The Regulatory Coordinator:

On behalf of the City of Alexandria, I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the proposed amendments to the VSMP MS4 Phase II permit regulations (4VAC50-60 Part I and Part XV).  The City is pleased to be a partner with the Commonwealth to protect our waters and recognizes the considerable effort undertaken by staff from the Department of Conservation and Recreation in developing these amendments. 

Geographically, the City of Alexandria is located at the bottom of several watersheds and, pollutant loadings within the City’s waterways are significantly influenced by upstream activities.  The City recognizes the importance of reducing adverse impacts on water quality from non-point sources and has committed significant efforts and resources to improve the water quality with watershed wide efforts, including commitment to two large cross jurisdictional watershed/stream restoration projects.  It is currently participating in a Watershed Feasibility Study for Cameron Run/Holmes Run watershed in partnership with Fairfax County and the US Army Corps of Engineers.  The City’s portion of funding for this project is just $ 1 million.  The City, in a joint effort with Arlington County, and US Army Corps of Engineers, has also developed a master plan for stream restoration for Four Mile Run with the total cost approaching one million dollars.  A demonstration project for implementation of an element of this master plan is in planning stages with potential costs ranging above $2 million.  All of the above efforts demonstrate the City’s environmental stewardship and its continued commitment to improve water and environmental quality and are consistent with the goals of the MS4 permit regulations.  Any permit regulations which require activities other than most efficient and best use of available resources will occur at the expense of other on-going environmental efforts which may be more effective in improving Alexandria’s environment and water quality.

Although the proposed permit regulations contain a number of improvements, there are several changes that will result in a significant additional cost burden to regulated communities, while yielding marginal benefits.  This is particularly true for the section dealing with TMDL pollutants of concern. 

The City requests that the Board reconsider several specific amendments prior to final adoption:

Outfall Reconnaissance (4VAC50-60-1240 Section I.B.6):  The City recommends eliminating the requirement to inspect all stormwater outfalls during the permit period.  A strength of the existing permit regulations is that localities have the flexibility to focus illicit discharge elimination efforts based on identified risk factors and initial field reconnaissance.  This approach recognizes that continuously and repeatedly inspecting low-risk outfalls does not represent an effective use of limited resources and diverts attention from areas that deserve closer attention and scrutiny.  The proposed outfall reconnaissance language will require localities subject to a TMDL stormwater wasteload allocation to inspect all outfalls during the five year permit period regardless of an assessment of potential risk.  This approach represents a particular burden for larger MS4 Phase II communities such as Alexandria, which has identified over 430 stormwater outfalls. 

Outfall Monitoring (4VAC50-60-1240 Section I.B.7):  The City recommends eliminating or modifying the requirement to conduct wet-weather water quality monitoring.  As proposed, this requirement, when implemented for like kind of facilities, will be cost prohibitive and due to the redundancy may not be necessary or useful.  Should the Board pursue wet-weather monitoring, the City recommends allowing localities to monitor a representative sample of facilities with similar characteristics.  This will allow the City to characterize pollutant loadings for certain land uses to determine if selected BMPs are appropriate for the drainage area, while ensuring that the cost of monitoring does not diminish the City’s ability to apply more stringent BMPs should they be determined to be necessary. 

Low Impact Development 4VAC50-60-1240 Section II.B.5):  The City recommends eliminating the requirement to track the number of acres developed utilizing low impact development (LID) principles until the Board promulgates specific guidance on what qualifies as reportable LID practices under the terms of this permit program.  The City has been on the forefront of promoting LID techniques and is currently working with the Northern Virginia Regional Commission to develop a regional LID manual.  However, at this time, there is no consistent State-wide guidance regarding LID design or performance standards.  Further, it is unclear what threshold would be used for determining if a site qualifies as reportable LID.  As a result, the information reported would be arbitrary and meaningless for comparative purposes.  The City understands that guidance is being developed in conjunction with revisions to the entire Virginia Stormwater Management Regulations.  Tying tracking of LID to the adoption of these Regulations, or waiting until the next permit cycle, would help ensure uniform application of measurable practices and meaningful data.

In addition to the above stated comments, the City supports the comments outlined by Northern Virginia Regional Commission, of which City is a member jurisdiction.  Their comments also reflect City’s other concerns and suggestions to modify the permit.

Again, thank you for the opportunity to address these important issues.  Please do not hesitate to contact me at (703) 519-3400 ext. 163 if you should have any questions regarding our comments.

Sincerely,

William Skrabak, Chief

Division of Environmental Quality

Department of Transportation and Environmental Services

City of Alexandria