Reporting & notification requirements
These FAQ's provide answers for specific questions relating to the reporting requirements in your municipal stormwater permit.
Covid-19 related – G20 and G21 Notices
We appreciate permittees’ desire to remain in compliance with permit requirements, as well as how to prepare for an uncertain future and the possible impacts to permit implementation, including any potential permit violations.
Communicate as best you can
Although the permit does not include a notification in anticipation of non-compliance issues, early and open communication with Ecology’s Permit Planners in each region is recommended.
Document as best you can
Permittees should document how the COVID-19 response has impacted implementation of permit requirements. For example, document the dates and how the Governor’s Stay Home Stay Healthy order limited or impacted your stormwater management operations and implementation of permit requirements. If maintenance activities were impacted, document dates, reason, and which specific activities were impacted. If staff is not available to track or provide detailed documentation, contact your Permit Planner to discuss other options. We expect each jurisdiction to be dealing with the response in a variety of ways. Our Permit Planners in the region are ready to discuss your circumstances and determine a plan.
Update and adapt
Permittees, if able to do so, may need to update their procedures in light of continued social (physical) distancing guidance in order to adapt and meet permit requirements. The Stormwater Management Program (SWMP) developed to meet your permit requirements for 2020 may be updated to reflect changes to planned activities.
An upset constitutes an affirmative defense to unintentional and temporary non-compliance due to an exceptional incident. The condition only applies to technology-based permit effluent limitations which include the BMPs in the permit, such as inspections of BMPs, or maintenance activities.
Should the Permittee decide to submit a G21 Upset notice, the Permittee must notify Ecology within 24 hours of non-compliance and:
- Demonstrate through “contemporaneous signed operating logs, or other relevant evidence” that certain conditions were met (see G21.C) and comply with any remedial measures required under Duty to Mitigate (G6).
- Permittee must provide the burden of proof that an upset occurred.
The G21 notice must be submitted 24 hours after non-compliance occurs due to the COVID-19 response (i.e. 24 hours after the permit deadline is due). Permittees must document the requirements they are in non-compliance with, and describe how they are taking remedial measures to meet General Condition G6 – Duty to Mitigate.
Even if a Permittee submits a G21 Upset notice, a G20 Non-compliance Notification is still required 30 days after non-compliance.
The notices are not required in anticipation of Permit non-compliance. However, Permittees may still want to share non-compliance concerns with their Permit Planner to be best prepared if there continues to be impacts from COVID-19.
A G20 is required within 30 days after a Permittee is unable to comply with any of the terms and conditions in the permit.
A G21 report may be used by a Permittee to develop an ‘affirmative defense’ in case of the need to defend an issue of non-compliance during enforcement or judicial proceedings. This notification is only appropriate after an exceptional event and additional conditions (G21.C) can be demonstrated to be met — where the Permittee bears the burden of proof. The G21 notification is required within 24 hours of the non-compliance, implying a level of urgency and significance to the issue.
Permittees are required to submit the G20 notification for any non-compliance with the Permit that occurs, whether it is related to COVID-19 or not. In the case of COVID-19, we are of the opinion that a G20 notification is adequate for Ecology’s needs. The G21 condition is untested in the context of the Municipal Stormwater Permit in Washington State; ultimately, only time and documentation will determine its applicability.
In our review of G21, we determined that the COVID-19 situation could in part meet the definition of an Upset condition (G21), in that coronavirus pandemic is an exceptional incident that may cause unintentional and temporary non-compliance with technology-based permit effluent limitations. Permittees will need to demonstrate if the conditions of an Upset were met: the Permittee must document each instance of non-compliance “contemporaneously” or at the time when non-compliance is known during and/or after (or as a result of) the COVID-19 response; and any remedial measures taken to minimize or prevent any discharge in violation of the Permit that would adversely affect human health or the environment (i.e., G6 Duty to Mitigate). Duty to Mitigate, in this case, would likely mean essential services for stormwater related to immediate health and safety, such as spill response.
