Enforcement of the program by the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance can bring fines as high as $31,500 per day.
For more information about how to comply with the permit program, click here to reach the Construction Industry Compliance Assistance (CICA) Web site, which is sponsored jointly by the EPA and several construction industry trade associations, including NAHB.
“We’re not against enforcement,” Rayburn said. “But enforcement should be reasonable and fair, and any penalties should be commensurate with the environmental damage done. Hefty fines for record-keeping violations and other technicalities don’t help anybody.”
Also of concern to NAHB are the enforcement activities of the U.S. EPA in states that manage their own storm water permit programs. Builders and developers are being subjected to enforcement actions from federal and state authorities that may have different standards and criteria for satisfying storm water management requirements.
“If the EPA is dissatisfied with the enforcement standards of a state, then they should work it out with the state,” Rayburn said. “It is inappropriate to expect builders and developers to operate under conflicting and contradictory enforcement authorities.”
For more information from NAHB about storm water management techniques, the general permit program, enforcement and other storm water management issues, click here.
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