West Virginia Proposes Changes to Storm Water Permit

The WV Department of Environmental Protection has proposed changes in its Multi-Sector Storm Water general permit. Much storm water permitting is done for construction activities, because silt runoff from land disturbance is one of the biggest contributors to water pollution. The Multi-Sector general permit applies to runoff from industrial facilities, where precipitation could fall on, and carry off, pollutants from uncovered waste piles, raw material piles, and the like. The permit is often issued to small and medium-sized facilities, because larger facilities are covered by individual permits that have storm water requirements written into them, along with process water limits. The Multi-Sector general permit is important even to these larger facilities, though, because the DEP permit writers often impose the requirements of the Multi-Sector general permit in the individual permits of the larger facilities.