AGC Highlights Major Accomplishments, Notable Changes and Areas for Improvement

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently published its final 2017 Construction General Permit (CGP), which authorizes stormwater discharges from construction activities. It takes effect on Feb. 16, 2017, which is when the 2012 CGP expires.  Among other achievements, AGC was successful in ensuring that the final permit does not require contractors to electronically report their site-specific stormwater pollution prevention plans (SWPPPs) for public, online examination — which would have increased the possibilities of erroneous citizen environmental lawsuits.

AGC closely communicated with EPA’s construction stormwater leads, and staff at other federal agencies, throughout the permit reissuance process and offered detailed recommendations on how to improve the proposed version.

Although the vast majority of states have been authorized to issue their own NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permits, EPA’s CGP remains the standard-bearer for state and local stormwater discharge permits for construction projects. Therefore, it is important for AGC to monitor it closely because state and local environmental agencies look to EPA’s CGP for guidance concerning their own versions of the permit.  At present, EPA administers the CGP in four states (Idaho, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New Mexico), the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, all other U.S. territories with the exception of the Virgin Islands.

For complete details and analysis on the changes to the 2017 CGP, AGC’s successes and potential landmines, click here.

For more information, please contact AGC’s Leah Pilconis at [email protected] or (703) 837-5332.