Industrial SWPPP Template — 2021 EPA Multi-Sector General Permit
Industrial stormwater discharges fall under the EPA MSGP — 29 industrial sectors lettered A through AC, plus Sector AD, each with its own Part 8 requirements. The template supplies the MSGP-required SWPPP, a Part 8 sector-specific requirements worksheet and a benchmark monitoring sampling plan structured for you to populate from your own sectors of the permit, plus the quarterly visual assessment and inspection forms.
When this template is required
Required for industrial facilities with stormwater discharges that fall within 29 industrial sectors listed in the MSGP (e.g. timber products, paper and allied products, chemical manufacturing, primary metals, fabricated metals, automobile salvage yards, scrap metal, landfills, etc.). The MSGP is renewed every 5 years; the 2021 MSGP is the current version.
Why this template
Part 8 sector-specific requirements worksheet
The MSGP organizes industrial activity into 29 sectors lettered A through AC, plus Sector AD for discharges the Director designates as requiring permits. The template provides the MSGP-baseline SWPPP that every covered facility needs, a sector determination worksheet, and a Part 8 worksheet you complete for each sector and subsector that applies to you. It deliberately does not reproduce sector-by-sector BMP lists: they are subsector-specific and change between permit editions, and a stale copied list is worse than no list.
Benchmark monitoring sampling plan
Some subsectors require benchmark monitoring for specific pollutants (TSS, oil and grease, certain metals, pH and others). The sampling plan structures the sampling schedule, the discharge points, the approved method and the threshold you record for each parameter, together with a running annual average log. Benchmark threshold values are not reproduced in the template — they are subsector-specific and several metals are hardness-dependent, so the plan tells you where to read the threshold in the permit and records the value used with its source.
Quarterly visual assessment
All MSGP-covered facilities must perform quarterly visual assessments of stormwater discharges. The form captures discharge characteristics, observed contaminants, and corrective actions needed.
Annual report procedure
MSGP requires annual reports summarizing inspections, monitoring results, and corrective actions. The procedure walks through what must be reported and when.
What you receive
- Industrial SWPPP (Word .docx) — 2021 MSGP format
- Sector determination worksheet (29 industrial sectors)
- Site description and stormwater discharge characterization
- Sector-specific requirements worksheet (completed from MSGP Part 8)
- Quarterly visual assessment form
- Monthly visual inspection log
- Annual report procedure
- Benchmark monitoring sampling plan (sectors requiring monitoring)
- Corrective action procedure with documentation
- Notice of Intent (NOI) preparation guide
- 5-year permit renewal procedure
How you get it
This document is written and reviewed against the standard it cites, and it is ready now. The download link is emailed as soon as your payment clears.
Revisions included — if something about your operation changes what the document should say, reply to the delivery email and we will amend it.
Who buys this
- Manufacturing facilities with outdoor materials handling
- Scrap metal and automobile salvage yards
- Landfills and waste management
- Lumber and wood product manufacturing
- Paper and pulp mills
- Primary and fabricated metals manufacturing
- Chemical manufacturing
- Asphalt paving and roofing materials
- Petroleum bulk storage and distribution
Frequently asked
What's the difference between MSGP and CGP?
CGP — Construction General Permit, covers TEMPORARY stormwater discharges from construction sites. MSGP — Multi-Sector General Permit, covers ONGOING stormwater discharges from industrial activity. CGP applies during construction (typically 1-3 years); MSGP applies for the operating life of an industrial facility (5-year permit terms, renewed perpetually). Many facilities go through CGP during construction then transition to MSGP during operation.
What are the 29 industrial sectors?
