Our Stormwater Program
New York City is one of the world’s great waterfront cities, and has long been at the cutting-edge of innovative practices to improve water quality — including upgrades at our wastewater treatment plants, construction of the award-winning Staten Island Bluebelts, and a $1.5 billion commitment to construct green infrastructure that naturally manages stormwater across our urban landscape. As a testament to the City’s substantial investments over the last four decades, its waterbodies are cleaner than they have been in more than a century. The City remains committed to protecting the overall health of our harbor while working to improve conditions in impaired waterbodies.
As part of the Clean Water Act, passed by Congress in 1972, cities and other urbanized areas with municipal separate storm sewer systems must obtain permits for stormwater discharges, which are intended to reduce pollution from stormwater. On August 1, 2015, the City received a State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Permit (MS4 Permit) (No. NY-0287890) from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC).
The MS4 Permit requires the City to develop a Stormwater Management Program, which includes numerous programs designed to protect the health of waterbodies by reducing or removing pollutants in stormwater runoff in the portions of the city that are serviced by a separated sewer system. The MS4 Permit requires the City to submit its draft Stormwater Management Program Plan (the Plan) to NYSDEC by August 1, 2018.
The draft Plan describes the ways in which the City will satisfy the requirements of the MS4 Permit by managing stormwater discharges into and from the City’s separate storm sewers. The Plan details the major components of the Stormwater Management Program and the associated best management practices to reduce pollutant discharges from the MS4. The components described in the Plan satisfy the MS4 Permit requirements to meet the maximum extent practicable standard. The draft Stormwater Management Program Plan is available at nyc.gov/dep/ms4
for public review, and the deadline for public comments is May 15, 2018.
We have lead interagency coordination efforts as part of developing the draft Plan and meeting the City’s MS4 Permit. Essential components of developing the Plan include working with the City Council to pass legislation, holding more than 200 coordination meetings with agency partners, briefing and incorporating feedback from environmental, neighborhood, and development organizations, holding technical workshops, and releasing annual progress reports. We look forward to continuing this partnership with all stakeholders as we work to protect public health and the environment.
