Over the past several years, the State of West Virginia has gone from having few stormwater management requirements to adopting an innovative performance standard of managing the first one inch of rainfall on-site for new and redevelopment projects. The standard was established through the issuance of the West Virginia MS4 General Permit in 2009. As you might imagine, such a change requires guidance and training for permittees to help them with implementing the new standard. The Center for Watershed Protection recently developed a Stormwater Management and Design Guidance Manual for the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) as the first step to address this need for guidance.

Photo by Sherri Wilkins

 

In recognition that site characteristics such as steep slopes, poorly drained soils, acid mine drainage or prior contamination may limit the ability to meet the one inch performance standard entirely on-site, the MS4 General Permit provides flexibility through two “off-site compliance” alternatives. This flexibility allows site developers and/or MS4s to achieve equivalent or superior runoff reduction compared to what would be accomplished on the site in question and prevents compliance with stormwater standards from rendering sites undevelopable. To access the following options, applicants must demonstrate that they cannot meet 100% of the one inch runoff reduction performance standard on the project site:

1.Off-Site Mitigation: Runoff reduction practices at a redevelopment or retrofit site are implemented at another location within the same watershed or sewershed. The off-site project would likely be initiated by the site developer, and the MS4 can play a coordinating and/or project approval role.

2.Payment in Lieu: The developer pays the MS4 (or its assigned entity) an appropriate fee. Fees from multiple sites are aggregated by the MS4 to construct “public stormwater projects.” This requires a much more active role for the MS4 compared to the site developer.

In partnership with Downstream Strategies, based in Morgantown, West Virginia, the Center assisted WVDEP by developing guidance on how to implement these off-site compliance options. The document Guidance for Developing an Off-Site Stormwater Compliance Program was released in In January 2013, and is specifically for MS4s who wish to develop their own off-site mitigation or payment in lieu program to meet the requirements contained within the MS4 General Permit. As part of the process of developing the guidance, the Center and Downstream Strategies team roamed around the state visiting and interviewing various MS4s to gage their interest in and capacity for establishing off-site mitigation programs. These interviews were key to ensuring that the guidance meets the needs of the target audience.
The language in the MS4 permit gives MS4s (of which there 55 in West Virginia at this time) the option to “opt out” of these compliance options if, for example, they don’t have the capacity to administer a payment in lieu program. Therefore, this is a critical decision point for MS4s as they build their stormwater management program.

In addition to providing guidance to MS4s on setting up a program, some highlights of the guidance document include:

• Standard state-wide application for off-site compliance
• Model ordinance for off-site compliance
• Methods for setting a payment in lieu fee (including general BMP cost data)
• Guidance on scoring and prioritizing potential mitigation projects
• Example of off-site programs in other jurisdictions
• Methods for assigning runoff reduction values to BMPs, reforestation projects, and several other practices of interest to MS4s in the state

These tools will be useful for municipalities – both within and outside of West Virginia- interested in setting up an off-site compliance program. The off-site compliance guidance document is available from the WVDEP’s website:

For more information about West Virginia’s off site compliance guidance, contact Sherry Wilkins, Environmental Resources Specialist, WVDEP at 304-926-0499 or Sherry.L.Wilkins@wv.gov or Dave Hirschman, Program Director at the Center for Watershed Protection at 434-293-6355 or djh@cwp.org.