National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit 3-9030

Effective November 19, 2009

Coverage under General Permit 3-9030 is required for designated discharges to Bartlett, Centennial, Englesby, Morehouse, and Potash Brook watersheds.  The Department of Environmental Conservation (VTDEC) has designated discharges to these receiving waters if the discharge is not covered under the NPDES municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4), another NPDES permit covering stormwater discharges, or has been issued a state stormwater discharge permit resulting in no net contribution to the receiving water. This designation was issued VTDEC pursuant to an Environmental Court Judgment Order (In re: Stormwater NPDES Petition (Conservation Law Foundation Appeal) Docket No. 14-1-07 Vtec (Aug. 28, 2008) The designation was finalized upon issuance of the permit.

Application Requirements

The General Permit requires different application requirements for three specified categories of discharges.  Owners of affected property have been notified by letter of their need to apply:

For further information, you can contact Jennifer Callahan in the stormwater section.

Permit and Designation History

Residual Designation Background

Under Clean Water Act (“CWA”) section 402(p), 33 U.S.C. § 1342(p), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) established permitting requirements for certain stormwater discharges. EPA established such requirements in two phases: Phase I, 55 Fed. Reg. 47990 (Nov. 16, 1990); and Phase II, 64 Fed. Reg. 68,722 (Dec. 8, 1999). In addition, section 402(p)(2)(E) and (6) and 40 C.F.R. § 122.26 (a)(9)(i)(C) and (D), provide that the EPA Regional Administrator or, in states where there is an approved state program, the State Director may designate additional stormwater discharges as requiring National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits where he or she determines that: (C) stormwater controls are needed for the discharge based on wasteload allocations that are part of “total maximum daily loads” (TMDLs) that address the pollutants of concern, or (D) the discharge, or category of discharges within a geographic area, contributes to a violation of a water quality standard or is a significant contributor of pollutants to waters of the United States. This additional authority is commonly referred to as the Residual Designation Authority (RDA).

Initial Designation Notices (June 19, 2009)

Notice was given on July 19, 2009 that VTDEC was exercising Residual Designation Authority for discharges to five watersheds in Chittenden County that fail to meet the Vermont Water Quality Standards due primarily to excess stormwater runoff. 

For each of these streams, VTDEC has developed a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), which is an EPA approved document that attempts to limit and allocate discharge loads among the various dischargers to impaired waters in order to assure attainment with water quality standards.  Requiring permits of designated discharges is part of a larger effort by VTDEC to implement the TMDLs.

Inital Designation Informational meeting

• When: Wednesday August 5th, 2009 from 6-8 pm
• Where: South Burlington High School, Cafeteria #1
• Presentation: Residual Designation Public Meeting, August 5th, 2009 (pdf, 1.6 MB)

Attachments

• Expanded Technical Analysis: Utilizing Hdyrologic Targets as Surrogates for TMDL Development in Vermont’s Stormwater Impaired Streams (pdf, 2 MB)
• State of Vermont Water Resources Board Investigation into Developing Cleanup Plans for Stormwater Impaired Waters – Docket No. INV-03-01 (pdf, 193 KB)
• Biological and Aquatic Life Use Attainment Assessment – Potash Brook (pdf, 923 KB)

Other Documents

• Residual Designation Newspaper Notice (pdf, 35 KB)
• Frequently Asked Questions (pdf, 11 KB)
• 7/2/2009 Letter to Owners of Affected Discharges (pdf, 31 KB)

Draft Permit (September 30, 2009)

The Department of Environmental Conservation realeased the draft General Permit 3-9030 on September 30, 2009.   Designated dischargers were notified by letter of the issuance of the draft permit. The public comment period for the permit ran from September 30 to October 30, 2009.

Draft Permit Documents

• Draft RDA Permit (pdf 215 KB)
• Draft Permit Factsheet (pdf 56 KB)
• Public Comment Notice (pdf 16 KB)
• Public Meeting Notice (pdf 15 KB)

Draft Permit Meeting

• When: at 6 pm on October 14, 2009
• Where: The city council conference room at the South Burlington City Hall, 575 Dorset Street, South Burlington, VT.
• Presentation: October 14th Draft RDA Permit Presentation (pdf 777 KB)

Updated: December 2009