Preventing damages caused by stormwater pollution through proper implementation of SWPPP plan

The SWPPP plan is the most common requirement under your facility’s NPDES permit – typically a stormwater discharge permit. NPDES stormwater permit requires that you prepare and implement an SWPPP plan to describe your facility and its potential for causing stormwater pollution, as well as the steps and practices you will be implementing to reduce or eliminate that stormwater pollution. Those steps and practices collectively are called BMPs (or Best Management Practices). NPDES stormwater permit has a list of required stormwater BMPs that you must implement, such as stormwater training, inspections – and spill prevention and cleanup. Virtually all stormwater permit requirements say that if you are subject to the Federal SPCC regulations, you can reference it in your SWPPP as providing sufficient documentation with regards to spill prevention and control.

SWPPP Roles and Responsibilities

The operator has the lead for developing and implementing the SWPPP and commiting resources to implement the BMPs. Stormwater pollution control is typically the job of more than a single person; the SWPPP development process provides a good opportunity to define roles and responsibilities of everyone involved. Roles and responsibilities are to be documented clearly in the SWPPP and subcontractor agreements as necessary.

SWPPP should describe:

• Who is on the stormwater pollution prevention team?

• Who will install structural stormwater controls?

• Who will supervise and implement good housekeeping programs, such as site cleanup and disposal of trash and debris, hazardous material management and disposal, vehicle and equipment maintenance, and so on?

• Who will conduct routine inspections of the site to ensure all BMPs are being implemented and maintained?

• Who will maintain the BMPs?

• Who is responsible for documenting changes to the SWPPP?

• Who is responsible for communicating changes in the SWPPP to people working on the site?

When you apply for your stormwater permit, the application may ask for a SWPPP contact. This could be the construction site operator, but in many cases it’s a staff person (e.g., project superintendent, field manager, construction manager, stormwater compliance officer) at the construction site who is responsible for conducting inspections, ensuring BMPs are installed and maintained, and updating the SWPPP when necessary.

Author  Bio :

The SWPPP lays out the steps and techniques you will use to reduce pollutants in stormwater runoff leaving your construction site. Therefore, proper development and implementation of your SWPPP is crucial. SWPPP must be developed and implemented consistent with the requirements of the applicable NPDES stormwater construction permit. Quest Consultants evaluate each facility and designed cost effective Best Management Practices (BMPs) based on potential pollutant sources for your SWPPP. To know more, please visit http://www.questinc2.com/.