The MS4 Permit requirements include technology-based “effluent limitations” through a programmatic approach to controlling stormwater — which may be different from how effluent limitations are typically considered in other non-MS4 NPDES permits. The MS4 Permits require Permittees to reduce and control discharge of pollutants through a broad category of (non-numeric) narrative technology-based effluent limitations to protect water quality to the [federal] Maximum Extent Practicable (MEP) and [state] AKART standards. Examples of technology-based effluent limits that are used in the MS4 Permit include, but are not limited to, inspections to ensure proper installation and maintenance of BMPs, an ordinance to prohibit non-stormwater discharges to the MS4, and application of Low Impact Development BMPs to new development and redevelopment. These are measures all Permittees can take to reduce water quality impacts on receiving waters, regardless of the specific needs of the receiving water to meet water quality standards. In comparison, requirements that are specific to the receiving water to address pollutants of concern are water quality-based effluent limits.
Within the context of the MS4 Permits, certain Permit conditions (e.g., inspections, BMPs, standards, codes, etc.) are intended to “restrict” the quantities, discharge rates and concentrations of pollutants discharged from MS4s to waters of the state and US. Some of these conditions are “technology-based (narrative) effluent limitations.” The Pollution Control Hearings Board has confirmed Stormwater Permit requirements meet the state’s AKART standards (e.g. PCHB 07-021). AKART has been interpreted as a technology-based approach to limiting pollutants from wastewater discharges which requires an engineering judgment and an economic judgment.
No, the notifications do not provide a shield from enforcement actions or lawsuits. However, the G20 notifications are conditions of the Permit and, therefore, are required. As such, if the Permittee is aware that a requirement was not met, and the Permittee did not submit the G20 notification, that act of not providing notification is another instance of non-compliance. Providing the notification makes the legal responsible entity for the Permit and Ecology aware that there was non-compliance, and now actions can take place to resolve the non-compliance issue.
The G21 notification is not required in the case of COVID-19. A G20 notification is adequate. Permittees may submit a G21 notification according to the Permit language, should they choose to do so.
G21.D specifies that the Permittee bears the burden of proof. G21.C of the Permit states:
Conditions necessary for demonstration of upset. A Permittee who wishes to establish the affirmative defense of upset shall demonstrate, through properly signed contemporaneous operating logs, or other relevant evidence that:
- An upset occurred and that the Permittee can identify the cause(s) of the upset;
- The permitted facility was at the time being properly operated; and
- The Permittee submitted notice of the upset as required in 40 CFR 122.41(l)(6)(ii)(B) (24-hour notice of non-compliance).
- The Permittee complied with any remedial measures required under 40 CFR 122.41(d) (Duty to Mitigate).
Permittees will need to demonstrate if the conditions of an Upset were met: the Permittee must document each instance of non-compliance “contemporaneously” or at the time when non-compliance is known during and/or after (or as a result of) the COVID-19 response; and also document any remedial measures to minimize or prevent any discharge in violation of the Permit that would adversely affect human health or the environment (i.e. G6 Duty to Mitigate). Duty to Mitigate in this case would likely mean essential services for stormwater related to immediate health and safety, such as spill response. We suggest that this include dates and a description of the non-compliance and reasoning non-compliance occurred.
In the case of COVID-19, we are of the opinion that a G20 notification is adequate for Ecology’s needs. We encourage early and frequent communication with the Ecology Permit Planner in the Region if a Permittee is concerned about meeting Permit requirements. However, the Permittee has the choice to submit a G21 notification. Permittees should discuss this with their own legal counsels.
Even if a Permittee submits a G21 Upset notice, a G20 Non-compliance Notification is still required 30 days after non-compliance.
Stormwater planning (S.5.C.6) Reporting
Yes, WWA Phase II permittees must include basins that fully infiltrate in their Receiving Water Assessment and watershed inventory (S5.C.1.d.i).
All basins covered under the MS4 Permit must be delineated and assessed. Permittees can determine the relative importance of focusing a plan in one basin over another at Step 3 and 4 in the Receiving Water Conditions Assessment - Assessing SW Influence and the relative Conditions and Contributions (pg. 7 of the SMAP Guidance Doc, Pub19-10-010).
There may be local reasons for prioritizing basins; the permit language/guidance provides the ability to develop and implement a prioritization method and process that makes sense for each individual permittee's receiving waters and unique stormwater management issues.
For WWA Phase II: Coordination of long-range plans will appear on the AR form due March 31, 2021, and permittees will submit their responses to the questions as part of their CY2020 AR submittal.
