Integrated Planning for Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater
What's New
- Long-term Stormwater Planning
- Integrated Planning Toolkit for Permitting Authorities
- Integrated Planning StoryMap
- Leveraging the Integrated Planning Framework for Advancing Climate Resilience and Environmental Justice (pdf)
Integrated Planning Overview
For over 50 years, EPA, states, and municipalities have made significant progress protecting our waters through implementation of the Clean Water Act (CWA). However, challenges remain. As the nation faces population growth, aging infrastructure, limited resources, and increasingly complex water quality issues, new approaches to address CWA requirements are being explored.
Focusing on each CWA requirement individually may constrain a municipality from addressing its most serious water quality issues first. Recognizing the limits of this approach, in 2012, EPA developed an integrated planning framework that offers a voluntary opportunity for a municipality to develop an integrated plan to meet multiple CWA requirements.
On January 14, 2019, the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (WIIA) (H.R. 7279) became law. WIIA added a new Section 402(s) to the CWA to amend the CWA to include the 2012 Integrated Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater Planning Approach Framework. See the discussion below on WIIA for details.
- Integrated Planning Basics Fact Sheet (pdf)
- Integrated Planning Getting Started Fact Sheet (pdf)
- Integrated Planning in Action: Funding Integrated Plan Implementation (pdf)
- Integrated Planning in Action: Funding the Development of an Integrated Plan (pdf)
- Determining Requirements and Drivers Fact Sheet (pdf)
- Adapting for Success Fact Sheet (pdf)
On December 3, 2019, EPA issued a memorandum to highlight new provisions in WIIA, describe how EPA will support implementation of WIIA, and provide a preliminary list of integrated plans.
In May 2023, EPA released a toolkit for permitting authorities to review integrated plans and incorporate them into permits.
- IP Toolkit Module 1 - Informing (pdf)
- IP Toolkit Module 2 - Collaborating (pdf)
- IP Toolkit Module 3 - Incorporating (pdf)
- Integrated Planning Toolkit Module 3 Workbook (xlsm)
Integrated Planning Elements
An integrated plan is a process that identifies efficiencies from separate wastewater and stormwater programs to best prioritize capital investments and achieve our human health and water quality objectives. This approach can also lead to more sustainable and comprehensive solutions, such as green infrastructure, that improve water quality and provide multiple benefits that enhance community vitality.
The six elements of an integrated plan from the 2012 Integrated Planning Framework:
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | A description of the water quality, human health and regulatory issues to be addressed in the plan. |
| 2 | A description of existing wastewater and stormwater systems under consideration and summary information describing the systems’ current performance. |
| 3 | A process which opens and maintains channels of communication with relevant community stakeholders in order to give full consideration of the views of others in the planning process and during implementation of the plan. |
| 4 | A process for identifying, evaluating, and selecting alternatives and proposing implementation schedules. |
| 5 | A process for evaluating the performance of projects identified in a plan, which may include evaluation of monitoring data, information developed by pilot studies and other studies. |
| 6 | A process for identifying, evaluating and selecting proposed new projects or modifications to ongoing or planned projects and implementation schedules based on changing circumstance. |
Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (WIIA)
The Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (WIIA) (HR 7279), enacted on January 14, 2019, added a new Section 402(s) to the CWA to amend the CWA to include the 2012 Integrated Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater Planning Approach Framework. WIIA provides greater certainty that integrated planning provides a comprehensive path a municipality can take voluntarily to meet CWA requirements.
The new amendments require NPDES permitting authorities to inform municipalities that they can develop voluntarily an integrated plan that may be incorporated into permits, consent decrees, or administrative orders.
In June of 2021, EPA released a Report to Congress on Integrated Plans to Comply with the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (WIIA) of 2019. WIIA amended the CWA to include the 2012 Integrated Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater Planning Approach Framework. To date, more than two dozen municipalities have developed integrated plans. Of those, 13 have implemented their plans through a permit, order, or judicial consent decree. Profiles of the municipalities are showcased in the report.