NCS000458_Hope Mills MS4 Permit Enforcement_20220516

From:Powell, Jeanette
To:"Elisabeth Brown"
Cc:Meszaros, Scott W
Subject:RE: [External] FW: NCS000458: Hope Mills MS4 Permit Compliance & Enforcement
Date:Monday, May 16, 2022 7:46:00 AM
Hi Beth,

Thank you for the status update. In order to put the Town in the best position under the
circumstances, I suggest the following course of action:

1. Submit the 2 page permit renewal application form via email by close of business this
Wednesday (05/18/22). This will alleviate the failure to reapply and operating without a
permit issues, which are also enforceable by EPA as federal violations.

2. Submit a signed letter outlining the Town’s plan to develop and submit a self-audit, and
include a specific submittal deadline that the Town can meet. This will help alleviate the
“willful non-compliance” component of enforcement proceedings and penalty assessment.

These two actions will not take long to execute and will greatly improve the Town’s position. Please
let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Regards,
J

Jeanette Powell
MS4 Program Coordinator
919-707-3620
[e-mail]

North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
Division of Energy, Mineral & Land Resources Stormwater Program
512 N. Salisbury Street, 6th Floor
1612 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1612

Email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be
disclosed to third parties.

https://deq.nc.gov/sw

From: Elisabeth Brown <[e-mail]>
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2022 4:00 PM
To: Powell, Jeanette <[e-mail]>
Cc: Meszaros, Scott W <[e-mail]>
Subject: [External] FW: NCS000458: Hope Mills MS4 Permit Compliance & Enforcement

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Good Afternoon Jeanette,
I am currently working on the self-audit for submittal. Unfortunately I did not understand this was a
requirement because we were audited this past year. I will send this over as soon as possible.

Our NOD states (#3) that we submit the permit application after we received DEQ concurrence with
our Draft SWMP, which we haven’t received (but clearly that’s because the self-audit wasn’t
submitted). So I apologize for the confusion and ignorance on my end, I will get everything over as
quickly as possible.

We were trying desperately not to screw up the requirements for getting our new permit but the
whole process has been very different. Hopefully you understand that we haven’t intentionally
failed to submit.
Respectfully,

Beth Brown, CFM
Stormwater and Floodplain Administrator
Town of Hope Mills
5770 Rockfish Rd. Hope Mills, NC 28348
[phone] Ext. 3516
email: [e-mail] website: www.townofhopemills.com
E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be
disclosed to third parties

From: Scott Meszaros <[e-mail]>
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2022 3:09 PM
To: Elisabeth Brown <[e-mail]>
Subject: Fwd: NCS000458: Hope Mills MS4 Permit Compliance & Enforcement

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From: "Powell, Jeanette" <[e-mail]>
Date: May 13, 2022 at 2:38:50 PM EDT
To: Scott Meszaros <[e-mail]>
Subject: NCS000458: Hope Mills MS4 Permit Compliance & Enforcement

Hi Scott,
This is a follow up to the voice mail that I left for you today. DEQ is in the process of
preparing the list of MS4s subject to enforcement and penalties. In order to avoid
taking enforcement action, I am reaching out one last time to try and obtain the
necessary documents from the Town of Hope Mills:
1. The MS4 Permit Renewal Application form was due on August 23, 2021 and the
permit has expired. An electronic copy of the application form should be
emailed to me ASAP, and an original “wet” signature application form should be
mailed to the address below. Failure to submit a permit renewal application
immediately will result in a Notice of Violation and issuance of penalties for
failure to reapply and operating without a permit.

2. Hope Mills was issued a Notice of Deficiency # NOD-2021-PC-0388. This resulted
from a permit compliance audit, which found the Town’s stormwater program to
be deficient. Per the NOD, the required Self-Audit was due on 10/25/2021.
Failure to submit self-audit within thirty (30) days will result in a Notice of
Recommendation for Enforcement and penalty assessments.
You can access the Town’s complete permit file via the Stormwater Program Laserfiche
Repository. Please contact me immediately if you have any questions. I am best
reached via email.
Regards,
J
Jeanette Powell
MS4 Program Coordinator
919-707-3620
[e-mail]

North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
Division of Energy, Mineral & Land Resources Stormwater Program
512 N. Salisbury Street, 6th Floor
1612 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1612

Email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law
and may be disclosed to third parties.

https://deq.nc.gov/sw