BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR CONTROL OF TOXIC AND
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
C. W. Stuewe, Group Manager
J. G. Geary, Project Engineer
Hydroscience, Inc.
Knoxville, Tennessee 37919
H. M. Thron, Jr., Staff Chemical Engineer
Office of Water Enforcement
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20460
INTRODUCTION
The Federal Water PoUution Control Act of 1972 as amended by the Clean Water Act of
1977 has as its cornerstone the poUcy of controUing poUution at its source. To implement
this pohcy, EPA relies heavdy on the National Podutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES) permit program. Any owner or operator of a facility that discharges to waters of
the U.S. must have an NPDES permit to comply with the legal requirements of the Clean
Water Act [ 1 ]. The NPDES permit program has been relatively successful in controUing the
major sources of conventional water poUution in the nation by imposing effluent limitations
in permits, normaUy dady mass load limits, on poUutant characteristics such as BOD, COD,
TSS and pH, and on certain heavy metals. As we enter the second or post-1977 phase of
NPDES permits issuance-most permits were issued in 1973-74 with an effective life of 5
years—it is essential to adopt a more comprehensive approach to poUution control efforts
by emphasizing the control of the toxic poUutants. It is toward this goal of total plant-site
control of toxic and hazardous poUutants that best management practices (BMP) are directed.
Congress authorized EPA to develop BMP for industrial dischargers in section 304(e) of the
Clean Water Act of 1977 [2]. Before industrial BMP are discussed in detad, it should be
understood that the concept of BMP for water poUution abatement is not new. The following
examples of BMP used by the EPA dlustrate the usefulness of this qualitative or procedural
approach to water poUution abatement:
Dredge and Fid Program-In this program the agency uses BMP to prevent or minimize the
environmental consequences of discharging dredged or fill materials into streams, lakes, wetlands or other water bodies. These BMP are procedures or practices to minimize changes in
stream or current flow, to prevent increases in sediment loads and the introduction of chemicals into our waterways.
Areawide Waste Treatment Management (208) Program—Here the EPA uses BMP to define
measures for controUing nonpoint sources of poUution, e.g., agriculture, silviculture and
mining activities.
Urban Stormwater Runoff Program—The agency uses BMP in this program to minimize the
adverse impacts on water quality of runoff from urban areas through a source control program
stressing the reduction or prevention of runoff poUution. The central theme of urban runoff
control is to minimize poUution reaching the coUection system or receiving water by using
BMP. Flow attenuation-increasing the time of concentration and decreasing the magnitude
of the peak runoff-is the basis for many of the urban stormwater management BMP.
National PoUutant Discharge Elimination (NPDES) Permit Program-The most recent application of the BMP approach to abate poUution is the use of BMP in the NPDES program, with
the aim of preventing or minimizing the release of toxic or hazardous substances to the surface
waters from ancdlary industrial sources.
Several general characteristics of BMP are noteworthy.  First, they frequently are procedural and suggest methods or practices to accomplish certain goals. Second, they normally are
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