2022 10 18 City Council

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RESOLUTION NO. 2022-26 
 
A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE SUBMISSION OF NOTICE OF INTENT TO TDEC FOR 
PHASE II MS4 PERMIT COVERAGE 
 
 WHEREAS, in response to the 1987 Amendments to the Clean Water Act (CWA), the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed Phase I of the National Pollutant Discharge 
Elimination System (NPDES) Stormwater Program in 1990 , and  u nder Phase I, EPA required 
NPDES permit coverage for stormwater discharges from "Medium" and "Large" MS4s located in 
incorporated places or counties with populations of 100,000 or more; and, 
 
 WHEREAS, t he City of Athens maintains a P hase II Municipal Separate Storm Sewer 
System (MS4) permit with the State of Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation 
(TDEC) as this permit is required of municipalities and other agencies that maintain stormwater 
systems that discharge into Waters of the State (WOTUS); and, 
 
 WHEREAS, maintaining this permit is mandatory in order to comply with the State as the 
State has its own permit in order to comply with EPA NPDES requirements and this is a cascading 
chain of responsibility that is federally mandated and unfunded as part of the NDPES program ; 
and, 
 
 WHEREAS, the most recent version of the statewide permit requirements was  issued on 
September 1, 2022  and the State, as part of its permit with the EPA, requires that all currently 
permitted Tennessee MS4 permittees submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) for coverage within 90 days 
of the permit being issued to maintain compliance; and, 
 
 WHEREAS, the NOI is a formal declaration by the permittee that it acknowledges new 
permit requirements, and that it intends to implement any policies, procedures, ordinances, and 
any other mechanisms as necessary within the State’s required timeline to sa tisfy the 
requirements of the new permit and Athens is required to achieve compliance within 12 months 
of issuance of Notice of Coverage (NOC); and 
 
WHEREAS, t he Public Works Department is requesting that  City Council authorize the 
Mayor, or City Manager in his absence, to be a signatory authority – in addition authorizing the 
Public Works Director as an additional administrative signatory authority; and,  
 
WHEREAS, the Public Works Department is requesting that City Council assign both 
signatory authorities the legal responsibility to complete all necessary forms, documents, and 
declarations as part of the City’s NOI for coverage that must be submitted to the State no later 
than December 1, 2022. 
 
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Athens, Tennessee, as 
follows: 
 
That the recitals above are true and accurate and form a part of this Resolution; and 
 
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