Road-Related Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s): Road and highway systems convey pollutants including heavy metals and hydrocarbons.  Without proper control, runoff from roads can impair surface waters.  This EPA site is geared towards transportation MS4 management.  State, county, and local transportation entities are taking a coordinated approach to transportation stormwater management and information-sharing.

The Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts (PACD) Executive Board endorses efforts to reduce highway stormwater runoff.  For a fact sheet and template letter to send to US Senators and Congress members, click here.

Remember the comment period for the Proposed Revisions to General NPDES Permit for Stormwater Discharges from MS4’s (PAG-13) is extended until July 6th.  Go to the DEP web site for more information and for meeting/hearing locations and dates.   Informational meetings (hour long) followed by formal hearings are scheduled as follows:

June 18, 2009 at 3 PM, Southeast Regional Office
Delaware/Schuylkill Conference Rooms
2 East Main Street
Norristown PA 19401
484-250-5900

June 23, 2009, Southcentral Regional Office
Susquehanna Conference Room
909 Elmerton Avenue
Harrisburg PA 17110
717-705-4700

June 16, 2009, Southwest Regional Office
Waterfront Conference Room A&B
400 Waterfront Drive
Pittsburgh PA 15222-4745
412-442-4000

There are specific requirements for reserving time for testimony and for submission of written comments for the record.

NJ DEP is holding a public information session June 4^th on the Stormwater Management Rules: N.J.A.C. 7:8.

Southeast PA Association of Conservation Districts (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery) offers NPDES Permit Application Checklist - Workshop on June 26th.  Check here for location, registration information, and agenda.

2009 NACD Legislative Conference - The National Association of Conservation Districts 2009 summer legislative conference will take place July 19-21, 2009 in Washington D.C. Click here for more details including registration, hotel information, a draft agenda and more.

Visit the Berks County Stormwater BMP Interpretive Trail featuring: Terre-Kleen Inlet unit; porous concrete sidewalk; storm tank stormwater storage module; and rain garden.

In this month’s publication of Stormwater journal, check out article on Structural Stormwater BMPs for a preview of five projects that highlight some of the best available stormwater practices and technologies.  Also, see Keeping a LID on Runoff for a perspective on the Low-Impact Development approach to stormwater management.

admin Weekly News BMPs, conservation district, LID, MS4, NPDES, stormwater best management practices

At last week’s 3-day combined Working Together to Protect our Land, Water & Communities (Pennsylvania Land Trust Association) and Confluence 2009 (Chesapeake Bay Foundation) Conference in State College, stormwater was a central theme.

Thursday featured Michele Adams, PE (of Meliora Design and one of the authors of PADEP’s recent Stormwater BMP Manual) and Steve Benz, PE (Sasaki Associates in Boston) advocating the use of Bob Pitt’s (University of Alabama) Small Storm Hydrology, a stormwater calculation methodology that “fits” Low Impact Development technologies and its overall objectives.   Small Storm Hydrology targets runoff volumes and runoff water quality and argues against the conventional focus on large design storms.  Session participants got to re-design commercial and residential case studies and apply the LID principles presented in the morning discussion.  Understanding Pitt’s methodology is important if LID is to be applied broadly across Pennsylvania municipalities (as indicated in the BMP Manual).   Moving from the USDA-NRCS Soil Cover Complex Method with its known Curve Number inaccuracies and bias toward large storm events is inevitable as LID gains prominence.  Stay tuned as methodological challenges integrating volume control with peak rate control emerge - every bit as critical.

On Friday, Working Together/Confluence offered a “Municipal Protection of Land and Water Resources” all-day workshop that included CBF’s Harry Campbell, PE and Brandywine Conservancy’s Wes Horner.  Wes reviewed technical elements of a stormwater program, arguing for emphasis on preventive non-structural BMP’s as well as the full array of mitigative structural BMP’s (consistent with the PADEP BMP Manual).  Harry discussed the importance of integrating all of these stormwater (Low Impact Development) elements into the municipal subdivision/land development ordinance (SLDO) - including far more than just the traditional stormwater section to include everything from street widths and paving standards to curbing to landscaping and a myriad of other SLDO elements.  Harry, subbing for Tom Schueler, also discussed the essential components of PADEP’s existing MS4 program, reviewing approaches to the required 6 minimum control measures.  All conference presentations, materials, handouts are being posted on the conference website, ConservationTools.org.

