The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has tweaked its list of proposed changes to stormwater runoff regulations, after complaints from cities and towns that the new rules would be too costly.
It may not be enough to satisfy the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM), which supports several bills that would forbid DEEP’s requirements from going beyond those of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, and would also require DEEP to consider and limit as much as possible the cost of new rules on municipalities.
State and federal law requires operators of storm systems to have permits because the systems discharge contaminants like oil, excess nutrients and bacteria into rivers and other waterways. That impacts water quality and can make waters unsuitable for fishing or swimming, regulators say.
The recently expired permit covered 113 towns. When approved, the new permit would add an additional eight communities because of population growth, and a controversial second tier of 49 towns that opponents say are outside of the urbanized areas targeted by federal regulators.
DEEP issued the proposed revisions on Monday after signaling last month that it would make the changes.
CCM has said the regulations could still cost its affected member towns a combined $100 million.
In a Jan. 15 bulletin, CCM said the anticipated revisions still go beyond what the EPA requires: Creating two tiers of regulated communities, mandating that local governments adopt new zoning and enforcement ordinances, and that they expand road maintenance.
CCM said the state’s Department of Transportation is exempt from the rules.
DEEP said Monday that its revisions were aimed at making the rules less costly and more flexible for local governments.
“After carefully reviewing the draft requirements we originally proposed with the concerns of local officials in mind, we have developed new approaches that will achieve environmental and public health objectives with lower costs for our municipal partners,” DEEP Commissioner Robert Klee said in a statement.
DEEP said its revisions track more closely to EPA requirements in other states, such as Massachusetts, where it directly administers the permit program.
Key changes:
- Requirements for street sweeping and catch-basin cleaning would no longer be based on a prescriptive schedule.
- The rules now state that cities and towns aren’t required to implement a leaf pickup program. However, they will be required to create a management program to keep leaves from being disposed of on roadways and storm sewers.
- For the 49 smaller “Tier II” communities, DEEP would narrow its enforcement focus to preventing illicit stormwater-system connections, reviewing land use ordinances to minimize runoff from future development, and basic inspection and maintenance of roads and drainage systems.
DEEP, CCM, the Council of Small Towns, the Connecticut Fund for the Environment and the town of Willington will meet Feb. 4 to discuss the requirements.
