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MSC IECA Quarterly News & Updates
July 2018
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Colorado Stormwater Permit Update Session
The IECA Mountain States Chapter jointly held an information event at the HBA on June 19, 201
8. The guest speaker was Kendra Kelly of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). Ms. Ellen Kutzer accompanied Kendra; the relatively new CDPHE permits section manager. Ms. Kelly discussed the new Stormwater Construction General Permit that is about to be released this summer and effective six months after the release date. This new Permit will most likely require modifications of the sites Corrective Measures (BMP's) and/or the Stormwater Management Plan.
The meeting was well attended, with approximately 50 IECA MSC stormwater professionals, BMP vendors/contractors, and HBA members and the question and answer phase of the talk was very open ended and informative.
Ms. Kelly indicated that the CDPHE is considering developing a guidance document regardi
ng the annual reporting requirements of violations added to part II of the General permit
to
comply
with federal requirements.
We offered our assistance. Stay tuned, the CDPHE may have a working session on this requirement to get feedback from the industry.
Kendra's PowerPoint presentation will be posted on the IECA MSC website.
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Volunteers Needed!
We are looking for 1 more volunteer to help with the booth at
Region 6 EPA Stormwater Conference from August 19-23. We will pay for the basic conference registration cost if you will commit to working in the IECA membership booth at the trade show for a minimum of 4 hours and a few more if you can. Travel and lodging costs are your responsibility.
The exhibit space comes with:
(1) exhibitor badge that includes (1) full conference registration
o Additional exhibitor(s) can register separately for $200 each
Complimentary break food and admission to Keynote Speaker Luncheon
Recognition at the Exhibitor Reception
Admission to EPA Conference Awards
We are offering this first to members of our chapter and if we don't find enough to help out, will reach out to members from other Region 6 states. For more information about the conference, click on the link below.
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Introducing your MSC Board of Directors 2018-2019
The General membership voted for the open positions on the board of directors in May and June. Those people have been installed and will serve 2 years as a board member. Opal Forbes, Kathy Kaiser, Greg Baptist, and John Whittingham were re-elected. Todd Croke and Jon Healy are newly elected board members. Returning for the 2nd year of their current terms are Ron Whiteman, Jim Bowlby, Brian Roche, Aaron Peterson, and Neal Barnes. We say goodbye to Bill Robinson and thank him for his 4 years on the board of directors.
The Board then chooses who will carry which position for the next year. Those results are:
President - Opal Forbes
Administrative VP - Jim Bowlby
Membership VP - Todd Croke
Secretary - Kathy Kaiser
Treasurer - Ron Whiteman
Colorado State Rep - Todd Croke
Montana State Rep - John Whittingham
New Mexico State Rep - Brian Roche
North Dakota State Rep - Neal Barnes
South Dakota State Rep - Jon Healy
Utah State Rep - Greg Baptist
Wyoming State Rep - Aaron Peterson
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News from the Mountain States Region
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Colorado Update
CDPHE still waiting to issue the Construction Stormwater General Permit. See story above. One item to note is that they are also working on a new online NOI and reporting system that they hope to roll out with the permit. We will share more information as we get it.
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Montana Update
Montana Storm Water Conference
Bozeman, Montana, May 1 - 3, 2018
The Montana Storm Water Conference was a huge success by any measure. Approximately 300 participants from Montana and across the nation gathered for the event. Topics covered national and regional trends, Montana DEQ updates, MS4 projects, legacy projects, treatment wetlands, SWPPPs and BMPs applied to large construction projects, and new technologies in storm water management. The International Erosion Control Association (IECA) co-sponsored the event and provided a vendor booth to promote public knowledge of IECA and their mission. Sharan Wilson, the IECA National Executive Director, presented at the event. Sharan and John Whittingham, Montana Representative of the IECA, both tended the vendor booth. IECA plans to increase their involvement in the next Montana Storm Water Conference. Thank you and congratulations to all the folks that made this event such a great success. Special thanks to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, Mr. Chris Romankiewicz and his team for a job well done. Reported by John Whittingham
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New Mexico Update
We hope to see our New Mexico members at the R6 EPA Conference. Looks like an interesting mix of content for everyone to take in. Stop by the Booth in the Expo Hall and say Hi. Send your colleagues and friends by to see what IECA is about.
Just read an article this week that EPA will be modifying some effluent guideline information in the CGP due to a lawsuit in MA, but it is business as usual until they go through the process. It will not change the expiration date of the current permit as it will just be an amendment.
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North Dakota Update
North Dakota is also working on an online NOI submittal process for permits. More information will be provided as we get it.
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South Dakota Update
The new Construction General Permit is now in effect and stormwater permitting fees for new permit NOI's will be due with the permit application. Existing permits as of January 1, 2019 will also incur stormwater fees.
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Utah Update
The Utah chapter has just completed holding their third CISEC Training and certification class. Jerry Fifield was this year's Instructor.
We had 14 students from different areas of the State, most were either MS4 personnel or third party inspection personnel.
We even had a State of Utah DEQ MS4 regulator in attendance for the class.
The State of Utah DEQ is currently presenting the proposed changes to the Jordan Valley MS4 UPDES permit at local collation meetings.
