Ordinance No. 20521 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Goal 6 - Air, Water and land Resource Quality To maintain and improve the quality of the air, water and land resources of the state. Goal 6 addresses waste and process discharges from development and is aimed at protecting air, water and land from impacts from those discharges. This goal requires that local comprehensive plans and implementing measures to be consistent with state and federal regulations on matters such as groundwater pollution. The proposed amendments to Eugene's Stormwater Development Standards are one component of the larger Stormwater Program initiated by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)'s approval of the City's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System ( NPDES) permit. The City's NPDES Stormwater permit, first issued in 1994 by DEQ, and subsequently re- issued in March 2004 and December 2010, includes measures which, in total, fulfill the applicable Clean Water Act requirements for large municipalities over 100,000 in population. The City's December 2010 NPDES Stormwater permit requires that the City continue to implement their post - construction stormwater pollutant and runoff control program. Additionally, the 2010 permit requires that, by January 1, 2014, the City's program as it applies to new development and redevelopment projects that create or replace 1000 sq. ft. of impervious surface: 1. Incorporate site - specific management practices to mimic natural surface or predevelopment hydrologic functions as much as practicable, optimizing on -site retention; 2. Reduce site specific post - development stormwater runoff volume, duration and rates of discharges to the municipal separate storm sewer system to minimize hydrological and water quality impacts from impervious surfaces; 3. Prioritize and include implementation of Low - Impact Development, Green Infrastructure or equivalent planning, design and construction approaches; and, 4. Capture and treat 80% of the annual average runoff volume, based on a documented local or regional rainfall frequency and intensity. Current stormwater development standards require locating, designing, constructing, and maintaining stormwater facilities applicable to the development of new and replaced impervious surfaces to reduce pollutants before discharging runoff from the development site to the city's stormwater system and that all stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces be discharged to an approved location. The proposed amendments will further reduce pollutants and mitigate the volume, duration, time of concentration and rate of stormwater runoff to the city stormwater system. More specifically, the proposed amendments for stormwater management will implement a best management practices (BMP) hierarchy of on -site stormwater management techniques that emphasize and promote Low Impact Development and Green Infrastructure approaches which improve water quality and increase capacity in the city's stormwater system. Low Impact Development and Green Infrastructure approaches emphasize practices that seek to mimic the site's hydrology before development, thereby reducing negative effects of stormwater runoff on nearby rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands. Exhibit A to Ordinance No. 20521 3 of 10 Findings of Consistency