Advocates press legislators to allow stormwater rules to go into effect

RALEIGH -About 200 advocates traveled to the state capital Wednesday to demonstrate their support for stormwater rules scheduled to go into effect in 20 coastal North Carolina counties on Aug. 1.

Frank Tursi of  the N.C. Coastal Federation said the new rules are needed to protect shellfish habitats.

"Numerous scientific studies going back 30 years have shown that the more of these impervious surfaces you have the more runoff you have, the more stormwater you have," Tursi said.

Such water doesn't get treated or filtered out, the way it would if it sank into the groundwater, and it carries pollutants into the rivers and streams, he said.

Tursi and supporters were urging lawmakers not to support bills that have been introduced in the Senate and the House that would block implementation of the new stormwater rules.

A co-sponsor of one of those bills is Sen. Jean Preston of Carteret County. She's hoping that a group of interested parties, called stakeholders, will come up with a compromise before the General Assembly adjourns this summer.

"We're partially there," Preston said.

The coastal stormwater rules, as adopted by the Environmental Management Commission, would require developers to install runoff controls if they  have an impervious surface exceed 12 percent of the property they are developing.  Impervious surfaces include things such as rooftops of houses and parking lots, where water cannot filter through the ground, Tursi said.

Such controls could include ponds, rain gardens and cisterns to catch water for reuse. It would require such controls if more than an acre is disturbed, Tursi said.

The rules would also require a greater amount of runoff to be captured than is currently required.

Stormwater rules are likely to be a debated issue in the General Assembly for more than this year. New proposed rules aimed at protecting Jordan Lake in Chatham County are expected to be debated next year.

Those rules would affect development in a number of surrounding counties, including Alamance County and municipalities in the county.

"It's going to have a dramatic impact," Burlington City Manager Harold Owen said.

Owen said that those rules could even result in the city going into established neighborhoods and putting in runoff controls, such as sedimentation ponds, if nutrient-reduction goals aren't met in Jordan Lake.

"There's no way you can even put a dollar figure on what that might be," Owen said.

"That's a potential for a huge expenditure and impact on our citizens," said Bob Patterson, Burlington's public works director.

Owen said that he didn't know if the state has ever required that a city go into existing developments in an effort to reduce runoff.

He said he hopes some alternative solution can be worked out to improve the water quality in Jordan Lake.

"We certainly hope in some point in time we can get into the legislature and get a compromise on this," Owen said.

Preston is also hopeful that a compromise can be worked out before the coastal rules take effect later in the summer.

"So far, we've made progress," Preston said.