Municipal stormwater general permits

Preliminary drafts comment opportunity

We are accepting informal comments on Preliminary drafts for the Municipal Stormwater Permits and Stormwater Management Manual until December 2, 2022. We are holding public workshops on November 7, 2022. See the Reissuance Page for details.

Municipal stormwater general permits regulate discharges from municipal stormwater systems. These drainage systems are separated from sanitary sewer systems and are owned or operated by cities, counties, and other public entities.

Stormwater is rain and snow melt that runs off surfaces such as rooftops, paved streets, highways, and parking lots. As water runs off these surfaces, it can pick up pollutants that contaminate local water bodies.

There are four municipal stormwater general permits in Washington.

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Municipal Stormwater Permits

The Phase I Municipal Stormwater Permit regulates discharges from municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) owned or operated by the state's largest cities and counties.

The Phase II Municipal Stormwater Permits regulate discharges from certain "small" MS4s in Washington.

We issue two Phase II permits:

Secondary permittees

The permits also apply to public separate storm sewer systems operated by other types of public entities located in a Phase I or II city or county. Examples include ports, prison complexes, park districts, universities, or diking and drainage districts.
See Secondary Permittee guidance to determine whoe should apply for permit coverage.

Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Municipal Stormwater Permit

The WSDOT municipal stormwater permit regulates discharges from state highways, rest areas, park-and-ride lots, ferry terminals, and maintenance facilities within the urbanized areas of the state.

Who's covered under the municipal stormwater permits?

View a map of Phase I and Phase II Municipal Stormwater Permit area boundaries.

The 1990 Phase I regulation requires medium and large cities or certain counties with populations of 100,000 or more to obtain NPDES permit coverage for their stormwater discharges.

The 1999 Phase II regulation requires small MS4s in U.S. Census Bureau defined urbanized areas, as well as MS4s designated by the permitting authority, to obtain NPDES permit coverage for their stormwater discharges.

List of Phase I Permittees
Cities	Counties	Secondaries
Seattle Tacoma	Snohomish King Pierce Clark	UW Seattle Seattle School District #1 Tacoma Community College Camp Murray Tacoma Metro Parks Port of Seattle Port of Tacoma Washington State Military Department Washington State Dept. of Corrections

List of Western Washington Phase II Municipal Stormwater Permittees
Cities	Counties	Secondaries
Aberdeen Algona Anacortes Arlington Auburn Bainbridge Island Battleground Bellevue Bellingham Black Diamond Bonney Lake Bothell Bremerton Brier Buckley Burien Burlington Camas Centralia Clyde Hill Covington Des Moines DuPont Duvall Edgewood Edmonds Enumclaw Everett Federal Way Ferndale Fife Fircrest Gig Harbor Granite Falls Issaquah Kelso Kenmore Kent Kirkland Lacey Lake Forest Park Lake Stevens Lakewood Longview Lynden Lynnwood Maple Valley Marysville Medina Mercer Island Mill Creek Milton Monroe Mountlake Terrace Mount Vernon Mukilteo Newcastle Normandy Park Oak Harbor Olympia Orting Pacific Port Angeles Port Orchard Poulsbo Puyallup Redmond Renton Sammamish SeaTac Sedro-Woolley Shelton Shoreline Snohomish Snoqualmie Steilacoom Sumner Tukwila Tumwater University Place Vancouver Washougal Woodinville	Cowlitz Kitsap Skagit Thurston Whatcom	Bainbridge Island School District #303 Bellingham School District Bellingham Technical College Cascadia College Central Kitsap School District Centralia College Clark College Clark College Consolidated Diking Improvement District #1 Edmonds Community College Evergreen State College Highline Community College Kelso School District Kent School District Longview School District Lower Columbia College Port of Anacortes Port of Bellingham Port of Edmonds Port of Olympia Port of Skagit County Port of Vancouver Skagit Co Drainage District #19 Skagit Valley College UW Bothell WA General Administration (Capitol Campus) Washington Dept of Corrections Washington State University Western Washington University Whatcom Community College

