The Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has now developed their Final Rules for limiting pollution from construction site runoff.  In discussions with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA), the State has indicated unofficially that they were waiting for the EPA’s final rules before tackling this issue in Illinois.   The federal rules will be phased in, according to the fact sheet.  More information on this federal regulation can be found at the following link:

http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/guide/construction/

How do you think this should influence this ordinance update effort?  Should we try to anticipate the Federal/State rules, or leave that issue for a future update when the State has had a chance to implement this rule making in Illinois?

In looking over the “Erosion and Sediment control” section of the Ordinance, It occurs to me that a lot has changed in this area since the Ordinance was first adopted.  The NPDES requirements for a Stormwater Pollution Prevention plan overlap these requirements, and reference the Illinois Urban Manual for technical specifications on practices.  Many of the provisions of the current ordinance were written because there was no real effective program in place, and acted in the absence of an effective program at the time.  In an effort to reduce duplicative regulatory submittals and coordinate requirements, what do you think of the idea of requiring a SWPP based on the Illinois Urban Manual and IEPA rules for all DuPage County Stormwater permits, in lieu of the requirements of Section 15-117 of the Ordinance?  This would extend the NPDES requirement to sites that are not currently large enough to fall under NPDES (1-acre threshold) but for sites larger than 1-acre the documents required to be produced and maintained for the NOI would be the same as for the Stormwater Permit under the County Ordinance.  Those sites which do not currently have to submit to the IEPA would not have to submit an NOI under this concept, it only makes the design requirements and documentation uniform.  Is this a bad idea?

While DuPage County has from time to time published guidance for certain sections of the Stormwater Ordinance over the years,  there has not been a comprehensive overhaul of the Guidance Manual since it was first published.  There seems to be differences of opinion on the usefulness of the Guidance documents, with some wanting more specific language in the Ordinance and others preferring more general Ordinance language supplemented by robust guidance.  Weaving into this thread is a feeling by some that the Ordinance should be “consistently applied” while others push for more “flexibility”.

How do you see the relationship between an Ordinance and the Guidance document that accompanies it?  Is it “better” to include essentially guidance language in an ordinance, or minimize the language in the ordinance in favor of relegating  the “how to do it” to a separate and non-regulatory document?   Should one try to cover as many specific situations as  possible in the Ordinance, or make the language more general?  What types of situations do you believe the Administrator in each community needs flexibility on?

We received some helpful feedback and comment from a diverse cross-section of engineers and scientists, developers, government officials, businesses and citizens yesterday in a forum whose purpose was to receive just such input.  The following is a summary of a few of the comments/suggestions received.  The full list is posted soon to this website in our “meeting minutes” section.  You can view the “powerpoint” presentation for this meeting as well.  Some of the comments:

• Consider using the wetland hydrology criteria similar to the 80/150 rule that lake county uses to gauge indirect impacts to wetlands.
• Consider providing some form of tax relief for properties that contain wetlands.
• Encourage “positive” practices and Incorporate credit for the positive aspects of “green technologies” like permeable pavers into the ordinance.
• In developing the ordinance, consider the economic well being of citizens, property rights, and the cost of permit reviews.
• Ask for all permit submittals in a digital format.

These are only a few of the comments pulled at random.  If there is something you want us to know about the ordinance, if you have a suggestion, please go to the “Provide Us Your Comments” option to the left of this box.