Agenda - 06-07-2005-9c - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 as dates, and provides necessary tools for implementation. Each of'these issues is discussed in more detail below. Protection from Enforcement Actions This legislation provides relief to local governments who are in violation of a federal application deadline due to no fault of'their own. The temporary rule adopted by the EMC gave cities designated by the 2000 census until May 2004 (instead of March 2003 as directed by the federal rule) to submit Phase II permit applications. The extended deadline expired when the rules were not adopted by the Rules Review Commission, thereby creating a gap between the federally mandated deadline and the deadline set by the state, This legislation addresses that gap by validating all permit applications that were submitted incompliance with the federal deadline. Standards for' Post-Construction Implementation and Flexibility Local govemments will have their individual permit applications evaluated based on the standards established in the temporary rule, The League advocated for using this standard for two primary reasons. The temporary rule is the standard under which cities developed their permit applications submitted to DENR, The temporary rule was also the basis for the Storm 2003 Phase II assistance package developed by the League, which many Phase II cities relied upon to develop their permit applications, Clarifications were made in the legislation to ensure that local govemments have maximum flexibility to design their own post-construction practices, preventing the application of a one- size-fits-all approach to all Phase II cities. A Phase II municipality may develop its own comprehensive watershed plan, may use the model ordinance to be prepared by DENR, may design its own post-construction practices based on DENR's guidance and engineering standards for best management practices (BMPs), or it may incorporate the post-construction model practices [the high density/low density approach] set out in the temporary rule to fulfill the minimum requirements, Exemption of Small Municipalities The legislation exempts municipalities with a population of 1,000 or less unless DENR demonstrates they are contributing to an impairment of state waters. Exempted municipalities will be reconsidered based on the designation procedures, which will be tied to the river basin planning process, DENR will pr°ovide more detail on the waiver procedure that will be supplied to the relevant municipalities, Reeulation in the Unincorporated Areas Due to a loophole created by the federal rules, unincorporated areas were not automatically subject to the stormwater requirements, This legislation addresses municipal concerns about fairness inapplicability of the stormwater requirements and equity in economic development. The revised legislation ensures that areas of urbanizing development will be covered by post-