An estimated 123,000 industrial facilities (twice the number of industrial sources subject to the base NPDES program) and 220 municipalities and counties were covered by the 1990 permit rules for Phase I of the program. The 1999 Phase II rules were challenged by environmental groups. Omnibus energy legislation enacted in the 109 th Congress ( P.L. 109-58 , the Energy Policy Act of 2005) included a provision addressing this issue. In May 2008, a federal court held that the rule is arbitrary and capricious, and it vacated the rule. At the time, EPA said that it intends to issue a revised rule that would remove the 2006 rule from the Code of Federal Regulations consistent with the court vacatur and codify the statutory exemption in P.L. 109-58 , but the agency has not proposed any revisions or announced a specific schedule for doing. In the 111 th Congress, legislation to repeal the exemption passed the House (the provision was Section 728 of H.R. In the 114 th Congress, a bill has been introduced to repeal the oil and gas exemption enacted in P.L. 109-58 . Similar legislation was introduced in the 113 th Congress. Stormwater Management at Federal Facilities

Congress often looks to federal agencies to lead or test new policy approaches, a fact reflected in legislation passed in 2007. Section 438 of P.L. 110-140 , the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), requires federal agencies to implement strict stormwater runoff requirements for development or redevelopment projects involving a federal facility in order to reduce stormwater runoff and associated pollutant loadings to water resources. To assist agencies in meeting these requirements, EPA issued technical guidance. The resulting report, issued in 2009, called for major changes to EPA's stormwater control program that would focus on the flow volume of stormwater runoff instead of just its pollutant load. Subsequently, EPA initiated information-gathering and public dialogue activities as a prelude to possible regulatory changes that would respond to the NRC's criticism of inconsistency in stormwater requirements nationally and embrace the report's recommendation to adequately control all sources of stormwater discharge that contribute to waterbody impairment. During efforts to develop a national rule, EPA explored regulatory options that would strengthen the regulatory program by establishing specific post-construction requirements for stormwater discharges from new development and redevelopment, which currently are not regulated. EPA officials said that the rule would focus on stormwater discharges from developed, or post-construction, sites, such as subdivisions, roadways, industrial facilities, and commercial buildings or shopping centers, and to seek to ensure that even after development projects are completed, runoff levels from sites are equivalent to pre-construction hydrology. In mid-March 2014, EPA announced that it would defer action on the post-construction stormwater rule and instead will provide incentives, technical assistance, and other approaches for cities to address stormwater runoff themselves.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and states implement a federally mandated program for controlling stormwater discharges from industrial facilities and municipalities. Large cities and most industry sources are subject to rules issued in 1990 (Phase I rules), and EPA issued permit rules to cover smaller cities and other industrial sources and construction sites in 1999 (Phase II rules). Because of the large number of affected sources and deadline changes that led to confusion, numerous questions have arisen about this program. Impacts and costs of the program's requirements, especially on cities, are a continuing concern.
The 109th Congress enacted omnibus energy legislation (P.L. 109-58, the Energy Policy Act of 2005) that included a provision giving the oil and gas industry regulatory relief from some stormwater control requirements. In 2008, a federal court vacated an EPA rule implementing this provision. EPA intends to issue a revised rule that repeals the one that was vacated by the court and codifies the statutory exemption in P.L. 109-58, but the agency does not have a specific schedule for doing so. In the 111th Congress, the House passed a bill that included a provision that would repeal the exemption in P.L. 109-58, but the Senate took no action. Similar legislation has been introduced in the 114th Congress (H.R. 1460).
Congress often looks to federal agencies to lead or test new policy approaches, a fact reflected in legislation enacted in the 110th Congress. Section 438 of the Energy Independence and Security Act (P.L. 110-140, EISA) requires federal agencies to implement strict stormwater runoff requirements for development or redevelopment projects involving a federal facility in order to reduce stormwater runoff and associated pollutant loadings. EPA has issued technical guidance for federal agencies to use in meeting these requirements.
In 2009 the National Research Council issued a report calling for major changes to strengthen EPA's stormwater regulatory program, which it criticized as being inconsistent nationally and failing to adequately control all sources of stormwater discharge that contribute to waterbody impairment. In response, EPA began efforts to expand regulations and strengthen the current program with a revised rule. Agency officials said that the new rule would focus on stormwater discharges from newly developed and redeveloped, or post-construction, sites, such as subdivisions, roadways, industrial facilities, and commercial buildings or shopping centers. The rule was originally due to be proposed in 2011, but EPA missed that and several subsequent deadlines, due to analytic problems associated with developing the rule. In 2014, the agency announced that it would defer action on a national rule and instead will provide incentives, technical assistance, and other approaches for cities to address stormwater runoff themselves.