Water Quality/Wetlands

New York City’s strategy to preserve and enhance its coastal wetlands and ecosystems is featured in the October 2012 issue of the Federal Highway Administration’s Successes in Stewardship newsletter. Released in May 2012 as part of the broader PlaNYC initiative for a “greener, greater” city, the strategy identifies five main challenges to sustaining these resources - development, pollution, mitigation, funding, and climate change - and outlines 12 initiatives for meeting them. The strategy in particular proposes revising existing mitigation strategies for wetland infill and development by replacing onsite mitigation requirements with in-lieu fee mitigation or consolidated wetland mitigation. For more information, link to New York City Wetlands Strategy Protects Coastal Ecosystems. (10-2-12)

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Information presented at AASHTO’s 2012 Stormwater Practitioners Meeting will be described in an Oct. 23 webinar sponsored by the Center for Environmental Excellence by AASHTO. The webinar, to be held from 1-3 PM, Eastern Time, will discuss highlights from the practitioners meeting, DOT challenges with stormwater requirements, and peer to peer exchange of information. In addition, it will provide an update on stormwater regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency and will discuss best practices from state DOTs. For more information and registration, link here. (10-5-12)

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The Environmental Law Institute has posted an article about Philadelphia’s Green City, Clean Waters Program to use green infrastructure to reduce combined sewer overflows as required by the Clean Water Act. The program will spend approximately $2.5 billion over 25 years on green infrastructure projects such as infiltration basins and pervious pavements that will save an estimated $8 billion over traditional “grey” infrastructure. The article describes how the program works, how it is being financed, and how it can be replicated in other cities. The article also shows how the program complements the city’s other sustainability initiatives, through projects such as pairing a bike-friendly corridor with green highway infrastructure. For more information, link to Unpave a Parking Lot and Put Up a Paradise: Using Green Infrastructure and Ecosystem Services to Achieve Cost-Effective Compliance. (9-12-12)

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Strategies for effective erosion prevention, sediment control, and turbidity monitoring are described in a report released under the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP Project 25-25, Task 74). The report includes background information on the construction stormwater permitting process and the preparation of stormwater management plans, best practices for erosion control compiled from a survey of state departments of transportation, and an overview of stormwater treatment techniques and turbidity measurement. The report discusses conventional and enhanced erosion control techniques and stormwater treatment technologies. For more information, link to Turbidity Reduction and Monitoring Strategies for Highway Construction Projects. (7-16-12)

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The Environmental Protection Agency has developed a series of factsheets for EPA and state permitting and enforcement officials on incorporating green infrastructure measures into NPDES wet weather programs. The factsheets cover general accountability considerations, combined sewer overflows, sanitary sewer overflows, stormwater, total maximum daily loads, and water quality standards. The factsheets include sample language and case studies. For more information, link to the Green Infrastructure Permitting and Enforcement Series. (6-21-12)

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The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a framework intended to help local governments develop and implement effective integrated wastewater and stormwater plans under the Clean Water Act. The Integrated Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater Planning Approach Framework, issued as a memorandum to EPA regional administrators, contains a provision that allows municipalities for the first time to modify a plan, a permit, or an enforcement order to comply with CWA obligations. The provision also gives municipalities the opportunity to identify, evaluate, and select new projects and make changes to ongoing projects and implementation schedules. For more information, link to EPA’s Integrated Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater Plans webpage. (6-12-12)

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A webinar on selection of best management practices for post-construction stormwater management will be held by AASHTO on June 7. The webinar, Post Construction BMP Selection – Runoff Management to Meet Quantitative Pollution Limits, will emphasize the experience that DOTs have gained regarding the design, operation and maintenance of BMPs to meet increasingly more stringent and pollutant-specific permit requirements. For more information, link to the webinar announcement. To register, visit https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/845520718.

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The Federal Highway Administration has released an updated handbook with guidelines for identifying stream instability problems at highway stream crossings. Stream Stability at Highway Structures, Fourth Edition, covers geomorphic and hydraulic factors affecting stream stability and provides a step-by-step analysis procedure for evaluation of stream stability problems. The handbook describes stream channel classification, stream reconnaissance techniques, rapid assessment methods for channel stability, quantitative techniques for channel stability analysis, and channel restoration concepts. The new edition adds chapters on sediment transport concepts and channel stability in gravel bed streams and includes expanded coverage of channel restoration concepts. For more information, link to Stream Stability at Highway Structures, Fourth Edition. (5-25-12)

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The Environmental Law Institute has published the second edition of its Clean Water Act Jurisdictional Handbook. The handbook is intended to assist legal laypersons, including property owners, environmental professionals, and regulators, with legal and scientific questions about whether a particular wetland or stream is subject to projects under the statute. The handbook provides explanation of the applicable law, compiles relevant scientific studies, and includes a set of jurisdictional checklists. The second edition includes updated case law and scientific information. The handbook is available to download free of charge on the ELI website. For more information, link to the ELI news release. (5-23-12)

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The Natural Resources Defense Council has issued report analyzing how the 50 states and their agencies are preparing for the water-related impacts of climate change, such as more severe and frequent storms, intense rainfall, and rising sea levels. According to the report, only nine state governments have taken comprehensive steps to address the effects of climate change on water supplies and resources. Those states have taken action including setting greenhouse gas reduction targets, identifying water-related vulnerabilities, and developing and implementing plans to address those vulnerabilities. The report also finds that 29 state governments have “done either nothing at all or very little to prepare” to address climate risks to water. For more information, link to the report, Ready or Not: An Evaluation of State Climate and Water Preparedness Planning. (4-5-12)

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The Environmental Protection Agency has released a template for permit holders to develop stormwater pollution prevention plans (SWPPPs) to control stormwater runoff, erosion, and sediment from construction sites. The template is designed to help contractors or site owners develop SWPPPs that comply with the minimum requirements of the 2012 construction general permit and is customizable to a specific construction project and site. For more information, link to the SWPPP Template. (3-16-12)

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The Environmental Protection Agency has issued the a new National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System general permit for stormwater discharges from construction sites, requiring permit holders to develop plans to prevent runoff and erosion from the sites. The permit replaces the 2008 construction general permit that expired on Feb. 15, 2012. The new construction general permit covers stormwater discharges from construction activities, such as clearing, grading, excavating, and stockpiling, that disturb one or more acres or smaller sites that are part of a larger common plan of development or sale. The permit is effective immediately in areas where EPA has permitting authority, including Idaho, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Washington, D.C., and most U.S. territories and in Indian country lands. For more information, link to the EPA Construction General Permit website. (2-16-12)

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The Environmental Protection Agency has announced the availability of technical assistance to partner communities under its Green Infrastructure Initiative. The agency selected 10 communities for technical assistance in 2011. For 2012, the agency plans to provide a total of approximately $950,000 for 10-20 projects to facilitate the use of green infrastructure, such a as rainwater harvesting, permeable pavements, and urban trees to protect water quality. EPA is accepting letters of interest from communities until April 6, 2012. For more information on the program link to EPA’s Green Infrastructure website. (2-14-12)

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The Environmental Protection Agency has released an interactive tool for tracking water pollutant discharges into local waterways. The Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) Pollutant Loading Tool calculates pollutant loadings using permit and reporting data from EPA’s compliance monitoring systems for the years 2007 through 2010. The tool allows users to search and map discharges by local area, watershed, company, industry sector, and pollutant. For more information, link to the DMR Pollutant Loading Tool website. (1-25-12)

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