NPDES Phase II

Control Measures

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Phase II local governments are required by the State to develop and implement a stormwater management program that includes the following six Minimum Control Measures (MCM):

• Public Education and Outreach
• Public Involvement and Participation
• Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination
• Construction Site Stormwater Runoff Controls
• Post-Construction Stormwater Management
• Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping

History

In 1972, the NPDES Program was established under the authority of the Clean Water Act. The Phase I and II stormwater permitting programs associated with NPDES were delegated to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for implementation.

The Phase I stormwater program began in 1990 and applied to North Carolina local governments that had populations of 100,000 or more at that time. The Phase II stormwater program applies to local governments that have been selected by automatic designation, state designation, or petitioning.

Since the Town of Apex owns and operates a municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) and is within the Raleigh Urbanized Area boundary, DEQ automatically designated Apex to be brought into the program. Apex received their original Phase II permit from DEQ in 2005 and the permit is renewed every five years.  The required Stormwater Management Program Report is updated every permit cycle.