Stormwater MS4 compliance software that turns a year of small activities into the annual report
Stormwater MS4 compliance is the work an operator of a municipal separate storm sewer system does to hold and keep NPDES permit coverage. A permitted small MS4 must run a written stormwater management program covering six minimum control measures, from public education to good housekeeping. The Phase I rule of 1990 covered systems serving 100,000 or more people and the Phase II rule of 1999 extended coverage to urban areas of 50,000 or more. Neurobird records the activity, the evidence and the measurable goal together.
Neurobird Stormwater MS4 Compliance in short
- Attach every activity to the minimum control measure and measurable goal it evidences
- Track outfall screening and illicit discharge investigations from report to resolution
- Log construction site and post construction reviews with the acreage that triggered them
- 100,000 The Phase I stormwater rule, promulgated in 1990, applied NPDES permit coverage to medium and large MS4s generally serving populations of 100,000 or greater, to construction disturbing 5 acres or more, and to ten categories of industrial activity. US EPA, Stormwater Phase II final rule factsheet
- 50,000 The Phase II rule, promulgated in 1999, expanded the program to operators of MS4s in urban areas with a population of 50,000 or more people, and to operators of small construction sites. US EPA, Stormwater Phase II final rule factsheet
- Pricing runs 130 to 600 US dollars per month across 3 tiers. Early access is free.
What MS4 permit holders actually deal with
Why it stays broken
An MS4 program is not one job, it is six programs run by departments that do not report to each other. Public works screens outfalls, planning reviews construction sites, the clerk files the public notice, and nobody owns the folder. Once a year somebody has to prove all of it happened, from records that were never designed to prove anything.
A 61 outfall system generates hundreds of small compliance events a year and one annual report that has to account for every category.
The Muck Stops Here: Construction Site Erosion and Sediment Control Basics is a training tool that provides specific examples of effective practices seen at active construction sites.
Neurobird Stormwater MS4 Compliance Compliance Platform
Record the activity where it happens and tag it to the measure it evidences. The annual report stops being a writing project and becomes a query against a year that was already logged.
- 1Attach every activity to the minimum control measure and measurable goal it evidences
- 2Track outfall screening and illicit discharge investigations from report to resolution
- 3Log construction site and post construction reviews with the acreage that triggered them
- 4Assemble the annual report from the year that actually happened rather than from memory
What changes with Neurobird Stormwater MS4 Compliance?
The same work, read left to right: how it runs today, and how it runs once the record is in one place.
| Today | With Neurobird Stormwater MS4 Compliance |
|---|---|
| The permit contains six minimum control measures and each one is really a year of small activities that have to be evidenced separately | Attach every activity to the minimum control measure and measurable goal it evidences |
| Illicit discharge screening, construction site reviews and good housekeeping are done by three different departments who do not share a filing system | Track outfall screening and illicit discharge investigations from report to resolution |
| The annual report is written from scratch every year because nothing was recorded in a shape the report could use | Log construction site and post construction reviews with the acreage that triggered them |
Who is this for?
Same permit, three different operators.
You are the whole program
One coordinator wearing four hats. You need the annual report to build itself from what you already did.
You run several jurisdictions
Co permittees report differently and the state wants one submission. You need the same fields captured in every town.
You are a non traditional MS4
Your system sits inside somebody else's watershed. You need evidence that survives an audit by two authorities.
How does Neurobird Stormwater MS4 Compliance work?
Set up the measures
The six minimum control measures and your own measurable goals become the structure, so every activity has somewhere to land.
Log the year as it happens
Outfall screenings, illicit discharge investigations, site reviews, training and outreach are captured with dates, people and evidence attached.
Assemble the report
The annual report is built from the logged year, with each claim pointing at the record that supports it.
What the numbers say about MS4 stormwater programs
Useful if you hold or write an MS4 permit. Each figure links back to the rule that set it.
The Phase I stormwater rule, promulgated in 1990, applied NPDES permit coverage to medium and large MS4s generally serving populations of 100,000 or greater, to construction disturbing 5 acres or more, and to ten categories of industrial activity.
US EPA, Stormwater Phase II final rule factsheetThe Phase II rule, promulgated in 1999, expanded the program to operators of MS4s in urban areas with a population of 50,000 or more people, and to operators of small construction sites.
