NPDES Requirements

Storm Water Management Plan, March 30, 2007

The City and County of Honolulu, through the Storm Water Management Program (SWMP), is legally bound to implement the mandates of a 1987 amendment  to the Federal Clean Water Act and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit. The federal government regulates water that enters the ocean and other bodies of water. This federal regulation requires permits for stormwater discharges from Muncipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems or MS4s in urbanized areas and for construction activities disturbing one or more acres. Changes at the local and statewide level have included new requirements to further reduce the amounts of pollutants entering the ocean and other bodies of water.

To do this, we need the help of everyone who lives on Oahu. Permits for regulated MS4s require the development, implementation and enforcement of a Storm Water Management Program that includes the following "six minimum control measures":

(1) public education and outreach on storm water impacts;
(2) public involvement/participation;
(3) illicit discharge detection and elimination;
(4) construction site storm water runoff control;
(5) post-construction storm water management in new developments and redevelopments; and
(6) pollution prevention/good housekeeping for municipal operations.

On February 28, 2006, NPDES Permit No. HI S000002 was issued by the Hawaii Department of Health to the City and County of Honolulu.  The effective date is March 31, 2006 for another five-year period ending midnight, September 8, 2009.

For more information, please use the online form under contact us.