AIR AND WATER COMMITTEE REPORT June 12, 2007; revised June 15, 2007

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1 AIR AND WATER COMMITTEE REPORT June 12, 2007; revised June 15, 2007 I. WATER QUALITY Clean water is essential for life human, animal and plant. Nevertheless, our County s streams and rivers are bearing increasing burdens of sediments, excess nutrients, and chemical contaminants, diminishing water quality in our rivers and downstream in the Chesapeake Bay. As a first cut at addressing this issue our committee focused on encouraging low impact development (LID), instituting a stormwater utility (also known as a Stream Restoration Fund), promoting a Watershed Restoration Program, Subdivision Regulation change, and waiver reform. A. Low Impact Development Recommendation - A concerted drive to encourage the wider use of LID; drawing developers' attention to the advantages of development designs, implementation practices, and long-term maintenance that "replicates the natural hydrological cycle" of forest and wetlands. Such measures also include living roofs, rain gardens, and native plantings, techniques that would be of particular value in older, denser areas of the County undergoing redevelopment. Advantages include: significantly reduced stormwater, reduced water use, 50-80% reuse of rain, re-use of air-borne nitrogen, reduction of heavy metals and particulate matter from the air and their reduced deposition in streams. Cooler air reduces the urban heat island effect, reducing air conditioning use, saving energy and reducing carbon emissions thereby reducing air and water pollution. Recommendation - New legislation to update our subdivision regulations and related codes and ordinances, requiring environmental site design techniques that minimize impervious surfaces, use onsite, at-the-source infiltration and other LID techniques to replicate the pre-settlement hydrologic regime. By optimizing natural drainage patterns, preserving undisturbed on-site soils and vegetation, minimizing impervious surface, and slowing runoff, these techniques would increase infiltration and evapotranspiration and maintain pre-development discharge rates and volume. Recommendation New legislation to update our subdivision regulations that would require developers/homeowners/homeowner s associations to provide for long-term maintenance of stormwater management and LID facilities, either through a self-funded program or participation in a fee-based program provided by Howard County. Howard County should require inspection and maintenance agreements for all stormwater management facilities in the county. Recommendation Require Columbia Association and all other home owners associations to amend their covenants so that homeowners can implement LID and energy saving techniques (e.g., solar panels) using a streamlined application and review process. B. Increased Water Quality Protection via Subdivision Regulation Changes Despite the fact that Howard County s General Plan 2000 mandated the strengthening of the County s buffer requirements to protect water quality and sensitive natural resources, Howard County s stream 1

2 protections remain seriously deficient. There is one rule for perennial streams and another for intermittent, one rule for streams that flow through residential areas and another for those in nonresidential areas. Unfortunately the County s General Plan does not have the force of law only the status of guidelines or recommendations. In contrast, Baltimore County has enacted legislation that transformed the prescriptive natural resource protection language of its General Plan into law. This legislation has been singled out by the National Association of County Governments (NACO) as a model for natural resource protection. According to that legislation: There are multiple environmental protection and resource management values provided by forest buffers. Forest buffers enhance and protect the natural ecology of stream systems; water quality; wildlife habitat; the aesthetic and scenic qualities of natural features; environmentally sensitive areas, such as aquifer recharge areas; and flora and fauna preservation sites. Forest buffers adjacent to stream systems do the following: (1) Restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the water resources; (2) Filter nutrients and toxics; (3) Reduce erosion and control sedimentation; (4) Stabilize stream banks; (5) Provide infiltration of storm water runoff; (6) Maintain base flow of streams; (7) Provide the organic matter that is the source of food and energy for the aquatic ecosystem; (8) Provide tree canopy to shade streams and encourage trout and other desirable aquatic species; (9) Provide riparian wildlife habitat; (10) Provide scenic value and recreational opportunity; and (11) Minimize public investment in waterway restoration, storm water management, and other water resource expenditures. Recommendation Howard County enacts legislation modeled on Baltimore County s natural resource protection legislation so that all streams receive enhanced buffer protections no less than 100 feet from the stream bank, and that the buffers are enhanced where steep slopes and/or soil characteristics dictate additional protective measures. C. Waiver Reform No matter how good a natural resource protection statute may be, if protection is routinely waived, then the effort is nullified. Recommendations Requests to waive fundamental natural resources protections only be granted when no other feasible alternative exists. All requests to waive fundamental natural resources protections be fully publicized on the web, and updated to document the rational for the decision and show their ultimate disposition. All requests to waive fundamental natural resources protections receive full consideration, i.e. that the practice of designating some waivers as necessary, obviating their review, be eliminated. Howard County enacts legislation requiring that any waiver of natural resource protections undergo two separate levels of review prior to approval. The first level would include sign off by both the current Subdivision Review Committee and the County s new Environmental Entity. The second level would require approval by an independent reviewer. 2

