In order to improve the permitting of stormwater discharges under the Clean Water Act, the EPA has requested the input of the National Research Council. The broad goals of the study will be to better understand the links between stormwater pollutant discharges and ambient water quality, to assess the state of the science of stormwater management and to make associated policy recommendations. Municipal, construction, and industrial stormwater will be considered, with special attention paid to those eight to ten industrial sectors felt to be of highest priority in terms of pollutant discharges. Wherever possible, case studies will be used to illustrate concepts and derive themes that can be broadly applied.More specifically, the study will: (1) Clarify the mechanisms by which pollutants in stormwater discharges affect ambient water quality criteria and define the elements of a ¿protocol¿ to link pollutants in stormwater discharges to ambient water quality criteria. (2) Consider how useful monitoring is for both determining the potential of a discharge to contribute to a water quality standards violation and for determining the adequacy of stormwater pollution prevention plans. What specific parameters should be monitored and when and where? What effluent limits and benchmarks are needed to ensure that the discharge does not cause or contribute to a water quality standards violation?(3) Assess and evaluate the relationship between different levels of stormwater pollution prevention plan implementation and in-stream water quality, considering a broad suite of BMPs.(4) Make recommendations for how to best stipulate provisions in stormwater permits to ensure that discharges will not cause or contribute to exceedances of water quality standards. This should be done in the context of general permits. As a part of this task, the committee will consider currently available information on permit and program compliance.(5) Assess the design of the stormwater permitting program implemented under the Clean Water Act.This project is sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The approximate start date for the project is 7/21/2006. A report will be issued at the end of the project in approximately 26 months.