EPA Adds Stormwater Requirements For Some Melrose, Mystic River Sites

MELROSE, MA — Recent action from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will add stormwater runoff management requirements for some Melrose commercial and industrial properties in an effort to improve water quality in the Mystic River Watershed, the EPA announced on Wednesday.

The regulations are part of a larger bid to fight stormwater pollution in the Charles, Neponset and Mystic river watersheds. Together, the EPA said it will require certain commercial, industrial and institutional properties with one or more acres of impervious surfaces to take steps to limit stormwater runoff from their sites.

Impervious surfaces can include surfaces such as parking lots, roofs and roadways that prevent stormwater from soaking directly into the ground. Large areas of impervious surfaces can lead to storm runoff, which can pick up various pollutants and contaminants as it drains into a given waterway.

The EPA noted that storm runoff can then worsen various toxic algal blooms in waterways, among other things, by introducing phosphorus, nitrogen and bacteria into water.

“EPA is taking strong, decisive action to ensure that all our citizens have access to local waterways that support enjoyment and recreation,” EPA New England Regional Administrator David Cash said in the agency’s regulation announcement this week. “It is clear that the nature and scale of the problem requires urgent action on this pressing environmental justice concern.”

The EPA took action under a provision of the Clean Water Act known as “residual designation authority.”

Properties impacted by this new EPA action will need to get a permit to discharge stormwater. The permit, in turn, will spell out required stormwater mitigation steps, the EPA said.

Required steps could include measures such as leaf litter pickup, parking lot sweeping or tree planting. Permits could also call for engineering responses, including various infiltration practices, pavement area reductions, or use of pervious pavement that allows water to flow into soil without pooling or running off large parking lots, the EPA said.

While focused on runoff, the EPA said these measures could offer “secondary benefits,” such as new more green infrastructure, decreased flooding and lessened heat island effects, which arise when certain urban landscapes like parking lots help heat up the surrounding areas.

The Mystic Valley Watershed includes parts of more than 20 communities from Boston to Reading, including more than half of Melrose.

The EPA already regulates municipalities in the Mystic Watershed as well as the Charles, and Neponset river watersheds, requiring various city and town-level mitigation measures. Commercial, industrial and institutional sites remained unregulated prior to this latest action, however, according to the EPA.

The EPA said its latest move will shift some burden off area cities and towns and onto some of the sites that it said are responsible for large amounts of runoff.

“Cities and towns in the watersheds have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in stormwater and sewer improvements,” the EPA said in its announcement. “As a result, much progress has been achieved making the rivers safer for recreation, such as boating and, in some cases, swimming. By employing residual designation authority, EPA is today addressing one of the last remaining unregulated sources of pollution harming the rivers.”

While the EPA has not publicly identified specific sites impacted by its action this week, it said sites could include office parks, industrial parks, shopping centers, private colleges and universities, and hospitals that meet its one-acre of impervious surfaces threshold.

The EPA rolled out additional information alongside its announcement on Wednesday, telling impacted property owners that no action is required on their part for the time being.

Once the EPA develops a general permit or permits, properties will then have to obtain coverage and begin to comply with stormwater mitigation requirements.

The EPA has previously faced criticism from some environmental groups who said it had not done enough to protect rivers in the Boston area.

Though now stepping up regulations, the agency saw a lawsuit earlier this year from groups frustrated about what they viewed as previous inaction, as reported by NBC Boston.