Comments from Friends of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River on Proposed Amendments to Parts I, II, III and XIII of the Virginia Stormwater Management Program Permit Regulations.

The following comments are in addition to those submitted by the Friends of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River at the July 1, 2009 public hearing in Verona. Overall, we are pleased with the proposed regulations and we urge DCR to adopt them quickly. However, we are concerned that the proposed regulations, as currently drafted, may result in financial disincentives to redevelop land that is already covered with a large amount of impervious surface or to develop high density projects in more urban locations. Therefore, we agree with the following relatively minor changes to the proposed regulations as suggested by the Southern Environmental Law Center: Slightly relax the water quantity requirements proposed for redevelopments that are discharging to either unstable or flooding channels. Also, incorporate “incentives” for smart growth development strategies into the regulatory framework. See proposed language from SELC for line-by-line revisions to the regulations.

We believe these revisions are necessary to reduce the pressure to build on forested land and open space in the same watershed and to reduce stormwater runoff from areas that could be converted to impervious surfaces. Incorporating “smart growth” incentives to the regulatory framework would protect water quality on a regional scale. Therefore, we encourage DCR to make clear in the final regulations that it is willing to consider smart growth features of development projects as a type of best management practice (BMP).

Thank you for consideration of our additional comments.

Margaret Lorenz, Policy Coordinator

Friends of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River