Stormwater Consulting Services and Compliance Support
We offer professional consulting services and compliance support for a variety of special needs including enforcement regulator response and professional representation (i.e., Show Cause), BMP product evaluation and national compliance program development. Compliance support activities can include but are not limited to:

• Rapid response to regulatory inspections
• Review of SWPPP and inspection reports with regulators
• Written reports and correspondence related to regulatory actions
• Attendance and support of show cause meetings
• Face-to-face and phone consultation regarding strategy, options, and remedies

Program Development
SEH advocates that a consistent program be developed that governs the rules, roles and responsibilities of all aspects of the program. Someone needs to own this plan and lead the organization through the cultural acceptance of the policies and procedures. If this is done well then the company will not only reduce their risk, but it will find ways to optimize processes, which save time and money. Your Compliance Alliance team at SEH is well positioned to help you develop your own program or operate just part of the program. What follows is just a short list of some of our program development tool kit.

• Leadership Development & Delivery
• Program Guidance Materials & Tools
• Program Templates (SWPPP, Inspections)
• Custom Compliance Databases and software systems
• Environmental Management Systems
• Program Audits & Appraisals
• Partner Evaluations (Civil/Consultant/Contractors)

Permit Applications
We help you get your paperwork in order before you start your project, helping you to avoid unnecessary delays in commencing site work. Our stormwater professionals can help you:

• Prepare the Notice of Intent and guide you through the submission process for obtaining permit coverage
• Monitor applicable permit changes or updates
• Prepare the Notice of Termination application for permit closure
• Simplify the process by managing the application fees

Audit Services
Are you exposed to any risk? We identify potential permit violations and provide solutions that minimize risk and provide a clear approach to stormwater compliance. Our trained professionals audit your site in accordance with all applicable stormwater regulations having jurisdiction. The Stormwater Audit follows the industry accepted standard Expedited Settlement Offer (ESO) checklist as established and used by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Education Services
We provide stormwater compliance training courses specially designed for land and construction management. Our curriculum teaches the compliance basics for anyone involved in the construction process, as well as compliance manuals and reference guides. Training can be coordinated for online use or live in a classroom.

Construction/Municipal NPDES Permitting

Achieving stormwater compliance is more complex than it appears at first glance. Whether you are a city or county, home builder, developer, or general contractor it is difficult to keep up with changing regulations, the rising costs of compliance, and enforcement issues. SEH offers its Compliance Alliance team to help you manage that complexity. Our team helps you balance two key aspects of your stormwater program:

1. Cost-effectively meeting regulatory requirements as well as your own internal program standards.
2. Closing gaps in your program so the risk of non-compliance is reduced.

Optimize Your Compliance Practices
With more than 80 years of experience, national perspectives and industry relationships, SEH can be trusted to provide real solutions. SEH offers the ability to design lower cost solutions, improve project efficiencies, streamline the flow of information, and implement complete compliance programs. These solutions will yield results for your organization and the environment. Compliance Alliance solutions address the unique challenges and needs of the municipal and construction markets.

Stormwater Compliance at a Glance
Water pollution degrades surface waters making them unsafe for drinking, fishing, swimming, and other activities. As authorized by the Clean Water Act, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) controls water pollution by regulating point and non-point sources that discharge pollutants into waters of the United States. Point sources, the original target of the CWA, are discrete conveyances such as pipes or man-made ditches. Individual homes that are connected to a municipal system, use a septic system, or do not have a surface discharge do not need an NPDES permit; however, industrial, municipal, and other facilities must obtain permits if their discharges go directly to surface waters.

Non-Point sources are typified by stormwater run-off which falls in a broad area and flows over land until collected by a ditch, channel, curb line, drain inlet, pond, or other stormwater conveyance. Most active construction sites fall into the non-point source program of NPDES.

Since its introduction, the NPDES permit program has been responsible for significant improvements to our Nation's water quality. SEH provides expert guidance to facility owners, developers and contractors to navigate and comply with local, state and federal stormwater regulations.

Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP)

You need a plan. We can help develop your plan
By law, construction sites over one acre in size, or smaller sites that are part of larger developments, must obtain a stormwater discharge permit. While the permit requirements vary state to state, at a minimum the project owner must create a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) that identifies potential pollutants, describes the actions to be taken on site to minimize the risk of pollutants leaving the site, and specifies an inspection program to monitor the effectiveness of the SWPPP and conditions on site on a recurring basis.

Your construction site’s SWPPP will typically address potential pollutants through a combination of temporary and permanent Best Management Practices (BMPs). The BMPs need to address erosion and sediment control. The plan will also specify how to manage other pollutants such as chemicals used on site, solid waste management, concrete, paint & stucco wash water, and potential spills and leaks from vehicle and equipment operations.

SWPPPs developed by SEH are distinctive. Over the years we have noticed that SWPPP writing for many in the industry has deteriorated into more of a word processing game. Cutting corners in the SWPPP writing phase leads to increased risk of non-compliance and higher cost of compliance over the life of a construction project, and you can be assured that we will not cut corners in your SWPPP design. We know that every site is different and requires an experienced eye. Site topography and soil conditions vary greatly and some sites have issues with nearby sensitive water bodes. Local availability of cost effective BMPs, and state or locally mandated BMPs vary as well. If you don’t have a team looking out for these issues up front it only gets more expensive down the road.

We help our clients develop plans that:

• Clearly identify your onsite areas of concern
• Create an action plan for directing onsite activity
• Meet all regulatory requirements.
• Reduce risk and manage costs effectively
• Put you in control of compliance

Stormwater Compliance Inspection Services

We can help you monitor, administer, and report on your plan
Whether SEH developed your SWPPP or not, our Compliance Alliance Services Program offers the ongoing site monitoring that is required for implementing your SWPPP to the satisfaction of regulators. Our dedicated team of inspectors provides the on-site expertise you need to stay on track. Our teams use SEH’s PermiTrackESC inspection software to streamline communication and give you online access to permits, SWPPPs, inspection reports, and site specific message boards.

By subscribing to our Stormwater Compliance Inspection Services, we remove the headaches associated with stormwater compliance so you can focus on your core business. Additionally, our compliance inspection team is geared towards educating our clients to uncover any inefficient or wasteful erosion and sediment control practices. Identifying and changing these practices can result in significant savings. In particular, identifying poor quality installations and repeated incidents of damage to Best Management Practices (BMPs) by contractors on a site has the potential to create enough savings to make the inspection program self-funding.

SEH stormwater compliance inspection services include:

• Providing highly trained, experienced and/or certified personnel to perform inspections in accordance with applicable local and state regulating authority
• Reviewing the Plan during each regular inspection to make sure the current site activity is recorded properly
• Working with site managers to update the Plan to reflect changes in site conditions and construction progress or phasing
• Preparing an inspection report onsite and making it available electronically
• Providing streamlined notification of non-compliance issues observed in the field to your designated contact and the BMP vendor of your choice
• Maintaining an ongoing database of inspection and corrective action reports through PermiTrackESC