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Site Outline

The Law

The Clean Water Act

Permits

Fines

The Process

Process & Methods

Best Management Practices (BMPs)

Important Guidelines


 

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The Process

Landscape contractors will probably discover that two different permits regulate their activities: a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit and a construction permit.

MS4 permits require that the municipality monitor commercial operations for activities that may be contributing to pollution, such as restaurants washing greasy mats and allowing the wash water to flow to the storm drain, auto parts stores allowing customers to change their oil in the parking lot so that the rain carries spilled oil to the gutter, and landscape contractors storing broken bags of fertilizer without protective cover, thus allowing the eventual migration of nutrients to the creeks, lakes and ocean.

What does all of this mean for landscape contractors? It means that they must monitor their operations yard, vehicles, and jobsites for ways to eliminate or reduce activities and practices that contribute to pollution.

Landscape contractors who work on projects disturbing one acre or more are required to operate under the State General Construction Permit. Site-specific guidance is contained in the project's Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP). The SWPPP is required to be onsite for review and adherence. Information on SWPPPs is outlined below.

While California enforces the federal Clean Water Act, it is free to add regulations that are stricter. Additionally, local ordinances may also exist that are far stricter than federal or state laws. Every landscape contractor should contact the local jurisdictions where they work to find out which local rules may apply. Make sure to check the local municipality's stormwater web page or call the stormwater manager.

The Methods

In addition to identifying the beneficial uses of the state's waters, California maintains a program of identifying which pollutants are impacting the waters and the human activities that contribute those pollutants. The state determines, for example, that agriculture contributes sediment, pesticides, nutrient runoff, etc., that livestock operations contribute bacteria, that transportation departments contribute heavy metals from brake wear and hydrocarbons from oil drips, and so forth.

It's at this point that solutions are developed for preventing pollution releases into our waters. (Think of the farmers during the dust bowl days who learned to plant windrows of trees to prevent erosion from the wind. It's the same idea with stormwater prevention today.)

Public sector interests such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and private sector interests such as home building associations have developed products and practices to minimize or eliminate pollutant discharges. These are called Best Management Practices, or BMPs.

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