Alabama Environmental Commission Settles Water Pollution Suit

A settlement approved in late February in Montgomery, Ala., by the Environmental Management Commission ended contention over how state and local governments are supposed to enforce programs to prevent water pollution in Alabama, according to www.al.com.

The federal Clean Water Act requires municipalities to keep their systems of storm water collection and disposal from transferring pollution, whether that is through chemicals dumped in sewers or sediment from construction sites washing into streets and making its way into streams.

The Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), which is responsible for enforcing the Clean Water Act in the state, issues permits to cities detailing their responsibilities and procedures.

When ADEM proposed a new version of the permits for small cities, the Birmingham-based Business Alliance for Responsible Development (BARD) and other development interests lodged a number of objections. A revised version brought objections from environmental groups and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and another revision drew a lawsuit from BARD and a handful of local governments.

The suit contended that the heightened responsibilities being put on small municipalities for policing storm water were too much of a burden and would result in duplicate layers of regulation for developers.

Source: www.al.com