Local Organizations Advised to Review New Va. Storm Water Regulations

For over ten years the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has been working on new storm water regulations, which will come into full effect July 1, 2014. Many organizations in the public and private sectors are reportedly unaware of how they will be impacted by the new regulations, according to civil engineering firm Koontz-Bryant, which is sponsoring seminars to educate organizations on the possible impact of these changes.

“A controversial first draft was submitted to the public in 2009 and was not well received by the public, with over 1200 comments. The proposed regulations had significant changes to permissible phosphorous levels that were approximately a 50% reduction from the previous default loading,” said Paul F. Hinson, director of engineering at Koontz-Bryant.

The regulations were revised for public comments in 2009, and the DCR adopted a plan in 2010 to meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for the Chesapeake Bay. The plan was finally adopted on May 24, 2011 after the DCR presented the new regulation changes to the DCR Board.

While the Koontz-Bryant seminars contain more detail about the new regulations, Hinson highlights some of the more significant changes:

• Management of storm water runoff must now include volume reduction as well as peak flow rate reduction. Previous regulation only required peak flow rate reduction.
• Storm water quality treatment for all areas outside of the Chesapeake Bay in the state of Virginia is now required.
• The state must now also adhere to default phosphorus loading of 0.41 lb/acre/year or 14% impervious area, which is a reduction from 0.44 lb/acre/year or 16% impervious area.
• Sites must now demonstrate that they satisfy the energy balance equation provided by the DCR at all outfalls. If not satisfied, an analysis must be performed demonstrating that the outfall is adequate until the site’s draining area is 1% of the total drainage area, or the site’s peak flow rate is 1% of the total peak flow.

More information on the new storm water regulation changes is available here. More information on the Koontz-Bryant seminars can be found at www.koontzbryant.com.

Source: PRWeb