Local politicians, developers balk at proposed runoff rules

The state is looking to tighten regulations on stormwater runoff to improve the quality of the Chesapeake Bay, but local politicians and developers say the proposed restrictions would cripple progress in the area.
The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board are working on revisions to the state’s Stormwater Management Program.

Stormwater runoff occurs when fertilizer, animal waste and other contaminants flow into pubic waterways and it comes from agricultural land, development sites and existing structures.
The new proposals would lower the statewide phosphorus standard from 0.45 pounds per acre per year to 0.28 for new construction; raise the required phosphorus reduction from 10 percent to 20 percent for redevelopment projects; and create a state program to oversee the regulations while allowing localities to oversee developments in their areas under the state’s program. If counties do not want to oversee their local developments, the state will do so.
The changes would add significantly to costs for developers, who then would pass along those expenses to the consumer, said Jay Willer, executive vice resident of the Blue Ridge Home Builders Association. It would also lead to long-term costs to maintain the standards, he said.

“We understand that we all drink the water and we all benefit from a healthy environment,” Willer said. “But we have to find the best and most cost efficient way to do this.”
Other key changes would improve stream channel and flood protection and provide developers with approved stormwater management practices and off-site reduction options that treat stormwater as a reusable resource.
The goal is to start thinking of stormwater as a resource and not as waste, said Gary Waugh, public relations manager for the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
“We want developers to think of stormwater provisions at the beginning of their projects and not at the end,” Waugh said.

Developers say the proposed regulations would force them to limit construction projects because of costs, while government officials say it would cause developers to build out of desired growth areas.
“The governor has made it clear that he wants to be proactive with improving the bay,” said David Slutzky, Albemarle Board of Supervisors chairman. “But the proposals in place put all of the burden on new development.”
Slutzky, who worked under the Clinton administration as a senior policy adviser on environmental issues, has met with Department of Conservation and Recreation officials about his concerns.
He said the regulations as proposed could make existing development projects no longer economically viable and force developers into rural areas outside the county’s planned growth area.
“It will have a chilling effect on everything we’ve tried to accomplish,” Slutzky said. “I told them there is a better way they can do this and achieve their goal of reducing phosphorus levels into the bay.”

Slutzky said he has suggested developers fund stormwater-runoff solutions on farmland — which is where studies have shown to be the biggest provider of stormwater runoff.
“This would give them more bang for their buck because it cost thousands of dollars to solve stormwater issues onsite, but hundreds of dollars on rural lands,” Slutzky said. He said solutions on agricultural land would include fencing to keep cattle away from water sources, installing plant buffers near water sources and building adequate water sources for livestock that don’t disturb waterways.
In 2004, the General Assembly created the Stormwater Management Program to meet the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act and the Virginia Stormwater Management Act.
In the last two years, the state has looked at the best way to reduce stormwater runoff and has worked with representatives from government, developers, contractors and environmental groups to come up with their proposals.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation has held four of five public hearings about the regulations and turnout has been fairly good, Waugh said. The last public meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Senate Room B at the Virginia General Assembly Building in Richmond.
“Enhancing these storm-water regulations is a key part of Virginia’s overall approach to improving water quality statewide and restoring the Chesapeake Bay, which includes pollution reductions from sewage treatment plants and farmland runoff,” said Joseph Maroon, Department of Conservation director, in a recent news release.
“Due to their importance we have already engaged in one of the most extensive efforts at having an open and publicly scrutinized process. We intend to carefully analyze all the comments we receive and the agency has a good track record of being
responsive.”

If there are major changes to the proposed regulations, there may be additional public hearings, Waugh said.
Once the final list of proposed regulations is created, it must be approved by the Department of Natural Resources and the Governor’s Office. The new set of regulations is to go into effect July 1, Waugh said.