Page 6 - May-June 2017 Vol. 35 No.1
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STATEWIDE                                                                            By John Chlarson

MTAS Has You Covered

  There’s a new permit in town…but              Also, the submittal date for Notice       for 9 Central. The broadcast will
the University of Tennessee’s Municipal         of Intent (NOls) was extended to          start from the Nashville Central
Technical Advisory Service has you              Feb. 1, to avoid time constraints         Office.
covered.                                        due to the holidays. If you elect         The purpose of the workshop is to
                                                to delay implementation of the            provide City and County MS4 staff
  Nearly 100 cities and counties in the         new permanent stormwater                  assistance in filling out the MS4 NOI
state of Tennessee have coverage under          requirements, indicate as such            that is due Feb. 1, 2017. There is no
the state’s Phase II Small MS4 National         in your NOI. If you have already          need to take attendance. The NOI
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System          submitted an NOI, you may still           assistance will be facilitated by John
Permit Program. Public Works frontline          elect to delay the new permanent          Chlarson (MTAS).
and management personnel are heavily            stormwater requirements by sending     In 2003, when the original Phase II
involved in successful compliance               a brief email notification to the    Permit was issued, a similar series of
efforts. MTAS is involved in supporting         contact below…                       workshops was presented statewide.
these personnel.                             So, in the midst of much controversy,   MTAS and TDEC partnered on
                                           Tennessee had a new stormwater            those workshops, which included
  On Sept. 30, 2016, the Tennessee         permit for the stormwater community,      the introduction of the first Model
Department of Environment and              including Public Works professionals,     Stormwater Ordinance, which was
Conservation released the following:       to deal with.                             developed by MTAS under a 319 grant
                                             MTAS was requested by TDEC to           procured with the assistance of the
     In accordance with the provisions of  facilitate a statewide video conference   Tennessee Department of Agriculture.
     the Tennessee Water Quality Control   on the new permit requirements and        The primary objective of the project
     Act, Tennessee Code Annotated         how to fill out the Notice of Intent for  was to equip MS4s with the knowledge
     (T.C.A.), Sections 69-3-101 through   the new permit.                           and understanding of the program
     69-3-120, the Division of Water         This was not only requested             requirements for the first-ever Phase
     Resources hereby issues the NPDES     by TDEC, but, at the Tennessee            II Municipal NPDES Permit for
     Permit, TNS000000 Phase II Small      Stormwater Association Annual             Stormwater Management and enable
     MS4 General Permit with the Notice    Conference, on Oct. 18, 2016, the         them to prepare an action plan for
     of Determination that addresses all   TNSA Board voted to request that          submitting their permit application.
     public comments.                      MTAS do a statewide workshop for          This information put them in a position
  One of TDEC’s follow-up                  cities and counties that are permitted    to comply with permit requirements
announcements was dated Dec. 21,           MS4s, Municipal Separate Storm            and to protect and improve water
2016:                                      Sewer Systems, on the new stormwater      quality in Tennessee, as related to
     To MS4 Program Coordinators:          permit, especially the changes from       nonpoint source impairments.
     As you may be aware, we               the last permit in the new permit, and      MTAS was also requested to develop
     received several appeals related      guidance on preparing the MS4’s Notice    a model of a completed NOI for the
     to the Permanent Stormwater           of Intent. It was further requested that  2016 Permit, again, “…to provide City
     Management requirements detailed      MTAS obtain TDEC guidance and             and County MS4 staff an assistance in
     in the General NPDES Permit for       assistance in preparing and presenting    filling out the MS4 NOI that is due Feb.
     Small MS4s, which became effective    the workshop.                             1, 2017.” With important input from
     on Oct. 1, 2016. The appeals,           There were precedents for this, as      TDEC, various MS4s and members of
     available for download on our         MTAS presented similar workshops          the Tennessee Stormwater Association,
     permit dataviewer website, are        with assistance from TDEC when the        MTAS developed such a model, and it
     scheduled to be heard in November     previous two Phase II Permits were        was approved by TDEC for statewide
     2017. The permit remains in effect    issued.                                   usage.
     despite the appeals. However, the       The videoconference took place on         The Model Stormwater Ordinance,
     Department has elected to allow       Jan. 5, and representatives from over     mentioned above, which was later
     MS4s to delay implementation          80 cities and counties statewide were     accompanied by the Model Stormwater
     of the permanent stormwater           invited by TDEC to attend conference      Utility Ordinance, has been updated as
     requirements detailed in section      uplinks at their TDEC Regional            the permit requirements have changed
     4.2.5 until Jan. 1, 2018, to allow    Environmental Field Office:               over the years. Various other models,
     time for the appeals to be decided.        All EFO videoconference rooms and    templates, resources and training
     During this time, you are expected         equipment are reserved and ready     offerings have also been developed
     to continue to implement your
     existing permanent stormwater
     requirements.

6	 TPW May/June 2017
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