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NPDES > Overview Your campus power plant may not be coal-fired and hence, may not store coal outside in a manner that could potentially contaminate storm water; however, it may still engage in some activities that could impact storm water and, if so, your power plant may be subject to pollution prevention regulations for stormwater. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the discharge of water from facilities through provisions of the Clean Water Act, known as the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program. The U.S. EPA has authorized many states to implement and monitor the NPDES program. NPDES permits establish the level of performance the discharger must maintain and specify monitoring, inspection, and reporting requirements and other actions necessary to achieve compliance. Under current policy, discharge of storm water that is either (1) associated with certain industrial activities or (2) a significant contributor of pollutants to surface water requires either an individual NPDES permit or coverage under an authorized state general permit. NPDES permits set specific requirements regulating the characteristics of the discharged wastewater based on national technology-based effluent limitations and applicable water quality standards. Applicability of NPDES requirements to a typical college or university power plant vary greatly depending on the activities or discharges associated with the facility and the interpretation by the state regulatory agency charged with enforcing the Federal NPDES program (in states where that is the case; not all states have been delegated with this authority). Activities performed at campus power plants that potentially trigger the storm water regulations include the following:
Although the NPDES regulations include steam electric power generating facilities as an “industrial activity”, activities conducted indoors do not typically impact storm water quality, and therefore, do not generate “storm water associated with industrial activity.” If you have an NPDES permit for storm water discharge or believe one is required for your facility, continue on to the expanded content to learn more about NPDES storm water discharge permit requirements.
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