Public comment open for next stormwater permit draft language
May 16 – June 17, 2011
Review draft stormwater permit language and comment online.
Ecology announces an informal public comment period on preliminary draft permit language and supporting documentation covering low impact development (LID) and monitoring requirements for the next permit cycle of the Municipal Stormwater General Permits.
The preliminary draft permit documents address two areas of significant change Ecology expects to make in the next permit cycle. This informal comment period provides an early opportunity for public feedback on these proposed documents. Ecology will use your comments and suggestions to improve the permit requirements in the next draft. Once your comments are received, Ecology will post these comments online. Since this comment period is informal, Ecology will not prepare a Response to Comments document.
Please submit your comments by mail, e-mail, or online by 5 pm on June 17, 2011.
Questions on comment period? Contact Dave Williams at AWC, davew@awcnet.org.
Comment on Regional Stormwater Monitoring/LID recommendations
When discussions started two years ago for the next stormwater permit, Ecology asked a broad-based coalition to explore stormwater monitoring approaches. A coalition that includes state and local government, business, environmental, research and agricultural interests last fall gave Ecology a sustainable NPDES proposal – a regional stormwater monitoring program using pooled funding. The Stormwater Work Group (NWG) recommended that its monitoring strategy be included in the next municipal NPDES stormwater permit when it is issued.
City representatives participated extensively in the two-year SWG process, developing a proposed framework that improves the current NPDES monitoring in the Puget Sound
region by:
- Sharing data and collection responsibilities
- Reducing costs for individual jurisdictions by pooling resources
- Creating a sustainable, integrated approach to protecting and restoring Puget Sound
How to comment
AWC encourages elected officials to review the SWG monitoring recommendations and use Ecology’s on-line comment form (available here and on Ecology’s website beginning May 16) to provide input on the draft permit. Talk to your staff about regional monitoring, and the impacts/benefits of sharing pooled resources and information.
Comment online
Learn more about pooled regional stormwater monitoring