Phase II permittees submit the second report on these questions on Jan. 1, 2023 — not in conjunction with an AR submittal — in order to give permittees more time to respond. Permittees will need to pull these questions out of Appendix 3 to prepare the Jan. 1, 2023, report. This report will be submitted through the WQWebPortal as a "scheduled" submittal.
Phase I permittees will submit their second set of responses with the Annual Report on March 31, 2022.
“Corrective actions” is a Department of Commerce term. When possible, Ecology used language from the Department of Commerce's GMA periodic update checklists. This Annual Report (AR) question corresponds to the question in the checklist pertaining to the land use element. The intent of the AR questions is to gather information on how stormwater management needs are taken into account in long-range plans. It is not a permit violation if the permittee does not have information to report in response to the AR questions.
Commerce’s guidance explains that when updating long-range plans, jurisdictions should look back at the policies, assumptions, and expected outcomes of the last plan and how it was implemented. Did implementing the long-range plan (or, perhaps, new information) lead your jurisdiction to take additional measures (in addition to the requirements of the permit), to address polluted runoff? We are not looking for duplication of what permittees may have reported for the LID-related code updates, SSC (Phase I), or Appendix 1 requirements. For example, did the jurisdiction decide to limit impervious surfaces allowed in zoning districts to address water quality concerns? Were riparian buffers or tree (native vegetation) retention code included? Were regional facilities planned to address legacy development or for other water quality reasons? Again, these are measures taken that go above the permit requirements.
Permittees should rely on their interdisciplinary team to identify the appropriate long-range planning documents for the jurisdiction. To help identify appropriate plans, the permit uses the description of “locally initiated or state-mandated long-range land use plans that are used to accommodate growth or transportation.” Some jurisdictions call similar plans by different names, or develop more or different types of plans than others. Typical plans that can be included are comprehensive plans, including the land use element, capital facilities element and capital facilities plans, stormwater utility plans, subarea plans, conservation/open areas use plans, flood protection or watershed plans, transportation plans, etc. The objective is to review plans that direct/plan for development at the local level and see how stormwater management needs are incorporated into those plans — or not.
This answer applies to all long term plans that your interdisciplinary team might examine, but drinking water and wastewater/sewer plans needs to be reviewed if these plans deal with municipal stormwater management needs/actions. If they do not deal with stormwater management needs, you do not need to include them in your long-range plan review for your Annual Reports.
Permittees determine the composition of their interdisciplinary teams and may rely on already established teams.
Permittees may meet this requirement by bringing together staff employed by the jurisdiction that have job duties and influence over stormwater asset planning and policy, as well as other relevant backgrounds. A permittee may also decide to include external partners on the team (e.g., consultants, local watershed group, stream team, or tribes).
For example, staff from public works, planning, and transportation departments are good representatives to form this team. Parks staff, environmental health, scientists, or those with technical expertise are other good examples. The intent is to achieve cross-department coordination on stormwater planning and management needs as well as continuing to make LID the preferred and commonly used approach.
For Phase I counties:
- If you are utilizing your past watershed scale-planning work from the 2013-2019 permit term, you are required to complete your SMAP by Dec. 31, 2022 and you shall submit that as an attachment to your annual report on March 31, 2023.
- If you are electing to focus on a new catchment in an alternative area, your timeline is as follows:
- March 31, 2022 – Submit your Receiving Water Assessment with the Annual Report
- June 30, 2022 – Complete documentation of your Receiving Water Prioritization (no submittal at this time)
- Dec. 31, 2022 – Complete your SMAP (no submittal at this time)
- March 31, 2023 – Submit your Receiving Water Prioritization and final SMAP with the Annual Report
All WWA Ph II Permittees:
- March 31, 2022 – Submit Receiving Water Assessment with Annual Report
- June 30, 2022 – Complete documentation of your Receiving Water Prioritization (no submittal at this time)
- March 31, 2023 – Complete development of SMAP; Submit Receiving Water Prioritization documentation and SMAP with Annual Report
- If you have an environmental spill emergency, report it immediately.
- Frequently Asked Questions: Reporting Discharges and Spills under the Municipal Stormwater NPDES Permits (November, 2019)
Record and report discharges or spills
Retain records of any discharge or spill incident. Document any actions associated with responding to the incident.
