Stormwater: The No Exposure Exemption For Industrial Activity - a PDH Online Course for Engineers and Surveyors

Stormwater: The No Exposure Exemption For Industrial Activity

Course Outline

This two hour online course discusses the No Exposure Exemption for stormwater permits that becomes applicable March 23, 2003. The requirement that an industrial facility must have "no discharge of pollutants in stormwater from industrial activities" is defined. The conditions that meet "No Exposure" are described. This information will be useful for any manufacturing facility that is considering or currently has claimed this exemption. This information also will enable the student to better understand material handling practices that protect the environment.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this two hour course, the student will

Be able to evaluate conditions that meet the No Exposure Exemption for stormwater permits.
Be able to recognize material handling practices that will reduce pollution in stormwater runoff.

Course Introduction

In October 1990 regulations were issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency to require discharge permits for certain industrial activities. The regulations defined certain stormwater discharges as point source discharges subject to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program. However, "light industries" were exempt from this requirement provided their industrial materials or activities were not exposed to precipitation or runoff. These facilities were not required to submit any information to the regulators to support this No Exposure Exemption.

These rules changed in December 1999. The No Exposure Exemption was extended to all industrial activities except construction. However to qualify for the exemption, a facility now is required to submit a signed "Certification of No Exposure" to the appropriate regulatory agency by March 19, 2003. The requirements to meet No Exposure are described in this course.

Course Content

The course content is in a PDF file (26 KB) Stormwater No Exposure .pdf. You need to open or download this document to study this course.

Course Summary

Stormwater discharges from certain industrial activities have required discharge permits since October 1990 regulations were issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency. However, "light industries" were exempt from this requirement provided their industrial materials or activities were not exposed to precipitation or runoff. These rules changed in 2002, extending the No Exposure Exemption to all industrial activities except construction. To qualify for the exemption, a facility is required to submit a signed "Certification of No Exposure" to the appropriate regulatory agency by March 19, 2003. This course summarized the regulatory requirements for the No Exposure Exemption. The course then described the conditions considered to meet no exposure and presented the federal certification requirements. The information in this course also is useful for any manufacturing facility that is interested in avoiding pollution of stormwater and will enable a facility manager to better understand material handling practices that protect the environment.

Related Links

For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following websites and links:

US EPA, Office of Water (www.epa.gov/OWM/)

US EPA NPDES Stormwater, (http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=6)

US EPA, one-page summary for industry, (http://www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/list.pdf)

Federal form for certifying No Exposure, NPDES Form 3510-11, (http://www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/noexpoform_app4.pdf).

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDHonline.com or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered professional engineer. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.