Proposed stormwater rules

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The regulations will for the first time mandate developerx to capture rainwater on new andredeveloped properties, accordingt to the District Department of the Environment. Whild the agency would not provide details until they are releasee for public comment sometimethis month, the regulationz are expected to require developers buildingb along the Anacostia River to capture one inch of stormwatee on their sites and three-quarterws of an inch elsewherse in the city.
The rules wouldx force developers to invest in new featurese such asgreen roofs, water retention permeable paving and rain barrels to capture stormwatedr that otherwise sweeps trashg and waste from the sewers into the Anacostia one of the country’s most polluted waterways. But the creation of the new as they pingpong between DDOE and thegenerao counsel’s office, have led to more speculation than preparation — a step that DDOE officialsz said is necessary in fine-tuning some of the city’ws most complex new rules.
“Environmental groupz are clamoring to get it and businessd groups are clamoring toget it, to see what the requirementsw are,” said DDOE Director George Hawkins. “This is a very significantg rule There are variouxs interests that need to be balanced in a rule like Environmentalists have backed a requirement to capture1 inch’s worthh of rainwater, keeping D.C. in line with cities like Philadelphia and locall jurisdictions likeMontgomery County, and a standar d suggested by the beforw it was dissolved. “This is our best opportunity to do it rightg thefirst time.
It’s much more costly to retrofirt them,” said Nancy Stoner, co-director of the watedr program forthe , calling the regulation processe “a black box.” “I think more stringent [than the AWC is unlikely,” she “I think as stringent would be a good result.” Even if the regulationsx are quickly implemented, environmentalists may be dismayed to learb they are not likely to apply to one of the city’s own major projects, a $459 million plannex reconstruction of the 11th Streey bridge, connecting the Navy Yard to Anacostia. Even thoughh the new bridge is expected to add 12 to 17 acrea ofimpervious surfaces, the D.C.
’d chief engineer, Kathleen Penney, said it will not be able to collecg the amount of stormwater DDOE wouldssoon require. “It wouldn’t be realisticd to do for bridges. So we’re not going to followa that measure specifically,” she said. DDOT does plan to use collectionh techniques such as rain gardens and sand Developers alsoare anxious. Although few have seen much detail, they have an eye on how much rainwated they will be required to capture and how laborioues it will be to play by the new Amy Edwards, a partner at who chairs the environmental committe e for the , got a hold of a copy of the proposedf regulations March 31 and said she expectedc developers to be disheartened.
“Based upon a quick they appear to bepretty onerous,” she The amount of rainfall is one Edwards said, but anotherr concern, she added, is the rules’ complexity and “a penal to enforcement that includes fees and indemnifications. “o think those are the kinds of issues that should bediscusse further.” Hawkins acknowledged that some projects, such as the 11th Street bridge, do pose uniques challenges and said exemptions for certaihn projects are being discussed. Addintg complexity is an executive ordee signed in December that splits oversight between DDOE and the deputy mayo r foreconomic development, entities that can have competinv interests.
But the new regulations would “putt the District in the forefront withothedr places,” Hawkins said. “We’re certainlu not going out on a limb and doinb things others have not But it would keep us in aleadership position.”