The new MS4JV permit is planned for September of 2018 a cost increase associated with the permitting is also planned at this time. Greg Baptist is working to put together a lunch meeting with the DEQ to discuss these topics for members in the Jordan Valley.
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Wyoming Update
State of Wyoming Updates
Industrial and Mineral Mining General Permit Renewals
The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality's (WDEQ) Industrial General Permit (IGP) and Mineral Mining General Permit (MMGP) renewals have been issued effective March 1, 2018 and April 1, 2018, respectively. These permits are for covering storm water discharges from any industrial or mining activities. The new IGP and MMGP expire August 31, 2022 and March 31, 2023, respectively.
Upon the new permit issuance, all active permittees received a mailing with information on renewing coverage
. Permit holders are required to update their Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (
SWPPP) within
90 days from receipt of the new permit coverage letter from WDEQ-WQD.
Additionally, permit holders must secure permission from landowners to meet Wyoming Statute §6-3-414 by October 31, 2018.
Noteworthy General Permit Changes:
- Additional verbiage indicating the need for permit coverage for industrial activities at military installations and facilities (IGP)
- Additional uses of the Notice of Intent (NOI) to include renewal of authorizations with early expiration dates (IGP and MMGP)
- Latitude/longitude required in decimal degrees to 5 decimal places on NOI. Mile marker and road marker numbers are not acceptable. (IGP and MMGP)
- Additional verbiage regarding mine dewatering discharges requiring an individual WYPDES permit. (IGP and MMGP)
- Additional verbiage on annual permit fees to reflect the statutory change that requires permit fees to be submitted along with the Notice of Intent. (IGP and MMGP)
- Additional verbiage regarding the renewal of an existing authorization to discharge and continuation of coverage under a renewed master general permit will require submittal of a new NOI. (IGP and MMGP)
- A new section to address Clean Water Act (CWA), section 316(b) requirements that establishes standards for cooling water intake structures and best technology available standards to reduce impingement and entrainment of aquatic organisms at existing power generation and manufacturing facilities. (IGP)
- Additional verbiage regarding access by WDEQ personnel to permitted facilities in response to legislation passed by the Wyoming Legislature. (IGP and MMGP)
- Continuation of discharge sampling for bentonite facilities (MMGP)
- Requirement of latitude/longitude for discharge locations instead of just a site name on the Bentonite Data Monitoring Report forms (MMGP)
- Definitions for "hazardous substance", "Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code(s)" and "grab sample" have been added (MMGP)
Aaron Peterson, CISEC, CPESC, IECA MSC Wyoming Representative
SWCA Environmental Consultants
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A Call Out From Montana
by John Whittingham, Montana Representative IECA
Montana is the fourth largest State with a population of about one million. A rural State with rural land use practices. I live in Beaverhead County, which is larger than the State of Connecticut. The County population is about nine thousand, or 1.6 people per square mile. Our County is literally the headwaters of the nation with the single longest continuous river route, starting at Hell Roaring Creek in the Centennial Mountains, and descending to the Gulf of Mexico. Abundant high-quality water is perhaps Montana's greatest natural resource. We, as erosion and sediment control professionals in Montana, need to see the Big Picture.
Upon attending the recent Montana Storm Water Conference in Bozeman this May, I was struck by an alarming realization. The conference was well-represented with urban and suburban folks having interests in municipal and commercial construction topics, and MPDES permitting and compliance issues. Many of the case studies involved storm water concerns for projects with acres or tens of acres of disturbance. Managing construction activities is both important and challenging.
Montana covers 94,109,440 acres with about 60,000,000 acres currently in agriculture. Of the 22.5 million acres of forestland, about 19.5 million acres is classified as timberland base, or potentially suitable for timber harvest. In the last decade alone, over 6 million acres of Montana forests have been decimated by the mountain pine beetle epidemic. Many hundreds of thousands to millions of acres in Montana are burned by wildfire every single year. There are hundreds of thousands of miles of unimproved low-volume roads in Montana, most of them lacking erosion and sediment control BMPs to protect adjacent waterways. I work on individual mining projects having up to a thousand acres of disturbances. How does the erosion and sediment potential of these land use practices compare to the erosion and sediment caused by the construction of a new mini-mall?
My quest as the Montana Representative of the International Erosion Control Association is to bring to light the fact that the vast majority of Montana's erosion and sediment problems are not related to urban construction. We as a State need to raise awareness of the significance of the impacts that agriculture, forest management, mining, and transportation have on soil and resources. Montana is the headwaters of America, and collectively we can maintain and improve on our management of natural resources to the benefit of society and the environment.
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Upcoming Events
EPA R6 Stormwater conference in Albuquerque, NM
August 19-23 - See links above
Live Webinars presented through IECA education:
A dive into species selection for the Inland Northwest and Southern Idaho
August 15, 2018
September 26, 2018
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Do you have an upcoming event that is relevant to the Erosion Control and Water Quality Industry? Send your information to [email protected] and we will include it in the upcoming events section.
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Volunteers Needed to submit newsletter articles, post articles on our LinkedIn page, and help with conference planning. Please contact us at [email protected] if you would like to help out.
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MSC IECA | MOUNTAINSTATESIECA.ORG
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