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NIH Environmental Management System

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Stormwater

​NIH implements a multi-faceted approach to stormwater management incorporating a range of best management practices (BMPs) to control the effects of stormwater and maintain compliance with federal, state and local requirements.  The stormwater program addresses the NEMS Aspect of liquid discharges to ground and/or stormwater and soil erosion and pursues objectives to meet the comprehensive compliance requirements of the state National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Phase II program.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Stormwater Phase II Rule establishes a municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) stormwater management program that is intended to improve the Nation’s waterways by reducing the quantity of pollutants that stormwater picks up and carries into storm sewer systems during storm events.

In December 1999, the EPA promulgated NPDES Phase II stormwater requirements, and as of April 2003, these requirements have been implemented in Maryland through the Maryland Department of the Environment, Water Management Administration (MDE/WMA) by adoption of General Discharge Permit (#03-IM-5500)/General NPDES Permit (#MDR055501). In Maryland, the Phase II requirements affect approximately 60 State and Federal facilities including the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) manages its stormwater program through various general discharge permits, which include (but are not limited to) fire hydrant testing and construction activity. General permits offer a cost-effective and expeditious option for permittees to obtain coverage under NPDES and state discharge permits.

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