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Stormwater Regulations & Compliance Flashcards

7 cards from real CSM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 7 Stormwater Regulations & Compliance flashcards as text

  1. Under the EPA Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP), which sector group typically requires benchmark monitoring for pH, total suspended solids, and chemical oxygen demand?

    Answer: Sector C – Chemical and Allied Products

    Sector C (Chemical and Allied Products) facilities typically face monitoring requirements for pH, TSS, COD, and sector-specific pollutants due to the chemical nature of their operations.

  2. A stormwater program audit finds that a municipality's SWMP lacks a written enforcement response plan (ERP). Why is this a compliance concern?

    Answer: An ERP is required under NPDES MS4 permits to ensure consistent and escalating enforcement responses to violations

    NPDES MS4 permits require permittees to have the legal authority and an enforcement response plan to address stormwater violations consistently and with escalating consequences.

  3. Which condition would most likely trigger a requirement to develop a Corrective Action Report under the EPA Construction General Permit?

    Answer: Discovering that a BMP has failed to perform as designed and a discharge occurred

    When inspections or reports reveal that a BMP has failed and may have caused a discharge of pollutants, the CGP requires a corrective action to be documented and implemented promptly.

  4. How does a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) allocate responsibility between point sources and nonpoint sources?

    Answer: TMDLs allocate loads between point source wasteload allocations (WLAs), nonpoint source load allocations (LAs), and a margin of safety

    A TMDL = WLAs (point sources) + LAs (nonpoint sources) + MOS (margin of safety), ensuring the total load does not exceed the water body's assimilative capacity.

  5. A developer receives a low-erosivity waiver (LEW) from the CGP for a small site. Which condition would invalidate the waiver during construction?

    Answer: Rainfall erosivity (R factor) exceeds the threshold at any point during construction

    The LEW is only valid when the calculated rainfall erosivity factor remains below the regulatory threshold; if erosivity rises above that threshold, full CGP coverage is required.

  6. Which regulatory document translates a state's water quality standards into specific permit limits for a stormwater discharger?

    Answer: Reasonable Potential Analysis and Waste Load Allocation

    A Reasonable Potential Analysis (RPA) determines whether a discharge has the potential to cause or contribute to a water quality standard exceedance, and if so, a wasteload allocation is developed and translated into permit limits.

  7. A city's stormwater ordinance prohibits new development from increasing peak runoff rates above pre-development conditions for the 2-year and 10-year storms. This type of standard is best described as:

    Answer: A hydromodification or peak flow control standard

    Hydromodification or peak flow control standards require post-development peak flows to match pre-development rates for specified design storms to protect channel stability and downstream hydrology.