EPA's MSGP covers 29 industrial sectors, lettered A through AC, plus Sector AD for stormwater discharges the Director designates as requiring permits — which is why Part 8 of the permit has 30 subparts. As the 2021 permit names them: A — Timber Products, B — Paper and Allied Products, C — Chemical and Allied Products Manufacturing and Refining, D — Asphalt Paving and Roofing Materials and Lubricant Manufacturing, E — Glass, Clay, Cement, Concrete and Gypsum Products, F — Primary Metals, G — Metal Mining, H — Coal Mines and Coal Mining-Related Facilities, I — Oil and Gas Extraction, J — Non-Metallic Mineral Mining and Dressing, K — Hazardous Waste Treatment, Storage or Disposal Facilities, L — Landfills, Land Application Sites and Open Dumps, M — Automobile Salvage Yards, N — Scrap Recycling and Waste Recycling Facilities, O — Steam Electric Generating Facilities, P — Land Transportation and Warehousing, Q — Water Transportation, R — Ship and Boat Building and Repair Yards, S — Air Transportation, T — Treatment Works, U — Food and Kindred Products, V — Textile Mills, Apparel and Other Fabric Products, W — Furniture and Fixtures, X — Printing and Publishing, Y — Rubber, Miscellaneous Plastic Products and Miscellaneous Manufacturing Industries, Z — Leather Tanning and Finishing, AA — Fabricated Metal Products, AB — Transportation Equipment, Industrial or Commercial Machinery Facilities, AC — Electronic and Electrical Equipment and Components, Photographic and Optical Goods, and AD — Stormwater Discharges Designated by the Director as Requiring Permits. Leather is Sector Z, not Sector Y, and carries its own benchmark parameters. Sector AD is not a catch-all a facility can self-assign: Part 8.AD.1.1 requires the Director's written permission to use the permit before a Notice of Intent is submitted. The sector determination worksheet identifies which sectors apply to your facility.
What's benchmark monitoring?
Sampling of stormwater discharges for the parameters the permit assigns to the facility's subsectors. Under the 2021 MSGP it is quarterly in the first and fourth years of permit coverage (Part 4.2.2.3), not for the whole permit term. A single result above a benchmark triggers nothing on its own: the trigger is an annual average exceedance under Part 5.2.2 — the four-quarter average exceeding the threshold, or fewer than four samples collected whose single result or running sum already exceeds it by more than four times. That moves the facility into the Additional Implementation Measures (AIM) sequence in Part 5.2, and it is failing to complete the AIM response within its deadline, not the exceedance itself, that is the permit violation. Not all subsectors carry benchmark monitoring — the sampling plan records which parameters apply and the threshold actually used, read from the permit.
Is the MSGP federal or state?
Both, depending on where the facility is. EPA's MSGP applies only in the areas listed in Appendix C to the permit — the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the State of New Hampshire and the State of New Mexico outside Indian country; the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and other territories; most Indian country lands; areas subject to industrial activity by a federal operator in Vermont, Delaware, Colorado and Washington; and the specific SIC-code facilities in Oklahoma and Texas that fall outside the state program's jurisdiction. Idaho is not one of them: NPDES permitting authority for industrial stormwater transferred to Idaho DEQ on July 1, 2021 and Idaho facilities are now covered by the IPDES Multi-Sector General Permit. Everywhere else an authorized state runs its own industrial stormwater general permit — Texas (TPDES MSGP), California (Industrial General Permit), Florida (FDEP MSGP) and so on. The template is built to the EPA 2021 MSGP baseline and is reconciled against the state permit before it is signed.
How long is the MSGP valid?
5 years, and the 2021 MSGP has now run its term: it expired February 28, 2026, and EPA has not finalized the 2026 MSGP it proposed in December 2024. Facilities already covered were automatically administratively continued under 40 CFR 122.6 and must keep complying with the 2021 permit. A facility that had not filed a Notice of Intent before expiry cannot be covered by a continued general permit; in the areas where EPA is the permitting authority, EPA's February 27, 2026 no action assurance lets an operator that begins discharging on or after March 1, 2026 run to the 2021 MSGP conditions instead, after submitting the NOI form to EPA, until the earlier of February 28, 2027 or 120 days after the next MSGP takes effect. Either way the 2021 MSGP is the document you comply with, and that is what the template is built to. The 5-year permit renewal procedure walks through renewing coverage, and the template is updated when EPA issues the new MSGP.