ESD to the MEP: What Does This Mean for Me?
In June 2009, the Maryland Department of the Environment published its Model Stormwater Management Ordinance as part of its obligation under the Environment Article, Title 4, Subtitle 2 of the Annotated Code of Maryland to execute a statewide stormwater management program to control new development runoff. As this document will serve as the model for developing, reviewing, and approving all Maryland county and municipal stormwater management regulations, it merits review.
Complying with the directive to put into practice Environmental Site Design (ESD) to the maximum extent practicable (MEP) requires significant changes to the way that stormwater management for new development and redevelopment will be conceived, designed, reviewed, and built in Maryland. Indeed, as the Introduction to the Model Ordinance notes:
“[t]he changes required to implement the Stormwater Management Act of 2007 are significant and will force developers, designers, and plans review agencies to consider runoff control from the start of the land development process.”
What kind of changes might we expect to see as Maryland counties and municipalities promulgate their own stormwater management ordinances?
- Less flexibility: According to state law, ESD must be implemented to the MEP. This requirement will likely make attaining a waiver of runoff control more difficult if not impossible. Those counties and municipalities that may want to build some waiver provisions into their ordinances must be explicit in specifying what categories will be used and how the policy will be administered, and MDE retains final review and approval of all proposed waivers.
- More oversight: Local plans review and approval agencies will have to ensure that all reasonable opportunities for ESD are exhausted to meet rainfall treatment targets - this means more oversight likely earlier on in the process.
- Agency coordination: The Act requires a comprehensive and coordinated approval process among all appropriate local agencies. Review and comments must be obtained early in the process from agencies that may not have been involved in stormwater approval in the past -a feat that may prove taxing as local agencies learn how coordinate their review processes.
- Rewriting of existing standards: Existing development standards and restrictions may conflict with the directive of implementing ESD to the MEP. Under the Act, counties and municipalities are instructed to modify any conflicting provisions - but potential conflicts could cause confusion in the interim.
- Mindset shift: If MDE is successful, mindsets will shift from looking for ways to avoid stormwater management in project design to looking for opportunities to provide it.
What do you think? Are there other kinds of changes that you anticipate as the new ordinances come into effect?
