N.C. Plans Tougher Storm Water Rules

North Carolina state authorities are taking steps toward adopting stricter storm water rules for all 20 coastal counties.

A Water Quality Committee to the Environmental Management Commission has directed the Division of Water Quality to write up proposed amendments to the Coastal Storm Water Program so that it will mirror regulations already adopted for the Phase II counties, according to a Daily News report.

“That means they’re going to initiate the rulemaking process to expand the regulations to all 20 counties,” said Tom Reeder, DWQ Wetlands and Storm Water Branch manager.

Reeder said DWQ will bring the proposal back for committee approval in January with the expectation that the EMC will vote in March to take it to public hearing in late spring. With this timeline, the proposal would come back to the EMC for final approval in the fall with the rules becoming effective sometime in mid-2008.

The action met with approval from a group that has criticized existing coastal storm water rules as ineffective.

This past summer, the General Assembly approved a new set of storm water control rules (Phase II) that will go into effect next summer for counties that contain an area the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has designated as urbanized. Along the coast, those counties are Onslow, New Hanover and Brunswick.

The most stringent of the new rules affect development that disturbs an acre or more of land within one-half mile of shellfish waters. If the impervious surface of these projects exceeds 12 percent of the land being developed, the contractor will be required to construct storm water infiltration systems designed to handle a one-year, 24-hour storm event, which Reeder said could be as much as 2 inches of runoff in some cases.

Currently, a contractor is required to install a storm water system to collect the first 1 1⁄2 inches of rainfall for development near shellfish waters if the impervious surfaces exceeds 25 percent of the land being developed.

Carteret County would be most affected if the state adopts the rule change for all coastal counties, since about 50% of Carteret land lies within one-half mile of shellfish waters.

The EMC also has authority to add communities to the Phase II program through its basinwide water quality management plan process. DWQ has proposed beginning these analysis with the upcoming French Broad, Catawba and Tar-Pamlico plans, but the Coastal Federation would like it to begin with the White Oak River Basinwide Plan, which is in the early stages of development, Stephenson said.

Source: DN