Polluted runoff - also called "stormwater" is our state's biggest water quality problem. When it rains, water runs off the land or hard surfaces like roads and rooftops, and into creeks, rivers and lakes.  Along the way, the water picks up various pollutants, such as oil, soap, sediment, bacteria, pesticides, fertilizer, and other toxics.  Stormwater rushing through storm sewer drains, empties directly into creeks and streams and physically scours stream banks; this causes erosion which fills up stream channels with dirt and leads to flooding downstream.

The federal Clean Water Act requires states and local governments to control stormwater from various sources.  The law has gone into effect in two phases. "Phase I" rules were issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1990 and applied only to the biggest urban areas. "Phase II" rules were issued by the EPA in 1999 and apply to all rapidly growing communities. Implementation of the Phase II rules in North Carolina was a long and contentious battle, but finally in 2006 the General Assembly passed a law requiring control of polluted runoff from new development in 25 rapidly growing ("Phase II") counties and 123 cities.  Only 2 coastal counties were captured in these new rules.

New coastal stormwater regulations are needed.

The State has determined that current regulations are not protecting coastal waters from stormwater pollution.  The "Phase II" stormwater rules only apply in 2 of the state's 20 coastal counties.  The state does have a separate set of rules, passed in 1985, that regulate stormwater runoff in coastal developments, but a state review in 2005 found that the coastal rules have not protected water quality.  The state found that stormwater pollution is the cause of 90% of all contaminated shellfish beds.  Tens of thousands of acres of NC’s shellfishing waters are permanently closed due to stormwater pollution.

Current regulations give developers an easy out.

Development – the building of impervious surfaces such as roads and rooftops - is a major cause of stormwater pollution. One of the most effective ways to control stormwater pollution is to capture the runoff and treat it before it reaches streams and rivers.  The current coastal stormwater regulations, however, only require stormwater controls on about a quarter of developments - those that are considered “high density.”  High density is defined as a development where the impervious surface (roads, rooftops, driveways) is more than 25% of the land area of the development.  Developers who build “low density” projects and keep the impervious surface under 25% don’t have to install stormwater controls.

The state found that three quarters of all coastal developments were being built as low density and therefore not required to control their stormwater pollution.  The 25% impervious surface threshold is way too high.  Studies show that at even 10% impervious surface, water quality declines unless the stormwater is controlled.  Back in 1985 the state proposed setting the threshold at 12% impervious surface, but under intense pressure from developers, the final regulations were set at 25%. 

Another problem with the current rules is that when figuring out the percentage of the land that will be impervious surfaces, developers are allowed to count marshland that can’t be built on, which skews the calculation. For instance, if a lot is 100 acres, but 50 acres are marshland, and a developer plans to build 15 acres as impervious roads or buildings, that would be 15% impervious surface if they use the full 100 acres in the calculation, but 30% of the 50 acres of buildable land.  The reason for caring about the built upon area is that the undeveloped surface allows water to sink into the ground rather than running off.  But since the wetlands are already waterlogged, they can’t absorb additional water – so it makes scientific sense to exclude them from the calculation of undeveloped land available to absorb the water.

The Environmental Management Commission adopts new coastal stormwater rules protect water quality.

The Environmental Management Commission's new rules would significantly strengthen the stormwater pollution controls for coastal areas. The rules would:

• Require more developments to install stormwater controls by lowering the threshold from 25% to 12% impervious surface for development within a half mile of shellfish waters, and not allowing developers to count marshland in the calculation.

• Require more developments to get stormwater permits and install controls by lowering the lot size from 1 acre to ¼ acre for commercial development.  Smaller residential lots can use low cost options like rain gardens to control stormwater.

• Increase natural vegetative buffers from 30 to 50 feet along all waterways for new developments.  Vegetation greatly reduces stormwater runoff.

• Apply equally to all 20 coastal counties.  The state legislature did pass strong stormwater controls in 2006, but they only apply to a very few coastal areas.  These new rules would apply across all the coastal counties.

The NC Environmental Management Commission adopted these new rules in January, 2008 and they received final approval from the Rules Review Commission in March, 2008.  Since the RRC received over 10 letters objecting to the new rule, the rules became eligible for legislative review by the General Assembly before they go into effect.

Latest News

May, 2008. H2138, Disapprove Coastal Stormwater Rule (Pryor Gibson, Anson-D) is introduced, which would undo the EMC's coastal stormwater rule and keep it from going into effect.

July 8, 2008.  After weeks of stakeholder negotiations, a compromise solution emerges in a new bill S1967, Improve Coastal Stormwater Management, in the Senate Agriculture/Environment Committee and receives a favorable report. See the NC Coastal Federation's fact sheet on S1967 for more details.

July 14, 2008: Victory! The House and Senate both passed S1967, and it awaits the Governor's signature. The new law, while not as strong as the EMC's rules, represents a great improvement over the current coastal stormwater program.  The new rules, which will go into effect in October, tighten density controls, increase the amount of runoff that will have to be contained, and  increase vegetated buffers - essentially applying the "Phase II" stormwater controls to all 20 coastal counties.

Links

NC Coastal Federation - fact sheet on S1967

Division of Water Quality - fact sheet on coastal stormwater rule

NC Coastal Federation - background on coastal stormwater rules

Division of Water Quality - background on stormwater in general 

Division of Water Quality Coastal Stormwater Rule website

"Polluted Runoff in North Carolina," Environment North Carolina, May, 2006.

> Back to Water Issues
> Back to Issues Main Page