NEWS FLASH:

Word is that the public comment period for the Draft NPDES Phase II MS4  General Permit (PAG-13) has been extended 60 days, until around July 4. Visit the DEP MS4 web page for the latest.

More Changes at PADEP (Continuing…)

As mentioned 2 weeks ago, PADEP has rolled out Draft Revised Regulations for its General Permit (PAG-13) for Small Municipal Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s; about 940 of the State’s 2550+ municipalities classify as an MS4).  for details, see MS4 PAG-13 Permit and Stormwater Management Model Ordinance revised, public comment period tba. The new requirements for MS4 municipalities which have additional TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Loads) stream designations are triggering lots of comments. For example, municipalities must apply at least 2 of the following TMDL control Measures to their municipal facilities:

• Establish and Protect Riparian Forest Buffers - restore vegetated buffer areas
• Disconnection Program - Disconnect impervious areas from your MS4 system
• Tree Planting - Plant trees within the impaired watershed
• Construct Recharge/Infiltration Facilities
• Stormwater Basin Retrofits - Naturalize or modify for extended detention, and/or modify for increased infiltration basin.
• Restore Stream banks - Restore degraded and eroding stream banks.
• Green Infrastructure.

The Draft requires that a Stormwater TMDL Plan be prepared that includes 10 increasingly complex steps designed to assess success in achieving TMDL-related pollutant reduction goals.

More to come…

admin NPDES / MS4 MS4, ordinances, TMDL

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation released its 2008 State of the Bay report.  The report gives the Bay’s health a score based on 13 environmental factors, and it received 28 out of 100 last year, or a “D.” The bay had declines in dissolved oxygen, rockfish, crabs, and shad, though there were gains in underwater grasses.  Go to the press release.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has adopted an interim certification process for reviews of Manufactured Treatment Devices, and further adjustments to the review process may occur when the Stormwater Management Rules are readopted later this year. See the announcement.

Call for Presenters for the 2009 Pennsylvania Stormwater Management Symposium “Bailing out Stormwater” October 14-15 at Villanova University. Details.

“Achieving Results with Tight Budgets,” the 5Th National Conference for Nonpoint Source and Stormwater Outreach, will take place May 11-14 in Portland, Oregon.  Details here.

Rain Barrel Workshop with the Crawford County Conservation District.  May 13, 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm in Meadville. See flyer.

Blair County Conservation District’s Homeowner’s Workshop rescheduled to Thursday, May 28. Details.

Now that spring is here, make a visit to the Berks County Conservation District’s ‘Stormwater Best Management Practices Interpretive Trail’! Learn more an see videos on the installation of a porous concrete sidewalk and a stormwater inlet at their website.

We’ve added a new sources to the list of places we look for weekly update additions! The Temple-Villanova Sustainable Stormwater Initiative (TVSSI) combines the forces of the Villanova Urban Stormwater Partnership and Temple’s Center for Sustainable Communities.  Its focus is BMP demonstration, research, and outreach. Visit the site.

Another tremendous source of information is The Chesapeake Stormwater Network, which was launched last year by Tom Schueler, founder of the Center for Watershed Protection. Its mission is “to improve on the ground implementation of more sustainable stormwater management and environmental site design practices in each of 1300 communities and seven states in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.” Visit the Pennsylvania page.

The Eighth Annual StormCon Conference and exposition is to take place in Anaheim, California this August.  “Early Bird” registration discounts end June 15.  See a description of program tracks here.

In Stormwater this month, you can read about “Stormwater Remediation in a Karst Watershed.” The article describes a case study in Kentucky, but as you can see from this DCNR map, it may have relevance for you in Pennsylvania.

admin Weekly News BMPs, Chesapeake Bay, conservation district, environmental site design, karst, Nonpoint source pollution, porous concrete, rain barrels

EPA’s Green Infrastructure & MS4 Compliance Workshops are coming to Charlottesville, Atlanta, and various locations in New York.  The workshops are “intended primarily for municipal governments with wet weather management responsibilities, i.e., stormwater, combined sewer overflows, sanitary sewer overflows and nonpoint source runoff. The workshop[s] will focus on how these programs can be effectively managed using green infrastructure technologies and approaches.”