3 D. Stormwater Utility Providing adequate stormwater services that are protective of our community s water resources requires substantial resources at the county level. Many jurisdictions are implementing a fee-based stormwater utility system based on the use of services to fund local stormwater management, stream restoration, and education programs. The benefit of these services to our residents and wildlife, is on par with those offered by other public water supply and sewage treatment services, but does not receive the same level of funding. Many of the County s current watershed restoration efforts receive limited funding through the Capital Improvement Program. Improvement efforts are often limited to County-owned property, because land or easement acquisition on private property is costly. This limits the County s ability to respond to the majority of problems because they originate on private property. Because the County efforts are primarily based on addressing urban stormwater issues, water quality problems in agricultural areas are also in need of attention. Public involvement in and financial support of stormwater management and stream improvement is essential. With the likelihood that the state will provide matching funds for Counties implementing such programs, now is the time to move forward with this recommendation. Recommendation To support county activities, Howard County institute a Stream Restoration Fund (or stormwater utility) based on level of use (e.g. extent of impervious surface) to provide dedicated funds for watershed restoration in both urban and rural areas, and both public and private lands. Funds generated by this utility should be directed directly towards stormwater management (including inspections, maintenance, repair, upgrading older facilities and providing new controls in older areas), and the design, construction, maintenance and monitoring of stream restoration projects. Although most stormwater user fee systems currently in place are formulated to recover costs directly associated with improving stormwater runoff quantity, Howard County s program should employ user fee credits or other incentives to also encourage customers to control or reduce stormwater pollution on site. Recommendation The stormwater utility or Stream Restoration Fund should be used to support a substantial county-wide outreach and education effort to expand community knowledge and acceptance of water quality issues, promote stakeholder buy-in, and foster improved environmental behavior that will help address stormwater runoff, stream health, and other watershed issues. E. Integrated Countywide Watershed Protection Strategy Howard County should develop and implement an integrated Watershed Protection Strategy to efficiently and effectively focus protection and restoration resources and efforts to where they can do the most good. Good examples of this type of effort include Stream Protection Strategies (SPS) developed initially by Montgomery County, MD and subsequently adapted and refined by Fairfax County, VA. As Montgomery County notes in their SPS, such a strategy requires long-term commitment. Even with a focus limited to the identified priority sub-watersheds, the needed program commitments and investments will be long-term and substantial in nature. Adherence to a watershed and sub-watershed based approach is therefore critical to efficiently marshal the combination of policy choices, project investments, enforcement, educational, and personal stewardship commitments necessary for success. Inevitable temptations to pursue more expedient "band-aid" approaches to address scattered and 3

4 isolated problems on specific stream segments must be avoided if the County's aquatic resources are to be most efficiently and effectively protected. Recommendations: Howard County s strategy should: Be developed jointly between Howard County agencies, the Howard Soil Conservation District, the new Environmental Entity and the public, to provide a strategy that integrates the resource planning, evaluation, and management functions of the county. Recognize that stream health and ecological functions are directly related to watershed activities, and that stream corridors provide valuable and tangible benefits to Howard County communities. In addition, conditions of these resources are not uniform across the county or within a watershed, and that different approaches are needed to address problems in densely populated areas as compared to more rural areas. Recognize that stream stability and water quality problems are often a symptom of upstream/upland runoff flow and water quality problems, and these upland stressors usually need to be fixed before you can successfully achieve sustainable and long-term stream improvements. Prioritize watersheds based on their current condition (e.g., biological and physical condition of streams, wildlife and vegetative community conditions, degree of imperviousness, existing land use and land cover), and in consideration of relative potential for land cover change due to development, in order to: - Protect the highest quality streams; - Maintain existing conditions and reversing past trends of stream deterioration; and - Restore degraded streams, where feasible and cost-effective. Develop watershed management categories to identify specific management goals and improvement strategies for each of Howard County s watersheds. Fairfax County s SPS serves as a good model that should be considered, which is outlined in Chapter 4 of their SPS Baseline Study ( Create a substantial public education and outreach program for watershed protection, providing adequate long-term staff and funding support. Such a program should: - Provide educational information to increase base levels of environmental knowledge on relevant environmental and watershed protection issues - Provide education and technical assistance to encourage restoration practices on private property. Explain the need for restoration and describe effective techniques. Distribute "how to" information on creating rain gardens, backyard riparian buffers, and other LID projects. Provide technical assistance with individual LID projects. - Establish and administer an annual program that provides small grants to local organizations, residents, and businesses to facilitate education, capacity building, small retrofit and restoration projects, and monitoring activities. 4