US EPA, Stormwater Phase II final rule factsheetEach permitted small MS4 operator must develop a written stormwater management program describing how it will comply with six minimum control measures: public education and outreach, public participation, illicit discharge detection and elimination, construction site runoff control, post construction runoff control, and pollution prevention with good housekeeping.
US EPA, Stormwater Phase II final rule factsheetThe Federal Register citation for the Stormwater Phase II final rule. Two later actions matter as much in practice: the MS4 General Permit Remand Rule at 81 FR 89320 and the Small MS4 Urbanized Area Clarification at 88 FR 37994.
US EPA, Stormwater Phase II final rule factsheetEPA's guidance on developing an MS4 program expects the annual report to carry the results of information collected and analysed, summaries of planned stormwater activities and any changes made, which is a year of evidence rather than a summary.
US EPA, developing an MS4 programThe program, measure by measure
A working preview. Tick an activity to see which control measure it evidences.
| Requirement | Status | Next due | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual report section 4 due | current | in 42d | |
| Illicit discharge, grey water at Elm Street | due soon | in 9d | |
| Public education event, September | current | in 120d | |
| Outfall 41, dry weather screening | overdue | 3d late | |
| Construction site review, 2.4 acre lot | current | in 64d |
Tick a requirement to file evidence against it.
Stormwater ms4 compliance software questions, answered
Key terms
- What is stormwater MS4 compliance?
- MS4 stands for municipal separate storm sewer system. Compliance means holding NPDES permit coverage for stormwater the system discharges and running the program the permit requires. For a small MS4 that means a written stormwater management program describing how the operator will meet six minimum control measures.
- What are the six minimum control measures?
- Public education and outreach, public participation and involvement, illicit discharge detection and elimination, construction site runoff control, post construction runoff control, and pollution prevention with good housekeeping. Phase II requires permits to state clear, specific and measurable requirements for each one.
- What does maximum extent practicable mean in practice?
- It is the permit standard small MS4 programs are held to, alongside protecting water quality and meeting the water quality requirements of the Clean Water Act. In practice a permitting authority reads it through the measurable goals in your own stormwater management program, which is why those goals need evidence behind them.
Which systems are Phase I and which are Phase II?
The Phase I rule, promulgated in 1990, covered medium and large MS4s generally serving populations of 100,000 or greater, construction disturbing 5 acres or more, and ten categories of industrial activity. The Phase II rule, promulgated in 1999, extended coverage to MS4s in urban areas with a population of 50,000 or more and to small construction sites.
Does this replace our GIS or asset management system?
No. The pipe network and the asset register stay where they are. What lives here is the program record: activities, evidence, measurable goals and the annual report they add up to.
Why we are building this
MS4 compliance is unusual because the work is genuinely done and the proof is genuinely missing. Screening happens, training happens, the site reviews happen. None of it lands anywhere a report can reach.
So every spring an experienced person spends a fortnight reconstructing a year from calendars and inboxes, and the report is weaker than the work deserved.
We would rather build this with the coordinators who write it. Tell us how your program is evidenced, and where we have got it wrong.
Where the requirement comes from
Public sources on how MS4 permits are structured and what programs must show.
- US EPA, Stormwater Phase II final rule factsheet The Phase I and Phase II thresholds, the six minimum control measures, and the Federal Register citations for the rule and its later amendments.
- US EPA, developing an MS4 program Measurable goals guidance, annual report expectations and how total maximum daily loads feed into a stormwater management program.
- California State Water Resources Control Board, municipal stormwater A large state program view of Phase I and Phase II municipal permits and the reporting they require.
- Ohio EPA, stormwater program State general permit administration for MS4s, construction and industrial stormwater in a delegated state.
How much does Neurobird Stormwater MS4 Compliance cost?
Priced per permittee because the permit is held by one entity. Outfalls, activities and users are unlimited on every tier.
- Control measure structure
- Activity logging
- Outfall screening records
- Evidence storage
- Email support
- Everything in Small MS4
- Illicit discharge case tracking
- Measurable goal progress
- Annual report assembly
- Named contact
- Everything in Program
- Multi permittee roll up
- Co permittee reporting
- GIS import
- Onboarding included
Get free early access
If you coordinate an MS4 program, tell us how last year's annual report got written and what it cost you.
Straight answer on where this is: In development. Early access gets the working preview, a say in what ships first, and early access pricing. It does not get you a login today.
Prefer email? Write to office@neurobird.com and a person will reply. No autoresponder.