Saturday sessions included Stormwater I and Stormwater II, as well as GreenTreks’ Barry Lewis (Web Resources for Conservation:  StormwaterPA and ConservationTools.org).  Like many of his other talks around the state, Barry described the intent and current and future content of StormwaterPA and encouraged participants to utilize the tools offered on the website and participate in its ongoing development.   Stormwater I recapped the essential components of Low Impact Development and discussed ways of selecting the right BMP at the right site for the right development type.  Stormwater II focused on 2 case studies: holistic stormwater/wastewater/water supply at Penn State Main Campus and in the Harrisburg area.

Throughout all of these discussions, it is clear that stormwater and its successful management embodies that critical area where land and water conservation come together.

News Update…

Pennsylvania, Bay States Set New Milestones for Accelerated Cleanup of Chesapeake Bay.  See full DEP update here.

The Temple-Villanova Sustainable Stormwater Initiative (T-VSSI) continues to update its Regional BMP Database, which is a great resource for finding model stormwater best management practices (BMPs) that have been implemented in Southeastern Pennsylvania. The database contains project descriptions, costs, photos, plant lists and planting diagrams, design drawings and other information. Check out the BMP Database here.

Another resource worth looking into is Chester County’s BMP Tour Book.  Seeing is believing.  This kind of a tour of successfully executed BMP’s in your area can be very useful in educating stakeholders - builders and developers, consulting engineers, local boards and officials.  Just make sure the BMP’s are “successfully executed.”

admin From the Editors Chesapeake Bay, land, LID, ordinances, stormwater best management practices, water and communities

At PennFuture’s well-attended Sixth Annual Watershed Workshop held at the Brandywine Conservancy, speaker Steven A. Hann, Principal at Hamburg, Rubin Mullin Maxell & Lupin, discussed the pros and cons of forming Stormwater Authorities in Pennsylvania.  With an ever-expanding and sometimes somewhat daunting array of stormwater management responsibilities required of municipalities designated as MS4s (about 940 of the 2550+ total municipalities in Pennsylvania), municipal stormwater authorities, with some adjustments in the law, can be established to assume many of these responsibilities, from permitting to inspections to operation & maintenance of BMPs, as well as paying for it all.  Mr. Hann suggested that such working to incorporate stormwater authorities in Pennsylvania’s stormwater program could result in “smarter” infrastructure that yielded  better stormwater management at lower costs - an important challenge facing most MS4 municipalities.

REMINDER: The Philadelphia Water Department, Villanova University, Temple University and partners are currently accepting submissions for the 2009 Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) Recognition Program.   They are looking for innovative stormwater management projects that are already in the ground and that could serve as model demonstration projects. The selected projects will be highlighted at the Pennsylvania Stormwater Management Symposium, held at Villanova University, in October, 2009.  Deadline for submissions = June 1^st, 2009 .  For more information and to submit your project, go here.

Last week, we featured Berks County’s Stormwater BMP trail, and this week we encourage you to check out Dauphin County’s Stormwater BMP Tour.  You can take a self-guided walking tour of 14 BMPs installed by the conservation district, and can find fact sheets for all the BMP. Details.

Learn how changing your own lawn-care practices can help reduce pollution in “How does your lawn and garden affect the Chesapeake Bay.” Goto the article.

The Pennsylvania Environmental Council is encouraging Hatboro, Upper Moreland, and Horsham townships in Montgomery County to apply for stimulus funds to reduce stormwater with green infrastructure projects.  Hatboro hopes to receive close to $1 million of the ARRA money, which is distributed by the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority. Read more.

The Department of the Interior says that a building permit for the American Revolution Center at Valley Forge should not be issued until Montgomery County first grants a stormwater mitigation permit.  The DOI preformed an independent review of the construction plans and determined that the project, which includes a museum, trailhead building, and conference center, would have negative impacts on the Schuylkill River and Valley Forge Park. More information.

From DEP: Gov. Rendell Says Pa. Will Operate Three Vital Delaware River Gauges to Keep Communities Safe

HARRISBURG (April 29) — Governor Edward G. Rendell announced today that Pennsylvania is taking steps to ensure three important river gauges on the upper Delaware River continue to operate and provide critical information that protects residents by monitoring flood conditions and water quality.  Get the full story.

admin Weekly News ARRA, Chesapeake Bay, economic stimulus, flood control, MS4, stormwater best management practices