Best management practices for storm water at industrial facilities

Abstract

Contaminated storm water runoff has been identified as a significant source of degradation to our nation's waterways. Industrial and construction activities are primary sources of this contamination. After identifying this problem, Congress passed the Clean Water Act Amendments of 1987 which required EPA to publish regulations to control storm water discharges from certain activities. As a result, industrial facilities subject to the program are required to obtain permits and implement controls referred to as Best Management Practices (BMPs) to reduce the pollutants in the storm water runoff from their sites. BMPs can be implemented to reduce contaminants from entering storm water (source controls) or to treat storm water after it has contacted industrial areas (treatment controls). In general, source controls are more effective in reducing pollutant levels in storm water runoff, and are therefore, preferred by EPA and other regulatory agencies. This paper provides an overview of the EPA Storm Water Program which also applies to most state programs and discusses methods to identify and implement BMPs.