The Maryland Department of the Environment’s proposed regulations would require developers to use new designs that would reduce stormwater runoff from entering the Chesapeake Bay — whenever possible.
But environmentalists are concerned that a potential loophole weakens the push for a stormwater solution.
Stormwater regulations have evolved from collecting stormwater runoff in ponds to filtering water with vegetation and buffers, said Jay Sakai, MDE’s water management director.
Sites affected under the recent proposal are new developments and redeveloped sites.
Those areas being redeveloped would have at least 50 percent less impervious surfaces, such as parking lots, and water treatment plans.
Local governments must adopt ordinances to ensure these practices are implemented.
“There are many elements which are a real distinct improvement from what we had in the past,” said Tom Schueler, founder of the Chesapeake Stormwater Network, an organization dedicated to improving stormwater management in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
However, Gerald Winegrad, a former state lawmaker and professor of Bay studies at University of Maryland, College Park, said the regulations don’t address existing development in need of stormwater retrofits.
Because stormwater projects are expensive, he said, a dedicated state fund should be created to support these regulations.
In addition, local governments may struggle to ensure these regulations are being followed properly without funding for training on how to implement the regulations and because the regulations apply “whenever possible,” Schueler said.
“Maryland is going in the right direction, but there is more work that needs to be done,” he said.
Sakai said the department would be working with local jurisdictions on adopting the regulations, and they have a stake in encouraging these practices to reduce pollution in local waterways.
“We don’t think it’s going to be significantly onerous,” he said. “It will be easy to buy into this.”
After a public review process, the final regulations will be adopted early next year.
AT A GLANCE
Stormwater runoff carries trash, sediment and nutrients from driveways, roofs, parking lots and other impervious surfaces into the area’s waterways and causes stream erosion.
Urban and suburban runoff is responsible for 17 percent of the phosphorus and 11 percent of the nitrogen — both harmful nutrients — in the Chesapeake Bay.
SOURCE: Chesapeake Bay Program
