City of Lakewood
Storm Water Management Program

MS4 Permit History and Summary

In 1990, the U.S. EPA extended the NPDES Phase I Permit Program to include storm water discharges. These regulations established requirements for permitting discharges from industries, construction sites larger than 5 acres and municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) in municipalities with a population greater than 100,000.

In 1999, the U.S. EPA expanded the NPDES Storm Water Program to include discharges from MS4 communities with populations less than 100,000. The program, termed the Phase II Storm Water Permit Program, required municipalities to obtain an NPDES MS4 permit by March 10, 2003 to discharge storm water.

The Ohio EPA issued a final general NPDES permit authorizing storm water discharges from small MS4s in December 2002. The permit established a statewide set of requirements to regulate storm water discharges from small MS4s. The principal requirements are:

1. Develop and implement a Storm Water Management Program (SWMP) that established controls, provides rationale for the controls and measurable goals.
2. Control discharges from the small MS4s so that they do not exceed the water quality standards and comply with the anti-degradation rules and total maximum daily load (TMDL) requirements.

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Six Minimum Control Measures

In a effort to achieve these requirements, the EPA established the following six minimum control measures:

1. Public Educational and Outreach – The intent of this control measure is to educate the public on the impacts of storm water discharge on the receiving water body and possible means to reduce the storm water pollution.
2. Public Involvement and Participation – The intent of this control measure is to develop and implement a program to get the public to participate in the implementation of the storm water management program.
3. Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination –Illicit discharges generally include any flows from the storm sewer system during dry weather. However, there are some exceptions such as fire fighting activities, air conditioner condensate, groundwater flow, etc. The intent of this control measure is to develop and implement a program to detect and eliminate any illicit discharges. A map of the receiving waters and the storm sewer system is to be included.
4. Construction Site Storm Water Runoff – The intent of this control measure is to develop, implement and enforce a program to reduce erosion and control sedimentation from construction activities on land disturbances of one or more acres.
5. Post-Construction Storm Water Management – The intent of this control measure is to develop, implement and enforce a program to control the impact of storm water runoff from new developments using both structural and non-structural BMPs. The program needs to ensure the long-term operation of the BMPs.
6. Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping from Municipal Operations – The intent of this control measure is to develop and implement a program to minimize discharges from municipal operations through pollution prevention and good housekeeping measures. The measure targets pollution from the following:
   1. Streets, parking lots and open spaces.
   2. Storage and vehicle maintenance areas.
   3. Land development or maintenance practices.
   4. Maintenance of storm sewer systems.

View Lakewood's Storm Water Management Program »