Environmental & Regulatory Compliance

The Environmental and Regulatory Compliance Division manages and oversees activities to reduce the amount of pollution that enters the drainage system and takes proactive steps to ensure Department-wide and community-wide awareness of methods to eliminate pollution from stormwater before it is discharged to receiving waters such as the River and the Bay. The Division takes the lead on regulatory reporting and communications, and also coordinates all efforts to pursue grant funding in support of stormwater program improvements.

Stormwater runoff has been identified as the primary source of pollutant loading to surface waters in Florida, and is regulated by local, state, and federal regulations. Administration of the federally required National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit is a top priority of the Environmental Division.

This federal program is designed to eliminate stormwater pollutant discharges to receiving waters of the United States. In 1987, the United States Congress reauthorized the Clean Water Act, which included provisions requiring counties and municipalities with populations greater than 100,000 to assume responsibility for discharges to "Waters of the U.S." from municipal separate storm sewers. In 1990, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published the new stormwater regulations and placed the regulatory program under the existing National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). The NPDES stormwater regulations require that the local governments that are issued NPDES stormwater permits reduce to the maximum extent possible the discharge of pollutants both into and from municipal separate storm sewers to "Waters of the U.S." This is accomplished through the implementation of an approved stormwater management plan, which addresses the various aspects of how pollutants reach municipal storm sewers.

The Stormwater Management Plan includes the following individual program components: maintenance of stormwater structural controls; stormwater treatment projects; flood control projects; pesticide, herbicide and fertilizer application; illicit connections, discharges and spills; high risk industrial facilities; and construction activities to ensure erosion and sediment control. In addition to these individual program components, there are monitoring and water sampling activities required to determine the effectiveness of the Stormwater Management Plan. Other important aspects of the NPDES Program include regulatory prohibition of illicit discharges to the stormwater system and public education efforts that are a required part of several individual program components listed above.

In addition to monitoring the compliance of the municipal system with federal regulations, the Environmental Division takes the lead on intergovernmental relations with state and local agencies in collaborative efforts to protect the watershed. The Division is also responsible for informing the public of steps they can take to prevent pollution of our waterways and to minimize the impact of stormwater runoff. Find out ways you can prevent pollution from your own back yard from entering into our stormwater system and eventually our lakes and waterways.