Your reporting requirements
The permit requires that you make this information about a spill or discharge into or from your Municipal Separate Stormwater Sewer System (MS4) available upon request. You must also report it in your Municipal Stormwater Permit Annual Report as applicable. The table below describes reporting requirements.
If you need to report an illicit discharge or spill, call the appropriate regional hotline as directed by this FAQ. For all other questions — and to notify us under Special Condition S4.F.1 — contact your regional permit specialist.
| Type of discharge | Permit citation | Who to notify | When to notify | Special reporting requirements |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A spill or discharge of oil or hazardous substances into or from a MS4 that presents a threat to human health, welfare, or the environment. This includes allowable or authorized discharges. |
G3 |
Washington Emergency Management Division: |
Immediately | Calls to EMD are reffered to Ecology |
| A spill or discharge into or from my MS4 that might cause bacterial contamination of shellfish marine waters. (This only applies to Western Washington permits.) |
G3 |
Washington State Department of Health: Southwest (SWRO): Central (CRO): Eastern (ERO): |
Immediately | None |
| A discharge from my MS4 that is causing or contributing to a known or likely violation of water quality standards. | S4.F | Notify your assigned regional Ecology permit specialist in writing in accordance with S4.F.1. The written notification must be signed by the appropriate authorized person. (See permit condition G19.) NOTE: This discharge may also require immediate notification under G3, as listed above. |
Within 30 days of determining the discharge contributes to a known or likely violation of water quality standards. | Your regional Ecology permit specialist will respond in writing in accordance with the applicable provisions in S4.F.2. |
Illicit discharges that do not:
|
Various | Document in your Municipal Stormwater Permit Annual Report. | Include in your annual report submittal. | None |
Allowable or authorized discharges that do not:
|
Various | Permit does not require specific notification. | NA | None |
All | Nov. 2019
All municipal stormwater permittees must notify the local jurisdiction receiving the discharge. This will allow them to manage the discharge more effectively.
The ports of Seattle and Tacoma are also required to contact the city or county in which they are located.
For additional notification requirements, refer to the table above. Keep records of all reported discharges or spills and associated response actions — you are required to produce them upon request. Report the spill in your Municipal Stormwater Permit Annual Report.
Statewide | Nov. 2019
You are required to summarize the actions taken by your jurisdiction to characterize, trace, and eliminate illicit discharges.
The following appendices provide a detailed description of the required information and format.
- Appendix 14 of the Western Washington PH I permit
- Appendix 12 of the Western Washington PH II permit
- Appendix 7 of the Eastern Washington PH II permit
Statewide | Nov. 2019
No. Even if the discharge is authorized under the permit, you must report it.
Section G3 is a stand-alone permit requirement. You must report any discharge — authorized or not, allowed or not — which you determine could constitute a threat to human health, welfare, or the environment.
Check requirements in section G3 to ensure that you provide all necessary notifications.
Statewide | Nov. 2019
Possibly.
Always notify your regional Ecology permit specialist under S4.F.1 if you have a credible, site-specific indication that a discharge from your MS4 is causing or contributing to a known or likely violation of state water quality standards in the receiving water.
See Frequently Asked Questions: Municipal Stormwater Permits and Compliance with Standards for more information.
You may have multiple signers at a time — so long as your delegation letter(s) are written to allow that.
Any member of your organization may sign the annual report if they are both:
- Designated a "Signer" or "Coordinator" in the Water Quality Web Portal.
- Have been designated the authority to sign the annual report according to Condition G19 of your permit.
Statewide | Dec. 2019
Each ESAF you fill out is for a single permit. A new ESAF is required each time you want to delegate your signature authority.
For example, filling out Section 8 of the ESAF for an annual report will only delegate signatory authority for the annual report. It does not sign away signatory authority for all permit-related submittals.
Statewide | Dec. 2019
Email us at WQWebPortal@ecy.wa.gov to have a temporary password sent to your email address.
For additional help (e.g., need to change an email address, or can't remember your answers to security questions), see the relevant sections of the user manual for the WQ Web Portal system.
Currently most of the information is about Discharge Monitoring Reports (which are not a part of the MS4 permit), but it also includes information about unlocking locked accounts.
Statewide | Dec. 2019
The system will cut off file names of more than 20 characters. While using longer file names will not cause an issue, permittees are strongly encouraged to limit file names to 20 characters or fewer, to minimize the number of characters that are trimmed.