List of Eastern Washington Phase II Municipal Stormwater Permittees
Cities	Counties	Secondaries
Asotin Clarkston College Place East Wenatchee Ellensburg Kennewick Moses Lake Pasco Pullman Richland Selah Spokane Spokane Valley Sunnyside Union Gap Walla Walla Wenatchee West Richland Yakima	Asotin Chelan Douglas Spokane Walla Walla Yakima	Eastmont Metropolitan Park District Port of Benton Central Washington University Sunnyside Valley Irrigation District Yakima Valley Community College Washington State University Tri-Cities Washington State University Pullman Washington State University Spokane Selah School District #19

Keep in touch with us

Join our municipal stormwater permit email list to receive updates about our permits.

Apply for permit coverage

Apply through SecureAccess Washington and use the WQWebPortal to submit your NOI (Notice of Intent).

Review print version of online application (pdf) - For reference only

Guidance

For guidance about applying, changing, or implementing and complying with your municipal stormwater permit see the municipal stormwater guidance page. Stormwater manuals provide stormwater permit implementation and management guidance. For more general stormwater permit guidance, see the stormwater guidance page.

Frequently asked questions

Have a question? Check out our frequently asked questions page.

Stormwater monitoring

Are our permits successful at preventing or reducing pollution from stormwater runoff? Check out the Stormwater Action Monitoring program and our other results on the stormwater monitoring page.

Contact information

Abbey Stockwell
Phase II Municipal Stormwater Permit Writer
abbey.stockwell@ecy.wa.gov
360-280-2934

Amy Waterman
Phase I Municipal Stormwater Permit Writer
amy.waterman@ecy.wa.gov
360-338-5831

Mak Kaufman
Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom counties, and the cities of: Algona, Anacortes, Arlington, Auburn, Bainbridge Island, Black Diamond, Bremerton, Bellingham, Burlington, Burien, Covington, Des Moines, Everett, Federal Way, Ferndale, Kent, Granite Falls, Lake Stevens, Lynden, Marysville, Mill Creek, Monroe, Mount Vernon, Mukilteo, Oak Harbor, Sedro-Woolley, and Snohomish
mak.kaufman@ecy.wa.gov
360-739-6399

Colleen Griffith
King and Kitsap counties, and the cities of: Bellevue, Bothell, Brier, Clyde Hill, Duvall, Edmonds, Issaquah, Kenmore, Kirkland, Lake Forest Park, Lynnwood, Maple Valley, Medina, Mercer Island, Mountlake Terrace, Newcastle, Normandy Park, Pacific, Port Orchard, Poulsbo, Redmond, Renton, Sammamish, SeaTac, Seattle, Shoreline, Snoqualmie, Tukwila, and Woodinville
colleen.griffith @ecy.wa.gov
425-429-4571

Angela Vincent
Pierce County, and the cities of: Bonney Lake, Buckley, Dupont, Edgewood, Enumclaw, Fife, Fircrest, Gig Harbor, Lakewood, Milton, Orting, Port Angeles, Puyallup, Shelton, Steilacoom, Sumner, Tacoma, and University Place
angela.vincent@ecy.wa.gov
360-628-4734

Greg Benge
Clark, Cowlitz, and Thurston counties, and the cities of: Aberdeen, Battle Ground, Camas, Centralia, Kelso, Lacey, Longview, Olympia, Tumwater, Vancouver, and Washougal
greg.benge@ecy.wa.gov
360-798-2906

Andrea Jedel
Chelan, Douglas, and Yakima counties, and the cities of: East Wenatchee, Ellensburg, Kennewick, Richland, Selah, Sunnyside, Union Gap, Wenatchee, West Richland, and Yakima
andrea.jedel@ecy.wa.gov
509-961-0625

Amanda Mars
Asotin, Spokane, and Walla Walla counties, and the cities of: Asotin, Clarkston, Moses Lake, Pasco, Pullman, Spokane, Spokane Valley, and Walla Walla
amanda.mars@ecy.wa.gov
509-329-3554

Foroozan Labib
WSDOT Statewide Permit Writer
foroozan.labib@ecy.wa.gov
360-407-6439

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