A Primary Mission of the Council is to promote effective means of surface preparation in the maintenance industry using water and water/abrasive blasting techniques.
Under its plenary authority pursuant to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (“FWPCA” a/k/a “the Clean Water Act” or “CWA”), as amended, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has developed a comprehensive program to regulate the discharge of pollutants into waters of the United States.
To date, EPA has implemented that approach through promulgation of several permit programs — a baseline general permit, an industry multi-sector general permit, and two rounds of municipal permits.
EPA also is looking to control storm water discharges through a watershed approach under its Total Maximum Daily Load (“TMDL”) program as well as through facility-specific, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) permits tailored to the operations and pollutants of individual facilities.
The Clean Water Act has been a great success in improving the quality of water bodies in the United States over the past three decades.
Future water programs will focus more on eliminating remaining sources of pollution and addressing water bodies that remain impaired.
These programs, such as TMDLs, are water quality-based and likely to result in more stringent storm water, as well as process wastewater, permits in the near future.
Along the way, the presentation will define key terms from the statute and regulations, explain EPA’s Clean Water Act authority to enforce the Storm Water Discharge Program requirements and outline the regulatory compliance options available to facilities including shipyards.
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