EPA Phase II NPDES Stormwater Program

Under the Federal Clean Water Act, the Town of Newbury is required to comply with the rules of the Phase II National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Stormwater Program.  Within the next couple of months the Town will be required to apply for a new Phase II NPDES General Permit to discharge stormwater into wetlands, rivers, and streams from our designated Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s), which are located in what are considered our “urbanized areas.”  The General Permit is issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and will run for five years.

This permit requires the town to perform certain tasks with regard to stormwater management, including public education and participation, water testing, erosion control, long-term stormwater runoff control, and pollution prevention and good housekeeping practices at town-owned facilities such as the transfer station and the highway barn.

A major component of this program involves drafting a number of plans, procedures and protocols, as well as extensive record-keeping. The fines for noncompliance can be as high $15,000 per day, so clearly this program must be taken seriously.  To hire a consulting firm to provide all required services would probably cost from $50,000 to $100,000, which currently is out of the question for a town in Newbury’s straitened circumstances.

Since Newbury’s participation is not optional, we will be looking for volunteers to provide support to the various Town Departments which will be involved in this stormwater effort.  We will be advertising for certain kinds of volunteer help on the website in the future.  In the meantime, anyone who would like to volunteer or who would like more information about the stormwater management requirements can call John O’Connell at 978-465-2216 (Days) and 978-462-6083 (Evenings).