There aren't any special invalid characters. File names that are valid in the Windows operating system are valid for uploading to WQ Web Portal.
The system automatically adds the question number, date, and time to the names of files submitted through specific questions. This reduces the likelihood that there will be multiple files in the system with the same name, and makes managing your annual report files easier.
Statewide | Dec. 2019
You can only add one file per question. If you upload additional attachments, only the most recent will be saved.
However, you can upload additional files for a question through the dialogue in the attachments box. If you choose to use this option you must reference the question(s) that the file is for in the description box.
Statewide | Dec. 2019
On the main page of the annual report that lists the categories of questions, see the attachments heading in the lower left corner. Click the small box next to the heading to open up the Attachments section, where you can upload a file without going through the browse dialog in a question.
Statewide | Dec. 2019
You can modify your annual report submittal at any time, before or after the submittal deadline.
- Log into our WQ Web Portal.
- Change the answers or files you need to change.
- Submit the report again, just like you submitted it originally.
You will need your G19 signatory to sign the submittal every time you re-submit. The system will log each re-submittal, as well as the changes that were made every time.
G20 Notice of Noncompliance
A G20 Notice of Noncompliance may be necessary depending upon the details of your situation. If you need to make a change to your annual report after the report is due (i.e., April 1 or later), contact your regional permit manager for guidance.
Statewide | Dec. 2019
There is no specific limit on the number or size of attachments.
We recommend that you try to keep the total size of all of your attachments under 15 MB, because the verification email you receive has a 15 MB size limit; it will not include attachments that make the total size of the email greater than 15 MB.
We recommend that you minimize the size of your documents as much as possible by compressing PDFs and images in Word documents; you can also zip files to compress them even further.
Statewide | Dec. 2019
Once you have completed your annual report, you will receive an email with up to 15 MB of the file attachments that you uploaded.
One of those files will be a PDF of your "Copy of Record," which contains all of the annual report questions and all of your answers, which you can then upload to your website.
If you did not receive a confirmation email or cannot find the email you received, you can download the Copy of Record from PARIS. Find your permit, then in the Facility Summary, and look in the Document table for a PDF file that begins with the phrase "Copy of Record."
Statewide | Dec. 2019
We do not advise using last year's annual report to prepare the upcoming report. The annual report questions are based on the current set of permits — effective Aug. 2019.
The annual reports do not track with the annual report questions found in the 2013 permits. They are similar but are not in all cases identical. Please consult the appropriate appendix in the permits for a list of questions being asked in this permit cycle.
Statewide | Dec. 2019
The Annual Report (AR) is the report for implementation activities for the previous calendar year; however, there are several instances where Ecology took advantage of the March 31 AR submittal date as a way to collect specific submittals simultaneously. When a submittal is required, the Permit explicitly states the date Ecology should receive that submittal. Most submittals were scheduled to be submitted with the Annual Report for convenience, although there are several submittals which must be submitted to Ecology at different times in the year. There are also due dates that do not require any submittal to Ecology, but rather need to be implemented or documented by/for the jurisdictions for their own use. The purpose of these due dates is to help ensure permittees are making progress on larger permit requirements.
We expect permittees to answer the annual report questions based on your programs in place during the 12-month reporting period.
Statewide | Dec. 2019
Your annual report covers activities performed in the previous calendar year. For example, your annual report submitted by March 31, 2020 would cover Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2019. The annual report is also used to collect submittals, so if a submittal is due on March 31, 2020, submit with the annual report.
Statewide | Dec. 2019
Generally speaking:
• Y can be interpreted as: Yes, I fully met this requirement during the reporting period.
• N/A can be interpreted as: This question does not apply to me or the requirement is not yet due.
• N can be interpreted as: No, I did not meet this requirement during the reporting period.
Statewide | Dec. 2019
In general, the meanings of "principal executive officer" and "ranking elected official" depend on the structure of your local government.
- A ranking elected official tends to be a mayor or council member.
- A principal executive officer is generally a city manager or city administrator.
Because each local government is different, the permittee must use discretion in identifying its default G19 signatory. The signatory — including any delegate — must be able to make the permit-required certification for all submittals.
Statewide | Dec. 2019