The 1977 Clean Water Act gave the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority to implement pollution control programs for regulating discharges of pollutants into surface waters. With this authority, the EPA created the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program. The EPA has delegated permitting authority for the state of Texas to regulate NPDES by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) under the Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES).
The NPDES program mandates operators of Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s) have a NPDES permit. Communities that have a minimum population of 100,000 as of the 2000 Census must have a Phase I NPDES storm waterdischarge permit. Recently, the EPA added Phase II permit requirements for urbanized communities with a minimum population of 50,000 (if not already covered by a Phase I permit). The City of Wichita Falls is required to meet the requirements of Phase II Level 4 since our population in the year 2010 census was greater than 100,000.
Helpful Regulatory Links
