Tyler, TX

The Clean Water Act (CWA) was passed in 1972 with the goal of improving water quality in the nation's streams. The primary emphasis was to establish a system to control pollution from point sources (i.e., localized and stationary pollution sources). The CWA established the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), that requires anyone discharging a pollutant from a municipal wastewater or industrial point source must obtain a NPDES permit, which specifies effluent limits, monitoring requirements and enforcement mechanisms.

The CWA also contains regulations to address pollution from diffuse non-point sources. Phase I of the NPDES regulations required municipalities with populations over 100,000 to classify their stormwater runoff and develop programs to reduce the pollutants in the runoff. In 1999, the EPA passed regulations, known as Phase II, that required permits for stormwater discharges from small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s) by March 2003. After a series of lawsuits, which temporarily suspended implementation of the Phase II regulations, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) issued its final Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) Small MS4 General Permit on August 13, 2007.

That permit required small MS4s, including the City of Tyler, to develop a Stormwater Management Program. The original permit expired in 2012, and a new permit became effective on December 13, 2013. Tyler was able to review, revise and update its SWMP as part of the new permit. The City's current Stormwater Management Program consists of the following six Minimum Control Measures (MCMs):

• Public Education, Outreach, and Involvement
• Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination
• Construction Site Stormwater Runoff Control
• Post Construction Stormwater Management in Areas of New Development and Redevelopment
• Pollution Prevention / Good Housekeeping for Municipal Operations
• Authorization for Municipal Construction Activities

Each MCM contains specific activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices called Best Management Practices (BMPs), that the City will undertake in an effort to prevent or reduce the pollution of waters in and around the City. A copy of the City's current Storm Water Management Program can be found here:

• Stormwater Permitting Requirements for Phase II (Small) MS4s - Texas Commission on Environmental Quality - www.tceq.texas.gov

•  Stormwater Discharges from Municipal Sources | US EPA

• Urban Area Maps for NPDES MS4 Phase II Stormwater Permits | US EPA

•  Home - Center for Watershed Protection (cwp.org

• nctcog.org/envir/SEEclean/stormwater/index.asp