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September 2016 Volume 11, Issue 5
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Thanks to Our Communications Sponsors!
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SESWA Board of Directors
Executive Committee
President:
Jeff Corley, PE, CSM
City of Concord, NC
Vice President:
Buddy Smith, EPSC II
Hamilton County, TN
Secretary-Treasurer:
Hillary Repik
Town of Mount Pleasant, SC
Immediate Past President:
Steve Leo
Gwinnett County, GA
Board Representative:
Thomas Miller
City of Birmingham, AL
Board Members
Sam Amerson, PE
City of Stuart, FL
Tracey Barrow
Sumner County, TN
Patrick Blandford, PE
HDR
Hal Clarkson, PE, CFM
Woolpert
Ebenezer Gujjarlapudi
Mecklenburg County, NC
Kyle Hall
City of Charlotte, NC
Laurie Hawks
Brown and Caldwell
Scott Hofer
Jefferson County DOH, AL
Robert Kjelland, PG, CHMM
University of Kentucky
David Mason, PE, DWRE
CDM Smith
Thomas Miller
City of Birmingham, AL
Jennifer Norton
City of Chattanooga, TN
Kevin Osbey
Clayton County Water Authority
Jacques Palmer
Columbia County, GA
Frank Pandullo
Charleston County, SC
Judy Wortkoetter, PE
Greenville County, SC
Jack Wright, PE
Warren County, KY
Executive Director
Kurt Spitzer
KSA/AMP
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"Welcome to Birmingham!" That's the message I hope you hear when you join us October 19-21 at YOUR Annual Conference. We have some great things planned as well as a few surprises.
SESWA is thriving because of you. Your willingness to be involved is truly our greatest asset. This past year, our Communications Committee has been more active than ever. Our Conference Committee has been hard at work planning for exciting events in Birmingham. Our Policy Committee has been diligently monitoring national, regional, and statewide stormwater regulatory action. The Membership Committee has been working to enhance and improve the delivery of member services.
As we approach our Annual Conference, I want to encourage everyone to consider getting involved in some way in the coming year. There are many ways you can get involved and there truly is room for everyone.
Together we have become THE
"Voice of Stormwater" in Region 4. What can make us even stronger? YOU can!
Thank you for allowing me to serve this fine group of dedicated stormwater professionals! It has been my pleasure.
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Southeast Regional Conference
On-line Registration Closes October 5th!
There's still time to register for the
11th Annual Regional Stormwater Conference! The Conference is always the
best-of-the-best in stormwater education throughout Region 4, with an
Agenda developed by your peers! This year's Conference will focus on
Stormwater Solutions in Region 4 and will be held in historic Birmingham, Alabama, on October 19th-21st. Learn about the latest technologies in an outstanding Exhibit Hall, hear from EPA and NACWA on new regulatory initiatives, and take advantage of the best networking opportunities with other stormwater professionals in the southeast. The Conference has sold-out for the past two years!
Register Now!
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Annual Membership Meeting
The Annual Meeting of the SESWA membership will be held on Thursday, October 20th during next month's Conference in Birmingham, Alabama. At that time, the membership will elect new Officers and other members of the
Board of Directors, and vote on a proposed amendment to the Association's Bylaws. If you want to have an impact on SESWA's direction and services, or just want to learn more about your Association, be sure to be at the Annual Meeting of the membership on October 20th at 5:10 p.m
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SESWA Community Discussion Forum
SESWA's Community Discussion Forum is an online discussion board where members throughout the southeast can easily connect with other stormwater professionals, post questions and participate in discussions on BMPs, approaches to new permit conditions, Green Infrastructure and Low Impact Development, etc. It's a new way to network, ask questions and share answers with other stormwater professionals, without having to go outside of your inbox and without having to create yet another account! It's easy to get started, just go to the How-To Guide!
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SESWA Job Board - FREE to Members!
Did you know that SESWA members may post vacancy announcements reaching thousands of qualified stormwater professionals in the Southeast at no cost! Members can post jobs for free! To post your vacancy, visit the Job Board on SESWA's website!
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WOTUS Update
Kurt Spitzer, SESWA
The due date of September 30th for briefs of SESWA and other petitioners on the
WOTUS litigation has been delayed. The petitioners had hoped that the Sixth Circuit's decision on whether internal US Army Corps memos on WOTUS (which had been leaked by Congress and raised serious questions about the rules) would be included in the administrative record prior to the September 30th deadline. SESWA and other plaintiffs, including other regulated interests and state governments, had asked that the memo be included in the record. However, when the Sixth Circuit failed to resolve the question on the administrative record, SESWA and other Petitioners filed a request to hold the briefing in abeyance and the Sixth Circuit granted that request.
