Phase I Municipal Stormwater Permit for Western Washington

The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and State Waste Discharge General Permits cover discharges from municipal separate storm sewers. Phase I of the municipal stormwater program went into effect in 1990 and apply to municipalities with populations of more than 100,000.

Ecology issued the original Phase I permits in July 1995. These permits regulated the discharges from municipal separate storm sewers owned or operated by Clark, King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties, and the cities of Seattle and Tacoma. Municipal separate storm sewer systems owned or operated by the Washington State Department of Transportation located in those counties and cities were also permitted under the 1995 permits. On January 17, 2007 Ecology re-issued the Phase I municipal stormwater permit. February 16, 2007 is the effective date.

Phase I Permit History

Phase I Permit

Unless otherwise specified, the following documents are available in Adobe Acrobat (.PDF file) format. To view and/or print PDF files, you first will need to download and install Adobe Acrobat Reader from this link.

Phase I: Municipal Stormwater NPDES and State Waste Discharge General Permit
Appendix 1: Minimum Technical Requirements for New Development and Re-development
Appendix 2: TMDL Requirements
Appendix 3: Annual Report Form for Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma

Errata for Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma Annual Report form

Appendix 4: Annual Report Form for Secondary Permittees

Errata for Secondary Permittees Annual Report form

Appendix 5: Notice of Intent
Appendix 6: Street Waste Disposal
Appendix 7: Determining Construction Site Sediment Damage Potential
Appendix 8: Urban Land Uses and Pollutant Generating Sources
Appendix 9: Laboratory Methods

Resources

Annual Reporting Information

Fact Sheet

Appendix A: List of Potential Secondary Permittees for Western Washington
Appendix B: List of Applicable TMDLs in Western Washington
Appendix C: Monitoring Program Cost Estimate
Appendix D: Response to Comments

Secondary Permittees

Permit Development History

In July 1995, Ecology issued three NPDES wastewater discharge general permits to regulate municipal stormwater discharges. These permits required development and implementation of stormwater management programs to reduce the discharge of pollutants to the maximum extent practicable. The permits expired on July 5, 2000. Ecology administratively extended permit coverage until they issue the revised permit in January 2007.

Ecology combined the three current general permits for the Island/Snohomish, Cedar/Green, and South Puget Sound Water Quality Management Areas (WQMA) into a single statewide general permit. The general permit applies to all entities required to have permit coverage under current (Phase I) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stormwater regulations. This includes cities and unincorporated portions of counties whose populations exceed 100,000. The 1995 Phase I permittees include:

King County
Pierce County
Snohomish County
Clark County
City of Seattle
City of Tacoma

Use the following links to get more information on the 1995 Permits:

State Register

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Last updated June 2006