Report to Congress on Integrated Plans and Interactive StoryMap
In 2019, Congress enacted the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (WIIA), which officially recognizes the Integrated Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater Planning Framework, developed by EPA in 2012, as a voluntary path that municipalities can take to comply with the Clean Water Act. The law also directed EPA to report to Congress on the implementation of the Framework including details on municipalities with integrated plans that have been implemented through a permit, order, or judicial consent decree since June 5, 2012.
From March 2019 through July 2020, EPA reviewed integrated plan documentation nationwide to gather information on how many communities engaged in the process, what challenges they focused their planning on, how they engaged with their community, and how the process supported achieving their Clean Water Act goals.
To date, more than two dozen municipalities and wastewater utilities have developed integrated plans. Of those, 13 have implemented their plans through a permit, order, or judicial consent decree.
This report describes EPA’s Integrated Planning Framework which lays out a flexible process and includes overarching principles and six essential elements that integrated plans should address. It also showcases 13 municipalities’ water quality challenges, integrated planning priorities, infrastructure investments and preliminary results.