numerous types of industrial facilities which are identified in the regulations by standard industrial classification (SIC) code or narrative description. EPA issued final Phase II Stormwater regulations on December 8, 1999 to address discharges not covered by Phase I regulations. Phase II regulations require stormwater permits by March 10, 2003 for numerous small MS4s, construction sites of one to five acres, and industrial facilities owned or operated by small MS4s which were previously exempted.