Details:

Charlottesville, April 29 & 30.
Atlanta, May 4 & 5.
New York, May 7.

Chesapeake Stormwater Network Update No. 8 Just Released. Stormwater Guru Tom Schueler’s latest News blog looks at everything from the status of Bay State Stormwater Regs to Specs for Permeable Pavement and Grass Channels and more. Get in tune with this valuable resource here.

Call for entries to the Stormwater BMP Recognition Program! The Philadelphia Water Department is partnering with the Temple-Villanova Sustainable Stormwater Initiative to recognize the best projects that have been implemented in southeast Pennsylvania (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties).  Entries are being accepted until June 1, 2009.  Details.

From the May issue of Stormwater, the Journal for Surface Water Quality Professsionals:

Challenges of Stream Restoration as a Stormwater Management Tool
“As the first of a three-part series on stream restoration intended to realize the disparity between design and construction, and how this contributes to failure, this article provides the designer’s perspective on which challenges pose the greatest risk to the success of a stream restoration project.” See the rest of the article here.

Beating Bacteria
“A new methodology for identifying and prioritizing water bodies with high concentrations of fecal coliform is helping Florida address the problem of elevated bacteria levels.” Go to the article.

Project Profile
“City of Chattanooga Urban Stormwater Retrofit.” Check it out.

Earlier this year, New Jersey updated its Stormwater BMP Manual with Chapter 9.1, “Standard for Bioretention Systems.” See it here.

admin NPDES / MS4 bioretention, Chesapeake Bay, MS4, Nonpoint source pollution, retrofit, stormwater legislation, stream restoration

Over-Stimulated?

Since the recent passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), federal agencies have been frantically crafting new stimulus programs that both create jobs and support environmental programs, including stormwater management.  There’s a good summary of what this means to Pennsylvania available here.

In Pennsylvania, about $250 million has been allocated to SRF, almost $45 million (20 %) of which will go to the Green Project Reserve, including “Green Infrastructure” and “Environmentally Innovative Projects.”  PENNVEST and PADEP are administering this program. Check out the Notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin and the information on the PENNVEST website.

Applications for “shovel ready” projects are due by May 18, 2009.  Project eligibility seems to be remarkably broad.

American Rivers’ has dedicated a section of its website to help make sense of it all and provide guidance on what different federal agencies are doing. Go there. For focus on EPA efforts, especially the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, go here.

More Changes at PADEP…

As noted previously [MS4 PAG-13 Permit and Stormwater Management Model Ordinance revised, public comment period tba] , PADEP has rolled out Draft Revised Regulations for its General Permit (PAG-13) for Small Municipal Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s). New requirements for municipalities with TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Loads) stream designations are triggering lots of comment.  Make sure you take a look. We’ll be commenting in more detail on this in an upcoming post…

Worthwhile  Newsletter

Like its parent print journal, Stormwater, the monthly electronic newsletter is an excellent source of information on the industry nationwide. Be sure to check it out — and sign up to stay in tune.

admin Funding ARRA, clean water, economic stimulus, green infrastructure, MS4, TMDL

The Clearwater Conservancy in Centre County is holding its annual Watershed Cleanup Day on April 25th.  Help them beat last year’s record-breaking 467 tons of trash removed! Details.

The Lancaster County Conservation District is having a Cover Crop Walk on April 17th from 10am to noon at John Stoltzfus Farm.  Details.

The Second Annual Bradford and Sullivan Counties Flood Summit will be held  April 24th in Wysox, PA.  Details.

The Westmoreland Conservation District’s April 15th “Homeowner’s Guide to Stormwater Management & Rain Barrel Workshop” is sold out, but you can still get in on other upcoming events. Schedule.

The EPA recently launched its new “Healthy Watersheds” Initiative. Under “Conservation Tools and Approaches” you can access links to examples of green infrastructure, hydrology, and river corridor protection, among others.  Goto the Website.

Early this month Senator Feingold and 23 co-sponsors introduced the Clean Water Restoration Act.  The Act seeks to end ambiguity resulting from two recent Supreme Court cases regarding the scope of the Clean Water Act, and would restore previous guidance to CWA interpretation. More…

admin Weekly News clean water, flood control, rain barrels, stormwater legislation