National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)

[bridge_guy]

On the NCEES specs for the Transportation Afternoon portion it mentions the above. Anyone know what we should know about this? I googled it and there appears to be tons of info on it..

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

NPDES is a permitting that allows for the discharge of stormwater from a development both during construction and then post-development once the site is operational.

The construction part focuses on erosion control and site stabilization. The operational part deals with water quality and peak flow attenuation.

 

[engineergurl]

WOOT! I'm doing NPDES inspections right now on a pretty much daily basis (we have had a lot of rain events this past week).... a major part in mitigation for projects. Not too sure what you need to know for the PE though.

 

[KCY Transpo]

Hi:

I had the same question and asked my instructor for help, and following is her reply. Hope this helps

"You're on the right track...go to this page for information on the NPDES program as it relates to construction: http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/stormwater/const.cfm . While NCEES doesn't provide much detail, I would assume that questions will be about the "General Permit for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Construction Activities" and implementation of BMPs (Best Management Practices) such as silt fence, fiber roll, dust control, etc. The newest edition of the CERM and it's accompanying practice problems have some example problems that cover BMPs and stormwater pollution prevention (i.e. Where do you install fiber rolls?).

You may also want to print out the "General Permit" (http://www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/cgp2008_finalpermit.pdf), insert it into a 3-ring binder and bring it to the exam as a reference. You can skim through the general permit, but I don't think you need to read everything - just use the table of contents during the exam. Understand that individual states issue their own "general permit for construction activities," but they have to be at least as strict as the federal permit. It's not clear if NCEES will use the 2003 or 2008 permit on the exam. There could be some vocabulary or definition questions regarding the General Permit (i.e. What is Notice of Termination?)"

KC

 

[bridge_guy]

Thanks! Lot of good info you provided, good luck!