(a) Unless you qualify for a waiver under paragraph (c) of this section, you are regulated if you operate a small MS4, including but not limited to systems operated by federal, State, Tribal, and local governments, including State departments of transportation; and:

(1) Your small MS4 is located in an urban area with a population of 50,000 or more people as determined by the latest Decennial Census by the Bureau of the Census. (If your small MS4 is not located entirely within an urban area with a population of 50,000 or more people, only the portion that is within this urban area is regulated); or

(2) You are designated by the NPDES permitting authority, including where the designation is pursuant to §§ 123.35(b)(3) and (b)(4) of this chapter, or is based upon a petition under § 122.26(f).

(b) You may be the subject of a petition to the NPDES permitting authority to require an NPDES permit for your discharge of storm water. If the NPDES permitting authority determines that you need a permit, you are required to comply with §§ 122.33 through 122.35.

(c) The NPDES permitting authority may waive the requirements otherwise applicable to you if you meet the criteria of paragraph (d) or (e) of this section. If you receive a waiver under this section, you may subsequently be required to seek coverage under an NPDES permit in accordance with § 122.33(a) if circumstances change. (See also § 123.35(b) of this chapter.)

(d) The NPDES permitting authority may waive permit coverage if your MS4 serves a population of less than 1,000 within the urban area identified in paragraph (a)(1) of this section and you meet the following criteria:

(1) Your system is not contributing substantially to the pollutant loadings of a physically interconnected MS4 that is regulated by the NPDES storm water program (see § 123.35(b)(4) of this chapter); and

(2) If you discharge any pollutant(s) that have been identified as a cause of impairment of any water body to which you discharge, storm water controls are not needed based on wasteload allocations that are part of an EPA approved or established “total maximum daily load” (TMDL) that addresses the pollutant(s) of concern.

(e) The NPDES permitting authority may waive permit coverage if your MS4 serves a population under 10,000 and you meet the following criteria:

(1) The permitting authority has evaluated all waters of the U.S., including small streams, tributaries, lakes, and ponds, that receive a discharge from your MS4;

(2) For all such waters, the permitting authority has determined that storm water controls are not needed based on wasteload allocations that are part of an EPA approved or established TMDL that addresses the pollutant(s) of concern or, if a TMDL has not been developed or approved, an equivalent analysis that determines sources and allocations for the pollutant(s) of concern;

(3) For the purpose of this paragraph (e), the pollutant(s) of concern include biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), sediment or a parameter that addresses sediment (such as total suspended solids, turbidity or siltation), pathogens, oil and grease, and any pollutant that has been identified as a cause of impairment of any water body that will receive a discharge from your MS4; and

(4) The permitting authority has determined that future discharges from your MS4 do not have the potential to result in exceedances of water quality standards, including impairment of designated uses, or other significant water quality impacts, including habitat and biological impacts.