The Department of Environmental Protection published notice in the August 20 PA Bulletin inviting comments on draft changes to the NPDES General Permit For Discharges Of Stormwater Associated With Industrial Activity (PAG-03).

PAG-03 is a critical part of Pennsylvania’s efforts to reduce pollution carried by stormwater in increasingly frequent rainfall events.  It is particularly important to meeting pollution reduction requirements in the state’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

A draft PAG-03 General Permit was published at 52 Pa.B. 500 (January 22, 2022) for a 30-day public comment period.

The Department received an objection to the issuance of a final PAG-03 General Permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on February 22, 2022.

Based on changes made in response to public comments and the EPA's objection, the Department decided to re-draft the PAG-03 General Permit for an additional public comment period.

Upon final issuance of the General Permit, the Department will provide responses to all public comments received on the initial draft General Permit and the re-drafted General Permit.

Summary of Changes

Compared with the initial draft General Permit, the changes the Department is proposing in the re-drafted permit can be found in the Addendum to the Fact Sheet (3800-PM-BCW0083j).

Draft Documents

Click Here to find the redraft of the General Permit itself and all related documents.

Public Comments

Comments on the draft General Permit PAG-03 are due September 19.

Read the entire PA Bulletin notice for instructions on how to submit comments.

Questions should be directed to Sean Furjanic at sefurjanic@pa.gov or (717) 787-2137.

For more information on environmental programs in Pennsylvania, visit DEP’s website, Click Here to sign up for DEP’s newsletter, sign up for DEP Connects events, sign up for DEP’s eNotice, visit DEP’s Blog,  Like DEP on Facebook, Follow DEP on Twitter and visit DEP’s YouTube Channel.

[Posted: August 19, 2022]

8/22/2022