Unknown yet as to whether this is a good outcome or not.
Washington Department of Ecology news
OLYMPIA – The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) today offers for public review and comment, the next generation of permits to increase environmental protections against polluted runoff in Western Washington.
The state’s most populated urban areas are required to have this permit under the federal Clean Water Act.
Polluted runoff is the biggest threat to urban-area lakes, rivers and Puget Sound.
The permits, required to be updated every five years under the federal Clean Water Act, are designed to gradually increase environmental protections over time with each new update. They prevent and control rainwater runoff. Runoff from hardened surfaces in populated areas picks up chemicals and bacteria and carries it downstream into our waters.
Most of the time, stormwater is not treated, even when it goes into a street drain.
Ecology Director Ted Sturdevant said: "These permits will shape how we deal with our number one pollution problem until almost 2020. We need to chip away at the existing problem, prevent it from getting worse and recognize that local governments are strapped for resources. This draft permit tries to achieve that balance."
Gerry O’Keefe, Executive Director of the Puget Sound Partnership, said: "Puget Sound is a giant basin that collects huge quantities of stormwater. The Department of Ecology and local governments are important partners in preventing and managing this pollution that threatens the health of Puget Sound and the life in it."
Dennis McClerran, regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said: "Local governments in Washington have made real progress in building effective stormwater-control programs over the last permit cycle. Our task will be to keep up this pace during a challenging economy, so we safeguard our investment in protecting all of our downstream waters, including Puget Sound. "
Dave Williams, director of state and federal relations for the Association of Washington Cities said: "Ecology is working with local governments and listening to their feedback. Local governments have definitely had a seat at the table."
To provide economic relief for local governments, Ecology will maintain the status quo and re-issue the current Phase I and Phase II permits in Western Washington for an additional year. Phase I refers to the state’s most populated areas. Phase II are the next-most populated areas. The new permits will not go into effect until 2013, and new permit requirements will be phased in over the five year life of the permit.
Highlights of new Western Washington stormwater permits
The new proposed permits include provisions for a regional, coordinated stormwater monitoring program. Ecology collaborated with a group of local governments and other interested parties to design a Regional Stormwater Monitoring Program for Western Washington.
Ecology’s Bill Moore, who oversees the state’s water quality permits said: "Monitoring is important to stormwater control because you can’t manage what you can’t measure. It’s our feedback loop – it tells us if our steps are helping, if they are effective. It helps us treat and control runoff effectively, and gives us the most for our limited money."
In the updated permits, local governments have the option to do their own monitoring, or they can join a regionalized stormwater monitoring program designed to minimize costs. Ecology would administrator the program.
New low-impact development requirements
Another key part of the updated Western Washington Phase II permits will be the requirement for low-impact development (LID) where feasible. LID systems strive to mimic the natural environment so water can be taken up by trees or soak into the ground.
In the proposed permits, LID projects will need to target runoff problems caused by existing development so current pollution problems do not grow. They also must apply to new development – where pollution prevention is less expensive than cleanup.
Ecology worked with local governments and interested parties to define where LID is feasible in the Western Washington permits. The proposed permits provide specifics that will help determine feasibility of a LID technique at a project site. For example, if the soils drain very slowly, a LID measure that tries to get runoff to soak into the ground is not advisable, and does not have to be used.
The Western Washington Phase II draft permit will also match up with the Phase I permit by requiring management of runoff at sites that are less than one acre.
Ecology proposes that the Phase I cities and counties, begin implementing the LID site requirements by Dec. 31, 2015, and proposes a date of December 31, 2016, to update broader development codes.
Phase II communities would have until Dec. 31, 2016, to adopt the site-scale standards. They would have until Dec. 31, 2017, to update broader development codes to allow LID.
Ecology’s public process to develop the permits has been extensive. The agency began working with local governments in 2007 and has used their feedback to develop the new permits.
Additional communities may be subject to stormwater permits
Over the next several months, Ecology will be evaluating whether or not five additional Western Washington jurisdictions should be subject to the permit. They are: Snoqualmie, Lynden, Clallam County (Port Angeles Urban Growth Area – UGA), Island County (Oak Harbor UGA), and Lewis County (Centralia UGA).
Ecology invites public comments on the proposed Phase I and Phase II Municipal Stormwater General permits until 5 p.m., Feb. 3, 2012. Find copies of the draft permits, fact sheets and information about upcoming workshops at www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/stormwater/municipal/2012draftMUNIcom.html.
Ecology will consider all comments in developing final permits. It expects to issue final permits in June 2012.
Along with the proposed Western Washington stormwater permits, the state also issued an updated proposed permit for Eastern Washington.