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Stormwater
& Nonpoint Source Pollution
 
 
 
National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
The Clean Water Act of 1972 has greatly improved the quality of the Nation’s
waterways. The NPDES program originally regulated point discharges such as those
from STPs and factories. It has since been expanded to address nonpoint source
pollution resulting from stormwater. Phase I of the NPDES stormwater program
sets permit requirements on medium to large municipal separate storm sewer
systems that serve 100,000 people or more, as well as construction sites greater
than five acres, and 10 separate categories of industrial sources.
The Phase II program requires all owners and operators of small municipal
separate storm sewer systems in urbanized areas as defined by the Census Bureau
and owners and operators of small construction sites the disturb 1 to 5 acres of
land to obtain an NPDES permit. Every municipality in Delaware County meets
these criteria and is therefore required to have a permit.
Permits are issued by DEP to each municipality based on a 5-year time frame.
Requirements of the permit are to implement programs to address the following 6
Minimum Control Measures:
1. Public Education and Outreach
2. Public Involvement and Participation
3. Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination
4. Construction Site Stormwater Runoff Control
5. Post Construction Stormwater Management in New Development and Redevelopment
6. Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping for Municipal Operations and
Maintenance.
Many of these elements can be addressed through municipal stormwater ordinances
such as those developed as part of an Act 167 Stormwater Management Plans.
The County, in an effort to assist the municipalities in meeting part 1 and
2 of these requirements, has run educational advertisements in the Daily Times
as well as distributed stormwater bookmarks to all of the libraries in the
County libraries. The County further assists municipalities with the development
of Act 167 plans and information distribution concerning regulation
requirements.
To find out what you can do to help prevent stormwater
pollution, check out the link following links:
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DEP Stormwater and MS-4 Information
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DEP
Southeast Region Office Stormwater Page
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DEP
NPDES Educational Posters and Information
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NPDES Permits for Construction Discharge
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NPDES MS-4
Municipal Services Policy 3/03 (Click O.K. Twice when
asked for Password)
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NPDES MS-4 Permit Documents
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Delaware County's Watersheds
Information
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EPA
Stormwater Outreach Materials-
NEW!
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EPA-
Stormwater Menu of BMPs-
NEW!
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EPA- Guide to
Watershed Outreach Campaigns-
NEW!
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Villanova Urban Stormwater Partnership
167 Stormwater Management Plans
Recognizing the need to deal with the problems associated with stormwater
runoff, the Pennsylvania General Assembly enacted Act 167 in 1978 the
Pennsylvania Stormwater Management Act. This act, which is the “sister”
legislation to Act 166, FP Management Act recognizes the interrelationship
between land development, accelerated runoff, and floodplain management. While
Act 166 requires municipalities to regulate development in the floodplain, Act
167 requires municipalities to implement a stormwater management ordinance
limiting stormwater runoff from new development.
The Act requires Pennsylvania counties to prepare and adopt stormwater
management plans for each watershed located in the county, as designated by the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Most importantly, these
plans are to be prepared in consultation with municipalities located in the
watershed, working through a Watershed Plan Advisory Committee (WPAC). The plans
are to provide for uniform technical standards and criteria throughout a
watershed, for the management of stormwater runoff and from new land development
and redevelopment sites.
The types and degree of controls that are prescribed in the watershed plan need
to be based on the expected development pattern and hydrologic characteristics
of each individual watershed. The management plan, specifically the standards
and criteria, are developed from the technical evaluations performed in the
planning process in order to respond to the “cause and effect” nature of
existing and potential storm runoff impacts in the watershed. The final product
of the Act 167 watershed planning process is a comprehensive and practical
implementation plan and stormwater ordinance developed with a firm sensitivity
to the overall needs (e.g. financial, legal, political, technical, etc.) of the
municipalities in the watershed. Every municipality within the watershed must
adopt the ordinance.
Act 167 Plans Status in Delaware County include:
Ridley Creek (1988)
Chester Creek (2003)
Darby-Cobbs Creeks (2005)
Crum Creek (In Progress)
Brandywine Creek (only small land area in Delaware County, plan to be prepared
by Chester County)
For further information on what your municipality is doing to meet NPDES
requirements contact your local municipal office.
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