DEP seeking tougher, costly stormwater requirements
(August 22, 2008) The state Department of Environmental Protection is seeking to revise its stormwater discharge permit program for industrial facilities in Connecticut, which could lead to significantly higher costs for those businesses.
Industrial facilities in Connecticut are now required to register for the program (including paying a fee to the DEP), develop a stormwater management plan, annually sample and test stormwater runoff, and inspect their stormwater-management operations twice a year .
Under the new DEP proposal, program fees would double for many businesses, from $500 to $1,000. And companies would have to conduct and document 52 stormwater inspections of their facilities each year, which would significantly increase their costs and regulatory burdens.
More potentially harmful changes in the proposal include:
- Smaller companies now protected by limits on their costs for registration and sampling would face higher costs for both.
- New restrictions on washing buildings and vehicles would affect companies’ ability to maintain equipment and infrastructure in a cost-effective manner.
In an especially puzzling move, the DEP is trying to radically expand the definition of “point source” (locations of discrete stormwater discharge where sampling typically occurs) to include certain areas where stormwater seeps into the ground, which has until now, has not been considered a “discharge” under state or federal permitting programs.
CBIA opposes the proposal as written and is working with our Environmental Policies Council and communicating with the DEP in an effort to change the proposal before it is finalized.
For more information, contact Eric Brown at eric.brown@cbia.com or 860-244-1900.
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