City Council bill seeks to loosen stormwater drainage pollution regulations

What the bill changes

As written currently, Section 102-8 requires any construction site which involves land disturbing activities, or LDAs, which disturb 5,000 or more square feet of land or any increase in impervious surfaces of 1,000 square feet or more to submit an erosion and settlement control plan to the City Engineer's office alongside building permit requests. The bill would raise the minimum cap on construction sites required to submit these requests to 10,000 square feet of land disturbed or 10,000 square feet of impervious surfaces added. The changes would still sit below current minimum requirements from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, according to City Attorney Joe Baldwin.

"Right now, the [Department of Environmental Protection] actually only requires these erosion control plans when they're at an acre of land, which is 48,000 times square feet. We are well restricted." Baldwin said.

The bill also removes the requirement for stabilization of soil stockpiles, instead requiring a temporary seeding of the stockpiles after 21 days of idle activity. This will not make much of an impact, according to Stephen Birurakis, the storm water manager at the City Engineer's office. 

"The temporary seeding is what's necessary for us to ensure that the site is grassy and make sure that [erosion is] not going to happen when it comes to certain areas on the side." Birurakis said. "The stockpile was just moved up; it will still be covered in the same section."

The amendment was written on recommendation of the City Engineer's office in attempt to lessen the burden of approvals on smaller personal projects, according to Councilmember Jennifer Pharr, vice chair of the Planning, Streets, and Traffic Committee, and that projects not required to submit control plans will still be required to follow citywide sediment control measures. 

"This change was discussed by the engineering department and building department in relation to the requirements in place on residents completing smaller projects." Pharr, who spoke on behalf of Hoover, said. "Projects under the square feet threshold are still required to obtain a building permit and comply with erosion and sediment control measures. The city's compliance officers still maintain discretion to require projects under the square feet threshold to submit plans when deemed necessary. Overall, this change will streamline the process for smaller projects while maintaining the appropriate protective measures for erosion and sediment control." 

What's next

The bill will now move to the Environment and Recycling Committee for approval. There is no current date set for the next Environment and Recycling Committee meeting. The bill will then move to the City Council where, if approved, the city will then apply the amended restrictions to the Municipal Code.

According to City Attorney Baldwin, a second bill that focuses on the permit proposal structure for larger projects is also underway in tandem with the current bill. This bill has not yet been introduced in City Council.