Stormwater Management Permit

The City of Haverhill has developed a Storm Water Management Program to address stormwater runoff control for land disturbances within the city of 1 acre or more to minimize and avoid the adverse effects of soil erosion and sedimentation, construction site runoff, increased post-development stormwater runoff, decreased groundwater recharge, and nonpoint source pollution associated with new development, redevelopment and other land alterations.

This program was adopted to meet the requirements of Chapter 219 “Stormwater Management” of the City Code (adopted by City Council on June 26, 2018 by Doc. 121) and the City’s 2016 Small Municipal Separate Stormwater Sewer Systems (MS4) permit under the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Stormwater discharge permit program.

Prior to any land disturbance in the City for the purposes of development or redevelopment of 1 acre or more of land area, the property owner must submit a Stormwater Management Permit (SMP) application to the City and receive approval of the permit by the Director of the Department of Public Works (DPW) or his designee.

The SMP application requires the preparation of an Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan to address temporary stormwater runoff and erosion control during construction and a stormwater management plan for post-development stormwater control. Applicants will develop the stormwater management plan in accordance with the goals of the USEPA General Construction Permit, Massachusetts Stormwater Handbook, Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act, M.G.L. Chapter 131, Section 40, and Haverhill Municipal Ordinance Chapter 253.

A Certificate of Completion will be executed by the City after the project is performed and finished in accordance with the SMP. Operation and maintenance of any temporary Best Management Practices (BMPs) established under an Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan is the responsibility of the property owner and may be subject to inspection by the City. The Owner will be required to execute an Operations and Maintenance Agreement (OMA) for any required post-development BMPs for the site and follow the annual certification requirements of the agreement.

Chapter 219 Stormwater Management establishes the permit application, technical review, and annual fees, and any other miscellaneous costs, associated with the implementation of the City’s Stormwater Management Program. The City is authorized and will conduct periodic inspections of the site during and after construction to ensure compliance with these regulations to avoid the adverse effects of uncontrolled site runoff.

Compliance with this program is required under Chapter 219 and the City’s MS4 NPDES Stormwater Permit. Determinations of noncompliance and enforcement of the permit requirements is under the jurisdiction of the DPW Director. Chapter 219 includes fines/penalties and legal remedies if the property owner is in non-compliance.

The Director or his designee will keep all records generated for each property that is included in the Stormwater Management program in compliance with the City’s NPDES permit. These records may include the SMP, formal Site Planning Review comments, approval of the SMP, Certificate of Completion, Post-development BMP OMAs, and all site inspection notes and/or determinations of compliance/non-compliance. 

For permit assistance: stormwater@cityofhaverhill.com.