5 Implement components of this strategy with an aggressive implementation schedule that also receives adequate support and resources from the county s administration and departments., our suggested timeline is as follows: - Develop watershed management strategy, and assign watershed management categories within eight months. - Incorporate strategy into county operations by allocating staff and budget resources into existing county management plans within 12 months. - Identify, prioritize, and begin implementation of watershed improvement strategies in 30% of the county s priority watersheds by Utilize biological and physical indicators of stream condition to monitor the overall success of watershed improvement efforts; monitor individual improvement projects to provide information on project efficacy and to guide selection of future improvement efforts. II. AIR QUALITY A. Trees, Trees, Trees The cheapest and best air cleansing mechanisms are trees. Recommendation - Initiate county-wide tree preservation and planting program that will improve riparian buffer condition and function, reforest unused lawn areas, and increase tree canopy in urban areas. The program should promote the use of native tree species. Recommendation Preserve and protect the County s remaining forested lands, directing new development to greyfields and brownfields. B. Cars Recommendation - Green the County s fleet and buses. Recommendation - Institute policies to reduce automobile use by encouraging transit use, telecommuting and carpooling. Recommendation - Provide Car Care Clinics to ensure cars operate at maximum efficiency C. Regional Leadership Recommendation Howard County should take the lead at the Baltimore Metropolitan Council pushing for new and innovative air pollution reduction measures. The Washington, DC Council of Governments (COG) has a regional strategy which could be adopted. D. Ozone Protection Days Recommendation - The County should write into its contracts that heavy machinery and landscape equipment not be used on days designated by MDE as Red or Purple Alerts. Recommendation - County fleets and buses should not refuel on days designated by MDE as Red or Purple Alerts. 5

6 III. HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT A. Pesticides Pesticides are inherently toxic to plants and animals, and vary in their range of toxicity to humans. Commonly used pesticides have been found to produce significant neurological, carcinogenic and endocrine effects, particularly in children. We need to reduce pesticide use to the maximum extent possible to decrease the degree of hazard to human health and the environment Recommendation - The County Government operations should audit all pesticide inventory and practices to reduce or eliminate products. Create a county wide pesticide management policy that broadens the use of IPM and less toxic alternatives on public land. Recommendation - The County should strengthen public information and outreach regarding IPM and less toxic alternatives for residents to consider for private lawn care and encourage the acceptance of more naturalized landscapes. Recommendation Where pesticide use is found to be unavoidable on County lands and/or parks, the County should increase the size of the signs now required to be posted, and keep the sign in place for 48 hours after the application. If possible, treated areas should be closed to public use for 48 hours. Recommendation All parks and government projects should be designed to minimize the need for pesticide use by incorporating natural landscapes, native plants and tree species. Blandair may be a good initial test case/model. B. Controlling Deer Populations Howard County s deer population is currently out of control and poses a significant public health threat, both in terms of automobile accidents and disease. Excess deer populations produce excess fecal material which contaminates County streams with ghiardia, endangering children, fishermen and recreational users. In the absence of predators, the deer are also destroying the forest understory limiting the ability of the forest to regenerate, eliminating native plants, and destroying the County s precious biodiversity. Recommendation Strengthen efforts to reduce the deer population on public land to a sustainable level. 6