1969: The Cuyahoga River near Cleveland, OH caught fire – and national attention. This fire was one of thirteen recorded times the Cuyahoga ignited from 1868 to 1969 due to industrial pollution. TV coverage created a shock over a river catching fire.
1970: The first Earth Day and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
1972: Passage of the federal Clean Water Act that generally prohibited the discharge of any pollutant to navigable waters from a point source unless the discharge was authorized by a Notice of Intent (NOI) to be covered by the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit.
1987: Passage of the federal Water Quality Act, giving the EPA additional authority over stormwater. Now, municipal systems had to prohibit non-stormwater discharges into their separate storm sewer systems (MS4s).
1987: The State of Utah was granted primacy in the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program by USEPA in 1987. In Utah, stormwater discharge permits are issued by the “Director”. Utah's program is known as the Utah Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (UPDES) Program.
1999: EPA finalized the rule requiring controls of stormwater runoff from construction sites over 5 acres.
2003: Construction site over one acre are included in permit requirements as well as construction activities disturbing less than one acre if it is part of a larger common plan of development or sale disturbing a total of one acre or greater.
2003: The Utah Storm Water Advisory Committee (USWAC) formed to address stormwater issues statewide.
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