Des Plaines, IL
Home MenuNational Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
Water pollution degrades surface waters and makes them unsafe for drinking, fishing, swimming, and other activities. As authorized by the Clean Water Act, the federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program controls water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into waters of the United States.
Similar to other cities across the region and country, the City of Des Plaines maintains two types of permits with the EPA under the NDPES program: Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit and Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Permit.
Below is information regarding each of the programs.
Polluted storm water runoff is often transported to Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s) and discharged into local rivers and streams without treatment. The EPA's Stormwater Phase II Rule establishes an MS4 program to improve the waterways by reducing the pollutants that stormwater picks up and carries into storm sewer systems.
Common pollutants include oil and grease from roadways, pesticides from lawns, sediment from construction sites, and trash such as cigarette butts, paper wrappers, and plastic bottles. These pollutants can impair waterways, discouraging recreational use of the resource, contaminating drinking water supplies, and interfering with wildlife habitats.
In 1990, the EPA promulgated rules establishing Phase I of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) stormwater program. The Phase I program requires operators of "medium" and "large" MS4s, who generally serve populations of over 100,000 people, to implement a stormwater management program to control polluted discharges. The Stormwater Phase II Rule extends coverage of the NPDES stormwater program to certain "small" MS4s, but takes a slightly different approach to program development and implementation.
Listed below are documents from the City of Des Plaines' efforts as part of its federal NPDES MS4 Phase II permit. A full explanation of the NPDES MS4 program can be found on the USEPA and IEPA's websites.
Annual Reports:
2022-23 NPDES MS4 Annual Report
2021-22 NPDES MS4 Annual Report
2020-21 NPDES MS4 Annual Report
2019-20 NPDES MS4 Annual Report
2018-19 NPDES MS4 Annual Report
Additional Documents:
MS4 EPA Notice of Intent 2013
General NPDES Permit ILR40
General NPDES Permit ILR10