SESWA, the Florida Stormwater Association, the Florida League of Cities and the Florida Rural Water Association remain the only plaintiffs representing the interests of local governments! If allowed to stand, the WOTUS rules will have
significant, negative impacts on local governments and water quality improvement programs - hence the challenge by SESWA. The Good News: Implementation of the WOTUS rule remains blocked until a final ruling by the courts!
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Phase 2 "Remand Rules" due November 17th
Kurt Spitzer, SESWA
EPA's rules proposing revisions to the Phase 2 permitting program have been transmitted to the Office of Management and Budget, the final step before the final rules are released. The revised rules largely stem from lawsuits first brought against EPA by the Natural Resources Defense Council over 12 years ago. That suit argued that "general permits" used by most states for small Phase 2 MS4s allowed the MS4s to design stormwater pollution control programs without adequate regulatory and public oversight, thus violating the Clean Water Act because the process did not require EPA to review the content of the MS4's Notices of Intent to discharge. SESWA submitted
comments to EPA concerning the Agency's proposed revisions to
regulations for small Phase 2 MS4 permits. EPA had "noticed" three different options for potential revisions to the Phase II rules but only specifically detailed one option in the rule itself, thus making it impossible for stakeholders to definitively comment on the options because of a lack of specific language in the proposed rules. SESWA recommended that EPA approve an option that would afford the states and permitted entities the greatest degree of flexibility in implementing the MS4 program. EPA is required to sign a final rule for publication by November 17, 2016.
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NPDES E-Reporting
Kurt Spitzer, SESWA
In October of 2015 EPA published the final National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
Electronic Reporting Rule in the Federal Register. The rule was effective in December of that year and replaces most paper-based Clean Water Act (CWA) NPDES permitting and compliance monitoring reporting requirements with electronic reporting. The rule is intended to bring the NPDES Program into the 21st Century by shifting from paper to electronic reporting, saving time and money for the regulated community and states. The hope is that the use of technology will result in reduced errors, in addition to cost savings by requiring electronic data submissions. See
EPA's Fact Sheet for more information.
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GI Case Studies on Climate Change Integration
Patrick Blandford, HDR
EPA just released a
brief publication on Green Infrastructure and Climate Change as a means of improving community resiliency. The publication summarizes information from four planning sessions performed in cities across the US. Each session focused on the pressing climate change issues of their community seeking to find benefits of green infrastructure, unifying solutions across disciplines, efficiencies in implementation, and agency collaboration.
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BMPs, Green Infrastructure
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Use of Bio-sorption Activated Media
Steven Peene, Applied Technology and Management
Bio-sorption Activated Media (BAM) are materials that enhance pollutant removal based on providing increased adsorption in a specific environment. When incorporated into stormwater BMPs, BAM can improve the overall nutrient treatment capacity of a specific BMP. Interest in the use of BAM as a soil supplement for stormwater ponds and other uses has increased in Florida. This has been partly due to the desire for increased nitrogen removal within stormwater ponds in spring recharge areas. Many of Florida's springs have excessively high levels of nitrates causing overgrowth of macro-algae. Pilot studies were initiated within the Silver Springs basin by Marion County working in conjunction with the
UCF Stormwater Management Academy (where BAM was developed) and other partners. The studies showed nitrogen removal increases on the order of 50% to 70% when pond soil matrices were augmented with BAM. A number of groups are examining alternate uses of BAM, such as using BAM to treat base flow/low flow in canals, and retrofitting stormwater outfall control structures with up-flow filters. As more pilot studies are completed, the full uses of BAM and the potential benefits in stormwater treatment will be more clearly quantified.
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Implementation Strategies
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Stream Restoration Project
Jennifer Norton, City of Chattanooga, TN
The City of Chattanooga is completing a
stream restoration project at Agawela Drive of approximately 1,500 linear feet of an incised stream channel within an urbanized watershed as an agreed SEP (supplemental environmental project) component of Consent Decree requirements. The unnamed tributary to South Chickamauga Creek was deeply entrenched from years of flashy, urban stormwater runoff. This contributed heavily to the sediment load in South Chickamauga Creek, a 303(d) listed stream with a siltation TMDL. South Chickamauga Creek is also the only known location of the threatened Chickamauga Crayfish. Completing the restoration entails reconnecting the channel with the floodplain, installing multiple grade controls and establishing a meandering pattern within a tightly confined corridor. Permitting, land acquisition, and space limitations within the highly impervious area are challenges within the project.
