Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The primary goal of the CWA was to eliminate the discharge of pollutants
to surface waters by the year 1985, a significant target date. This resulted in a
program to provide permits for the discharge of wastewaters that were subject to
processes that would eventually eliminate such contaminants from the wastew-
ater effluent, both municipal and industrial. These were labeled National Permit
Discharge Elimination System permits, and a lengthy process of standard set-
ting was initiated, based on the pollutant removal technology then available. Of
course, the goal of elimination of all pollutants was never achieved, nor is there
any hope that it will be; however, the concept of permits to limit the quantity and
quality of wastewater flows and to regulate the treatment processes required has
become the foundation of all federal regulations intended to achieve a sustainable
level of quality in the nation's waters.
Within the past decade, the recognition that stormwater runoff comprised a
significant fraction of the pollutants that were entering surface waters resulted
in modifications to regulations based on sections of the original CWA (Section
303.d) that required municipalities with multiple discharges from separate storm
sewer systems (referred to as MS4) to obtain and maintain a permit for such dis-
charges, including consideration of ways to reduce the pollutant load conveyed
to surface waters. Foremost in these requirements was the use of LID technolo-
gies, although no specific load reduction was established for a given waterway or
permit. The application of this MS4 permit criterion has been uneven across the
United States, with coastal waters (southern California) and estuaries (Chesapeake
Bay) receiving the initial regulatory attention. The LID technologies described in
detail in the following chapters play a critical role in achieving compliance with
this federal water quality criteria.
Federal Land Use Law
The federal government has carefully avoided any legislation that would restrict
state land use controls. However, passage of the National Environmental Pro-
tection Act (NEPA) in 1969 [4] declared a national environmental policy that
promoted consideration of environmental concerns by federal agencies, both on
the substantial lands held by the federal government in the Western states and
the numerous military bases and other federal properties and buildings situated in
every state. In effect, any action that is funded or supported by federal dollars or
permitted by federal regulations must be in compliance with NEPA. Most impor-
tant, the requirement that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) be prepared
for any such action has proven to be a powerful tool in many land use decisions.
Many states have in fact passed their own version of NEPA and set requirements
for EIS preparation that directly involve land use actions.
In the following chapters, the recommended technical solutions described
under LID assume consistency with federal and related state land and water
law, but this is not always accurate at present in every jurisdiction. For analysis,
two very different states are considered here: Pennsylvania, one of the original 13
colonies, with some 2560 separate units of government, each of which operates
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