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The Construction ELGs and the Chesapeake Bay TMDL - Their Potential Impacts on Home Builders

The Construction ELGs and the Chesapeake Bay TMDL - Their Potential Impacts on Home Builders. Glynn Rountree, NAHB July 16, 2009 . Outline ( Don’t Shoot the Messenger!). The Construction & Development Effluent Limitation Guidelines (C&D ELGs) Due out by December 1, 2009

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The Construction ELGs and the Chesapeake Bay TMDL - Their Potential Impacts on Home Builders

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  1. The Construction ELGs and the Chesapeake Bay TMDL - Their Potential Impacts on Home Builders Glynn Rountree, NAHB July 16, 2009

  2. Outline(Don’t Shoot the Messenger!) • The Construction & Development Effluent Limitation Guidelines (C&D ELGs) • Due out by December 1, 2009 • First new court case on the subject will be filed soon after • The Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) Rule • Expected to be proposed in the summer of 2010 • Chesapeake Bay restoration began in 1983 – public still waiting • Inspired the recently proposed stormwater permit from VA DCR

  3. Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELGs) EPA is under a court order to develop ELGs Technology standard that sets a baseline for construction site control practices ELGs will be adopted into State NPDES permits

  4. What is EPA Proposing? • Erosion and Sediment Control • Minimize disturbance and soil compaction • Buffers around surface waters, etc. • Vegetated buffer outside of silt fence • Treat discharges from dewatering, etc. • Pollution Prevention Measures • Sediment Basin Requirements • Drain 2-yr, 24-hr storm over a 72-hr period • Numeric Turbidity Standard for some sites

  5. Numeric Turbidity Limit Turbidity limit of 13 NTUs applies to sites of 30+ acres with R-factor ≥50 and ≥10% clay content for all discharges up to the 2-year, 24-hour storm Technology basis is chitosan-enhanced sand filtration – an “Active Treatment System”

  6. Applicable Areas for the Turbidity Limit

  7. Timeline Comment Period ended on February 26, 2009 Final Rule will be published in FR on December 1, 2009 EPA and states must incorporate requirements into the permits within 5 years of effective date

  8. Comments to EPA NAHB comments were over 260 pages 20 states and 60 local government entities commented to EPA on the rule Many other interested groups presented comments Environmentalists (NRDC/Waterkeepers) want a 200 NTU limit for sites < 30 acres and 13 NTU for sites > 30 acres, and post- construction controls

  9. Cost Comparison Between EPA Option 2 and The NAHB Option 1 and 2AConstruction and Development ELGJuly 10, 2009

  10. Pause NAHB and allies are still meeting with EPA and providing input on the ELGs Questions on the C&D ELGs?

  11. The Chesapeake Bay TMDL

  12. Historical Context • 1983 Bay agreement signed for regional cooperation - federal money was just out of reach in 1983 • 1987 agreement described the Bay as a “National Treasure” and federal money begins to roll in • Other estuaries around the US learn quickly, institute their own cleanup programs and they get federal $ too • 2000 agreement pledged to “restore” the Bay by 2010 • 2009 agreement pledges to restore the Bay by 2025 (kind of, you may not be able to see it) • The public is not happy with this history of regulatory failure

  13. Why this Rule is Different • Expected to be very stringent – nitrogen and phosphorus reductions of nearly 80% beyond the existing rate of reductions to be required, no info on sediment reduction requirements yet • Covers a watershed of 64,000 square miles • States expect to put forth the “Maximum Extent Feasible” effort to meet the rule • An “Independent Evaluator” will monitor the progress of each state to meet their implementation plan for the rule • “Reasonable Assurance” that nonpoint sources will meet their goals under the TMDL • May 12 Executive Order sets up a Federal Leadership Committee for the Bay Program

  14. EPA’s TMDL Proposals Impacting Home Builders ■ An “aspirational goal” of “no-discharge” development using LID or ESD designs ■ Proposed that each urban area retrofit 20% of its impervious surfaces during each permit cycle (5 yrs) using LID and ESD approaches (high cost to redevelopment in urban areas) ■ Proposed that all new and failed residential septic systems install denitrification systems (~ $8 - 12,000 per system) ■ The Bay TMDL will become part of state and local stormwater permits in the Bay watershed

  15. Chesapeake Bay TMDL Schedule • Summer 2009: Develop Implementation Plan guidelines; present draft guidelines to Principal’s (Governor’s) Staff Committee • Summer/Fall 2009: Bay TMDL Public Meetings • Fall 2009: Region 3 Administrator distributes letter with Implementation Plan guidelines; training for jurisdictions on Scenario Builder • Fall 2009: Basin-Jurisdiction Loading Targets • Fall 2009 – Spring 2010: Implementation Plan development and verification • Summer 2010: 90-day public comment period for Draft TMDL and Draft State Implementation Plans • Fall 2010: Revise TMDL and Implementation Plans • Dec. 2010: Publish Final TMDL and Implementation Plans • Post-2010: Evaluate implementation and adapt, adopt contingencies or impose Federal consequences as necessary

  16. Current Efforts Related to Water Quality Trading • EPA has developed an Interstate Water Quality Trading Workgroup for the Chesapeake Bay • Another large water quality trading effort is beginning for the Ohio River Basin • Water quality trading has been beneficial for a limited number of developers - but, with funding, language might be developed to make trading more beneficial to a greater number of developers

  17. Current Home Builder’s Efforts Related to the Rule ■ A contractor for the Harrisburg, PA HBA is reviewing the computer modeling done for the rule and will share results ■ On May 29, NAHB briefed the CEQ on concerns related to the developing TMDL ■ NAHB workgroup monitoring developments and will submit comments to the proposed rule ■ NAHB outreach to other affected industries has had limited success in raising the visibility of the rule

  18. Take-Home Messages • Home builders not already familiar with LID techniques need to get busy • NAHB will prepare written comments to the TMDL proposal next year and seeks volunteers who wish to contribute to those comments • Maryland is the learning ground for “no-discharge” development and that experience is critical for NAHB’s comments to the TMDL • We all need to reach out to other affected industry sectors to educate them about the rule

  19. How to Get More Active • Go to EPA’s Chesapeake Bay website: http://www.chesapeakebay.net/ Then click the “About Us” tab, then click the links to “Upcoming CPB Meetings” to find documents for those meetings. ■ At your request, you can be added to the mailing list for a technical committee. You probably cannot become a committee member.

  20. Thank you Questions concerning this presentation can be addressed to: Glynn Rountree, NAHB grountree@nahb.com 202-266-8662

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