Regulatory Update: Ohio EPA Issues New General Permit for Construction Activities

NPDES Permit No. OHC000005

On April 23, 2018, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) issued a new NPDES general permit for construction activities. The NPDES Phase II rule requires construction sites disturbing equal to or greater than one acre and less than five acres to control pollutants in stormwater runoff. Construction activity disturbing less than one acre requires a permit if it is part of a larger common plan of development or sale disturbing a total of one acre or greater, or is individually designated for permit coverage by the NPDES permitting authority. The new construction general permit contains several new requirements that will pertain to construction sites where the larger common plan of development or sale disturbs a total of one acre or more.

In comparison to the previous NPDES construction general permit (OHC000004), NPDES Permit No. OHC000005 contains several noteworthy changes. Two of the more significant changes include (1) electronic submittal of applications and SWPPPs, instead of paper, and (2) new calculations for the post-construction requirements. Regulated permittees have raised questions about the feasibility of updating their post-construction plans given the increase to 0.9 inch precipitation depth needed to calculate the Water Quality Volume (WQv). OEPA will recognize some special situations where it would not be feasible to update SWPPPs to meet the new requirements. See Part II.B (page 11) of the new construction general permit for more details.

As stated above, NPDES Permit No. OHC000005 requires Notice of Intent (NOI), Notice of Termination (NOT), Individual Lot NOI/NOT and Co-Permittee NOI/NOT applications to be submitted electronically using Ohio EPA’s electronic application forms which are available through the Ohio EPA eBusiness Center at https://ebiz.epa.ohio.gov. OEPA will contact existing permittees regarding how to renew permit coverage under the new construction general permit (NPDES Permit No. OHC000005), likely within the next month.

All permittees must review and update their storm water pollution prevention plans (SWPPPs) within 180 days from the effective date of April 23, 2018. Permittees can attend a workshop on the OHC000005 permit organized by the Northeast Ohio Storm Water Training Council in late May or early June. Details are still to be determined.

The new construction general permit can be found here.

Read the Public Notice here. 

Read the NPDES Permit No. OHC000005 Fact Sheet here. 

Other assistance with the construction general permit can be provided by our experts at EnviroScience, including:

Contact EnviroScience’s environmental regulatory compliance experts with any questions. Several of our managers are former regulators from OEPA Division of Surface Water. They are committed to gaining a deep understanding of our clients’ unique operational needs and using that knowledge to create excellent environmental regulatory compliance programs. Contact Kyle Lawrence at 330-688-0111 or at KLawrence@EnviroScienceInc.com.