Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 76.93
Liaison Ezra Small
Submission Date March 6, 2020

STARS v2.2

University of Massachusetts Amherst
OP-22: Rainwater Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Ezra Small
Sustainability Manager
Physical Plant
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Which of the following best describes the institution’s approach to rainwater management?:
Comprehensive policies, plans or guidelines that require LID practices for all new projects

A brief description of the institution’s green infrastructure and LID practices:

Strategies include rain gardens, water efficient landscaping, innovative wastewater technologies like water catchment tanks for flushing, and permeable pavement.


A copy of the institution’s rainwater management policy, plan, and/or guidelines:
A brief description of the institution’s rainwater management policy, plan, and/or guidelines that supports the responses above:

STATE AND FEDERAL MANDATE:
On May 1, 2003, EPA Region 1 issued its Final General Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Small
Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (2003 small MS4 permit) consistent with the Phase II rule. The 2003 small MS4 permit covered "traditional" (i.e., cities and towns) and "non-traditional" (i.e., Federal and state agencies) MS4 Operators located in the states of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Under the 2016 MS4 general permit, which became effective on July 1, 2018, the town of Amherst was added as an urbanized area, thus UMass Amherst falls under the “non-traditional General Permit# MAR042056. The permit expires on July 1, 2023. The permit is issued and managed by both the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MADEP).

On September 27, 2018, UMass submitted a Notice of Intent (NOI). The NOI can be viewed at the website:
https://www3.epa.gov/region1/npdes/stormwater/ma/ntms4noi/umass-amherst.pdf

On July 2, 2019, UMass received the authorization to discharge from our MS4 from EPA under Permit # MAR042056.

UMass Amherst is currently working on the Storm Water Management Program (SWMP), Per the General Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This document is in draft form and last updated in September, 2019. This document addresses how the University is addressing the MS4 mandate in terms of identification of all receiving waters, endangered and threatened species and critical habitat, measures to protect threatened species, historic properties, providing a map of the separate storm sewer system, annual program self evaluation and reporting/record keeping procedures, water quality standards, controls to reduce pollutants, BMP's, Goals and Implementation schedule, public education and outreach program, public inolvement and participation, site planning and design, construction and post construction storm water management program, facilities operations and maintenance plan, lake phosphorus control plan, and nitrogen source identification reporting. See attached below.

NEW CONSTRUCTION GREEN BUILDING GUIDELINES:
All new construction and major renovations meets LEED for New Construction v4 stormwater management related credits: SSc4: Rainwater Management; WEp1: Outdoor Water Use Reduction.


Website URL where information about the institution’s green infrastructure and LID practices is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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