Water You Talking About? I need a Permit? Construction Stormwater General Permit and Co-Permittees

The Industrial revolution saw a large amount of pollution being dumped into America’s waterways, and treatment plants were either non-existent or a far-cry compared to what they are today. The Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio was so polluted with toxic sludge that it caught fire, multiple times! The environmental revolution of the 1960s and 70s led to many environmental regulations, as people saw how poorly we were treating our environment and ecosystems. In 1948, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act became the first U.S. law to combat water pollution. This was amended in 1972 to become The Clean Water Act (CWA). The CWA has helped make the nation’s waters safer and cleaner, allowing communities to return to the water for swimming, fishing, and recreation. Environmental laws like the Clean Water Act aren’t going away. They are still needed to continue protecting America’s cherished natural resources for future generations.
The Clean Water Act established the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). There are a multitude of pollutants that enter America’s waterways, so there are a multitude of permits regulating discharge to those waterways. The NPDES permit we will focus on today, is the Construction Stormwater General Permit (CSGP). This permit allows discharge of stormwater from construction sites, provided that certain treatment practices are installed during construction.

Why is Dirt so Dirty?
Sediment is the largest pollutant in Ohio’s lakes and streams, so the CSGP aims to reduce the amount of sediment-laden water being discharged from construction sites. Excessive sediment in waterways can cause fish kills and disrupt ecosystems. It clouds the water column and makes it hard for aquatic life to breathe and find food. Fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and other pollutants also bond with sediment. It turns out that Ma was right all along. Dirt is dirty. So, take your shoes off at the door!

When is the Permit Required?
We are currently in the sixth generation of the CSGP. This Ohio EPA permit (OHC000006) is required for any project that will disturb one or more acres of earth. It is required to discharge stormwater from the construction site when the ground is exposed to the elements and erosion occurs. More information regarding this permit can be found here.
To obtain coverage, the applicant must submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) to the Ohio EPA. Once this permit is received from the EPA, a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan and Earth Disturbing Permit (EDP) Application must be submitted to our office for review to ensure sediment and erosion control measures will be installed throughout the project. The EDP application can be found and submitted here. Our urban technicians inspect the site each month to make sure the permit requirements like sediment and erosion control measures are being upheld. When the project is complete and the site is stabilized, a Notice of Termination (NOT) must be filed to close out the permit coverage. These applications can be found in the Ohio EPA eBusiness Center Surface Water Tracking, Reporting, and Electronic Application Management System (STREAMS) here.

Who Is Responsible for Sediment and Erosion Controls?
The contact listed on the CSGP Notice of Intent (NOI) application or the designated SWPPP contact is responsible for upholding permit requirements and maintaining sediment and erosion control measures throughout the duration of the project. Sometimes it’s a building company that does the total site development and the construction. In other cases, there may be a developer who only does the grading, roads, and utilities, but then a builder comes in for the construction later. In this case, the permit coverage needs to be transferred to the builder(s). If there are multiple builders, each builder would need to sign up as a co-permittee to the overall site permit. That way, each builder is aware of their responsibility for individual lot controls to keep sediment contained.
In a situation where each house is a separate builder, and disturbance is less than one acre, the permit is still needed. Ohio EPA refers to this type of project as a Common Plan of Development (as defined in Appendix A of the CGP). This occurs when there is a contiguous area where multiple separate and distinct construction activities may be taking place at different times on different schedules under one common plan. There are two ways permit coverage can be transferred, Co-Permittee coverage and Individual lot coverage.
 
Co-Permittee Coverage
Co-permittees can be added to a permit if there are multiple developers or contractors working on a project that falls under one general permit and there are centralized sediment and erosion controls (controls that address runoff from one or more lots, I.e., a basin or ditches/inlets along roadways not associated with a specific developed lot). A common example of this is a large residential subdivision development with centralized storm control features that has different builders working on different sections/lots throughout the development. Without obtaining the co-permittee coverage for those different contractors, the original overall development permittee (typically developer/SWPPP contact) retains the responsibility of both the centralized sediment and erosion control measures and the individual lot controls. Therefore, adding those entities as co-permittees to the project transfers responsibility of individual lot controls maintenance to the builders/contractors and the developer retains responsibility of the centralized features.

Individual Lot Coverage
If there are no centralized storm control features and the transfer of permit coverage will not prevent or impair the implementation of controls, the original permittee can transfer responsibility to individual lot owners. In this case, the original permittee must temporarily stabilize sold lots, inform the new lot owner of his permit obligations, and ensure that an Individual Lot NOI application is submitted to the Ohio EPA at least seven (7) days prior to the date the new lot owner intends to accept permit responsibility.
 
In both the case of adding co-permittees and obtaining individual lot permit coverage, the lot owner should obtain a copy of the original SWPPP and comply with its requirements. Depending on site topography and location, additional controls above and beyond those outlined for the "typical" lot may be required. The new lot owner may also be partially or completely responsible for amending the SWPPP and installing those controls.

For more information please contact Warren SWCD at 513.695.1337