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The Conservtech
Group offers comprehensive services to assist our clients in complying
with storm water regulations as put forth by the California State
Water Resources Control Board. If you are unsure of whether or not
your facility must take action to comply with storm water regulations,
please contact us and we will determine that for you.
For those facilities that require it under storm
water regulations, we offer Notice of Intent (NOI), No Exposure Certification (NEC), Storm Water Pollution
Prevention Plan (SWPPP), and Notice of Termination (NOT) preparation
services.
Notice of Intent
A Notice of Intent is a registration form that informs
the California State Water Quality Control Board that you have determined
that your facility is required to prepare a SWPPP and that you intend
to do so. The NOI should be submitted prior to the preparation of
a SWPPP, and is a simple form that registers your company in the
storm water compliance system of the State Water Board. You must
submit some basic administrative information on the NOI form, a plan
of your facility showing storm drains and potential sources of storm
water contamination, and a filing fee (as of 2/5/16 the fee is $1632).
The State Water Board will issue a "WDID number" to your facility
that allows you to operate under the general permit of the state.
Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan
Once the NOI has been submitted, you must prepare a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan. The SWPPP will contain descriptions of the operations
at you facility, the potential sources of contamination of storm
water discharge, the steps you will take to prevent these sources
from getting into storm sewers, emergency procedures, emergency contacts,
storm water sampling parameters, and other information that will
help you keep your storm water discharge clean and free from contamination.
The SWPPP must be submitted electronically and certified by a company official in the Water Board's online computer program, called "SMARTS". The hard copy must be kept at your facility for reference and provided to
storm water inspectors at their request.
NEC Certification
For facilities that are subject to the storm water regulations but have no exposure of industrial materials or activities to storm water, it may be possible to eliminate most of the program requirements through No Exposure Certification. Your facility must meet all eleven (11) criteria to qualify. A site map, annual fee, and annual certification are still required.
Notice of Termination
For companies that
have changed the conditions under which they operate or have demonstrated
that there is no longer a need to monitor storm water discharges,
a Notice of Termination (NOT) may be appropriate. When approved,
the Notice of Termination allows your company to stop the monitoring
of storm water discharges. If you would like to find out if your
facility qualifies, please contact us.
Management of Your Storm Water Pollution
Prevention Plan
There are several things that all facilities need
to do to comply with storm water regulations once they have completed
their SWPPP:
- You must do monthly dry weather inspections
of the property. You should walk around the property and note any conditions that might contaminate storm water discharges.
Take notes of your findings and correct any deficiencies.
- You must take four storm water samples at each
of the points that storm water leaves your property, such as
from storm drains or from driveways. These samples must be taken
during four different qualifying storm events. At a minimum you will be required to sample for suspended solids, oil & grease, and pH. Some facilities may need to sample for other parameters - this will be described in your SWPPP.
- You must observe and document wet weather conditions on your property four times per year. The inspections are to be completed at the same time as you sample your storm water. You are looking
for any storm water discharge that might be contaminated, such
as by solids, oil, hydraulic fluid, etc. As with dry weather inspections, take notes and correct any deficiencies.
- You must submit and certify an annual report online in SMARTS by July 1st
for the prior 12 months describing the actions you have taken to
comply with storm water regulations. This will include the dates
and findings of your inspections and the results of your storm
water sampling. The Conservtech Group can administer the plan for
you. We can complete the dry weather inspections and the annual
report and provide a storm water sampling kit with instructions
for taking storm water samples. Because of the number of clients
we have, we cannot do wet weather inspections or storm water sampling
for our clients. Once the storm water samples are taken, we can
arrange for pickup and have them analyzed for you.
Call us today to assist you with this important
aspect of your environmental compliance program.
What is a qualifying storm event?
Several conditions must be met for a rain storm
to be a qualifying storm event:
- It must be during daylight working hours;
- It must be under safe conditions;
- It must have enough rain to
allow collection of storm water samples;
- It must not be within 72 hours of a prior qualifying storm
event.
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