The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment, Division of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued General Permit Number ARR040000 (the Permit) to regulate stormwater discharges from certain small storm sewer systems. The original Permit was issued in 2003 and expired on January 31, 2009. The Permit has been submitted for renewal with an effective date of August 1, 2019, and directs ARDOT to “develop, implement and evaluate a Stormwater Management Program (SWMP) designed to meet the appropriate surface water quality standards’ within the designated small MS4 areas. The SWMP must contain best management practices (BMPs) designed to address each of the following six minimum control measures:
- Public Education and Outreach on Stormwater Impacts
- Public Involvement and Participation
- Illicit Discharge and Elimination
- Construction Site Stormwater Runoff Control
- Post-Construction Stormwater Management in New Development and Redevelopment
- Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping for Municipal Operators
In 2006, ARDOT began implementation of an SWMP which outlined its strategy for protecting water quality and complying with state and federal laws. The 2019 Permit contains several small revisions, which will be incorporated throughout the Permit term. To meet these conditions, ARDOT revised the SWMP. The 2019 SWMP continues most BMPs in the previous version and adds new or enhanced BMPs to fulfill permit requirements. Any citizen having comments or suggestions may contact the Environmental Division by sending an email to stormwater@ardot.gov or by calling 501.569.2281 during normal business hours.
The Department will provide annual reports to DEQ for each year of the Permit term to show progress toward meeting the goals of the SWMP. The reports are due on March 31 of each year starting in 2020. ARDOT will consider all comments received by email or post mail. Copies of each annual report submitted during the period of the Permit will be maintained on this website as they become available. Click on the link below to view a copy of the recent annual report in Adobe Acrobat format
The SWMP document is available in Adobe Acrobat by clicking on the link below: