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SESWA hosted the first state-focused SESWA Spotlight webinar on May 23rd. The webinar highlighted MS4's Responsibilities for Construction Permits in South Carolina. The webinar offered continuing education and focused on issues and practices surrounding construction permits in South Carolina.

SESWA's Community Forum is an online tool that enables SESWA members throughout the Southeast to easily connect with other stormwater professionals, post questions and participate in discussions on BMPs, approaches to new permit conditions, Green Infrastructure and LID, and more! It's a great way to network across state lines, ask questions and share answers with other stormwater professionals in the Southeast. In fact, you can see that some of the articles in this edition of the ForeCast are linked to the Community Forum! Getting started is easy - check out the Help Guide!

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Kurt Spitzer, SESWA

Steve Leo, Gwinnett County, GA

Georgia local governments and consultants, several of which are SESWA members, continue to work with the Georgia Association of Water Professionals (GAWP) on the development of a Georgia Stormwater Utility Fee Credits Guidance Manual. A summary of the role SESWA and its members are playing, was reported in SESWA's last newsletter. The effort to develop the guidance manual was born out of a recommendation made within the final report of the Joint Study Committee on Stormwater Management Fees which concluded its work late last year. A brief summary of the history on this issue was included in the January newsletter. Work on development of the guidance manual continued over the last several months with GAWP hosting the second planning meeting on the manual's development on April 25th. During the meeting, the results of a survey that had been conducted by GAWP were reviewed and the beginnings of a document outline were discussed. To provide context to the discussion on credits, it was agreed that a basic overview of stormwater utilities and their value should be included at the beginning of the document. Additionally, and specifically with respect to credits policies, it was discussed that it must be acknowledged that different utilities have different needs and challenges which should ultimately be reflected within adopted credits policies. It is also envisioned that the document will include highlights of effective and innovative credit approaches currently being implemented, and it was discussed that credits described within the manual would be assessed for their ability to incentivize positive stormwater management behaviors. It was also determined that the manual should include an explanation of the difference between credits and exemptions. While no publication date has been announced, the desire of the committee is to have the work completed by the end of this year.

Pete Yakimowich, Vaughn & Melton

The City of Chattanooga is moving forward with a stormwater fee rate hike of 63 percent pursuant to a study authorized in April 2017 to determine if additional revenues were needed. The proposal was rolled out for public comment in a meeting of the Chattanooga Stormwater Board on May 17, 2018 where a number of questions and issues were raised. Those attending were also given the opportunity to post written questions to be addressed at the Board's next meeting, when approval to move the proposal to City Council is expected. Notably, the proposed fee hike did not involve any change in the rate structure which will bring the annual fee to $183.54 for single family homes. More detailed information is available on the City webpage.

David Mason, CDM Smith

The Tennessee MS4 general permit appeal hearing regarding the post construction stormwater requirements has been delayed and rescheduled for October 30 - November 2. While implementation of all other aspects of the permit continue, all requirements related to the post construction stormwater standards remain on hold.

Jack Wright, Warren County, KY

Peter Goodmann, Director of the Division of Water for Kentucky, has approved the release of the report " Kentucky Statewide Total Maximum Daily Load for Bacteria Impaired Waters." Twenty Kentucky counties are included in the initial draft of the report. The Public Notice for this regulation is open for comments until June 11, 2018. The Notice references the Report on the Condition of Ambient Groundwater in Kentucky which "...discusses bacteria sources that occur in Kentucky, how bacteria enters surface water, and what stakeholders can do to improve water quality."

David Mason, CDM Smith

The City of Hendersonville worked with legislators to pass a bill granting the City explicit authority to place their proposed stormwater user fee on the County tax bill. HB2635 was ultimately passed with a provision that the City may add the fee if an ordinance establishing the fee is passed by a two-thirds majority of its legislative body. The requirements of this bill only affect the City of Hendersonville. Local governments in TN wishing to place their user fee on a county tax bill should consult their attorney to determine if this step is required as existing state law may already grant this authority.

Matthew Anderson, City of Charlotte, NC

As part of the CWA, states are required to review water quality standards and classifications every three years through a process known as Triennial Review. As part of that process, a May 10, 2018 Public Notice was issued by the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission (EMC) noting that it intends to amend several rules related to Classification and Standards for the Protection of Surface Waters. Public Hearings are scheduled for July 2, 2018 in Kernersville and July 11, 2018 in Raleigh. Public Hearings will consist of a presentation from Division of Water Resources (DWR) staff followed by a public comment period to hear from any affected parties.

Click here for updates to the intended changes and complete text of the proposed rule revisions and to the May 15, 2018 proposed changes as listed in the North Carolina Register.

Kristen Dunaway, AECOM

The Kentucky MS4 Phase II General Permit became effective May 1, 2018. The Permit Summary Page provides an overview of the permit as well as the definitions, the General Permit, Stormwater Quality Management Plan (SWQMP) Guidance, and the link to file the Notice of Intent (NOI). The Fact Sheet (pg. five) provides an overview of the changes from the 2010 permit to the 2018 permit.

Patrick Blandford, HDR and Steve Sands, Hazen and Sawyer

In the summer of 2017, legislation passed ( Senate Bill 131) which included the following language: "The Department of Environmental Quality shall study under what circumstances units of local government should be allowed to exceed riparian buffer requirements mandated by the State and the federal government." Senate Bill 131 study results could inhibit communities from implementing rules that are effective for local and specific watershed conditions. Later in the year, a complementary Session Law 2018-209 initiated a study to estimate the values of property that are subject to riparian buffer rules and estimate the associated lost revenue if riparian buffers are exempt from taxation. The Session Law study states that impacts of buffer tax exemptions could include reductions in local community's annual revenues in a range of $70 to $85 million. While both studies are complete, they have not been discussed in their respective committees. It is still unclear how the studies may affect regulatory reform on riparian buffers in North Carolina.

Massachusetts and New Hampshire Phase II MS4 Permits Forge Ahead

Emily Remmel, Director of Regulatory Affairs

On July 1, 2018, both the   2016 Massachusetts and   2017 New Hampshire Small MS4 General Permits will go into effect. These two Phase II stormwater permits, issued by EPA Region 1, will replace the dated 2003 permits that have been administratively continued for 15 years. Since their issuance, these permits have been fraught with various legal challenges due to the strict compliance requirements contained in each. In separate but parallel press releases issued May 10, 2018, EPA Region 1 confirmed the   Massachusetts and   New Hampshire permits will go into effect regardless of the ongoing litigation.

A significant cause for concern for many municipalities in both states is the strict obligation that MS4 permittees "do not cause or contribute to an exceedance of water quality standards, in addition to the requirements to reduce the discharge of pollutants to the maximum extent practicable" ( Massachusetts MS4 Permit, Section 2.1) . Provisions like these, represent a significant shift from the Clean Water Act's mandate that MS4s reduce the discharge to the maximum extent practicable (MEP) standard through best management practices.

NACWA has a long history of defending the MEP standard as the appropriate standard for MS4 compliance. NACWA is paying acute attention to this matter and will keep SESWA members informed as to the status and the national implications that could be established if this permit language becomes the new norm for municipal stormwater utilities.

Contact Emily Remmel , NACWA's Director of Regulatory Affairs, for more information or with any questions.