What is NPDES Phase II ?
To protect surface water quality, Congress instituted Phase I and II of stormwater permitting under The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) to address the issues of stormwater runoff. Phase I started in 1990 and regulates cities and counties with populations of 100,000 that operate a municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4). Phase II started in March 2003 and regulates municipalities such as West Springfield that are within a U.S. Census urbanized areas (concentrated areas of development) also having a municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4). According to state-reported water quality information (2002 National Assessments Database, 305B report), urbanized high density municipal areas are a leading cause of water quality impairment.
