Stormwater and water issues had a
high profile this week in Washington.The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee each held hearings that focused on
water issues. The Senate Subcommittee on
Water and Wildlife Chaired by Senator Benjamin Cardin (MD) held a hearing entitled
"Our
Nation’s Water Infrastructure: Challenges and Opportunities." The
hearing featured the testimony of Ted Scott, the Executive Vice President and
Founder of Stormwater Maintenance in Maryland.
As many design and engineering firms shrink due to the larger economic
crisis, Scott estimates that his business has quadrupled in size in the last
few years, largely from filling the demand created by recent Maryland
stormwater management regulations. Scott
employs landscape architects, engineers and other design professionals and is
an example of a creative firm creating business opportunities in response to a
new regulatory framework.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Water and
the Environment chaired by Rep. Bob Gibbs (OH) held a hearing entitled, “Integrated
Planning and Permitting: An Opportunity for EPA to Provide Communities with
Flexibility to Make Smart Investments in Water Quality” This panel featured the testimony of local and
national water experts discussing their relationship with their regulator (US
Environmental Protection Agency or EPA).
Local water officials looked to congress to help their efforts in seeking
flexibility in how they comply with Clean Water Act requirements, usually
through National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting and
in some cases via court ordered consent decrees. Panelist recognized the efforts of EPA in
allowing more flexibility but given the enormous costs of compliance many
localities are seeking additional relief and the ability to utilize integrated
planning approaches that allow localities to prioritize and optimize their
investments. This includes utilizing alternative
techniques to meet their water quality goals. The unanimous opinion of the
panel was that increased utilization of green infrastructure technologies would
be a large part of the solution to the nation’s stormwater and water quality
issues, and localities wanted additional flexibility to implement green
approaches. Many communities, including Philadelphia, New York, Seattle,
Milwaukee and others are finding that green infrastructure is a less cost
prohibitive way to comply with Clean Water Act standards. Rep. Donna Edwards
(MD) cited the need for best practices and standards for cities to utilize when
adapting green approaches and citied the need for additional data supporting
its effectiveness. Her bill, the Green
Infrastructure for Clean Water Act, would create up to 5 regional centers
of excellence to help collect and disseminate best practices and technical
advice to further the use of green infrastructure approaches.
The panel also featured testimony from Nancy Stoner, the Acting Assistant
Administrator at the EPA Office of Water who highlighted a recent guidance
memorandum that encourages a flexible integrated approach to complying with
the Clean Water Act as well as promotes the use of green infrastructure. When asked about the status of a national
stormwater rule Ms. Stoner stated that the EPA efforts are delayed.
ASLA continues to
monitor water issues in the administration and in congress and while promoting
the expertise of landscape architects in crafting low impact development
solutions to address our nation’s stormwater and water quality challenges.
For more on ASLA’s
Water and Stormwater priorities https://www.asla.org/waterandstormwater.aspx