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Regulatory, Policy, Permits
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Draft Phase I Medium MS4 Permit Ready
Barbara Seal, Gwinnett County, GA
Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) is holding a stakeholder meeting in Macon to discuss the Draft Georgia Phase I Medium MS4 Permit, which is applicable to 12 local governments and expected to be issued in April of 2017. The draft permit includes: 1) a runoff reduction requirement to hold on-site the first 1.0 inch of runoff, 2) a requirement to protect trout streams from temperature elevations, 3) an option for local DOTs to determine the feasibility of implementing the runoff reduction requirement on linear projects. SESWA members should note that this is the first MS4 Permit in Georgia to include the runoff reduction requirement! It is extremely important that local governments review this draft permit and provide comments. SESWA will continue to keep members updated on progress, comment periods and other key dates through the SESWA Forecast newsletter. Please see
Draft Permit Documents for details.
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NPDES Phase II MS4 Permit Issuance Expected in October
David Mason, CDM Smith
At a recent regional meeting, the Tennessee Department of Environmental Quality (TDEC) provided a status update on the NPDES Phase II MS4 permit renewal. The permit has been revised based on numerous comments received during the public comment period. Because of the significant revisions, the draft permit was submitted back to EPA for a second review. TDEC tentatively plans to issue the permit by October 1st (pending EPA's review) but is committed to issuing it no later than October 31st to align with the expiration of a previous extension issued to permittees regarding the implementation of post construction stormwater requirements. Despite the proposed revisions, permit appeals are still expected which may further delay implementation of new requirements.
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Draft General Permit for Industrial Stormwater
Mark Wyzalek, Macon Water Authority
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) has issued a
draft NPDES General Permit for Storm Water Discharges Associated with Industrial Activity for public comment and review. The proposed effective date is June 1, 2017. The draft permit includes requirements for performing Good Housekeeping Control Measures, Plastic Material Requirements for facilities that handle pre-production plastic, and Maintenance Control Measures for requiring inspection, maintenance, repair/replacement of structural and non-structural systems needed to minimize pollutant discharge.
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Staff Changes at SC Bureau of Water
Chuck Jarman, Clemson Extension, SC
The Bureau of Water in South Carolina's Department of Health and Environment Control has undergone several changes of key staff. New positions and titles are:
- Ann Clark - Assistant Bureau Chief, Bureau of Water
- Jill Stewart, P.E. - Division Director, Division of Dams Safety and Stormwater Permitting
- John McCain, P.E. - Manager, Dams Safety
- Shannon Hicks, P.E. - Manager, Coastal Stormwater Permitting
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319 Grant Proposals - Deadline Soon in NC
Jeff Corley, City of Concord, NC
North Carolina 319 grant proposals (round 2) are due October 21, 2016. There is an estimated $650,000 still available for restoration projects in impaired watersheds. Full information is available on the
NCDEQ 319 website.
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NACWA Corner
provided by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies
Legal Challenges Mount to Massachusetts Small Stormwater Permit
Around the country, stormwater permits and their underlying theory are more and more frequently finding themselves in the courtroom. For example, a number of legal challenges have been filed recently to EPA's
2016 Massachusetts Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) General Permit, raising the likelihood that the permit will force federal court consideration of a number of key elements of EPA's stormwater program. The permit was finalized in April 2016 and will become effective July 1, 2017, which is especially significant since the majority of communities in Massachusetts are small communities (Phase II) permittees. After the public comment period, EPA updated the final permit but many permittees felt those changes failed to address key municipal concerns. The permit has since been challenged on its basis in three different precedent-setting cases:
- The Center for Regulatory Reasonableness filed a challenge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, arguing in part that the permit is illegal because it assumes any discharge into an impaired waterbody is a water quality violation.
- The National Association of Home Builders filed a challenge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, claiming EPA has exceeded its authority in a number of ways, including an attempt to regulate stormwater based on flow instead of based on pollutants.
- The Massachusetts Coalition for Water Resources Stewardship (MCWRS,) a group representing municipal clean water interests in Massachusetts, has jointly filed a challenge with the Town of Franklin in the First Circuit. Among other issues, MCWRS argues that the permit goes beyond what Congress authorized EPA to do when regulating municipal stormwater discharges.
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Don't see news from your state? Please contact us with your news or share your comments on our newsletter by emailing us at
SESWA@ksanet.net.
Southeast Stormwater Association www.SESWA.org (866) FOR-SESWA (367-7379)
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