No Suit Against EPA, But Local Governments Want Questions Answered

Saturday, April 02, 2011

A group representing localities including James City County and York County wants the Environmental Protection Agency to address its serious concerns about the Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan.

The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, which represents the 17 cities and counties in Southeast Virginia including James City and York counties, is concerned about the high costs associated with the federal-state Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan, called a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). The TMDL will put the Bay and its tributary waterways on a "pollution diet" over the next 15 years. Virginia’s part of the cleanup, called a watershed implementation plan (WIP), was recently approved. The HRPDC met with an attorney Thusday and did not persue any legal action against the EPA, but instead sent the agency a list of serious concerns it would like addressed.

The HRPDC met Thursday to discuss flaws members perceive in the TMDL plan which “could cause adverse socio-economic impacts on the Hampton Roads region without providing any meaningful water quality benefit,” according to a letter sent from HRPDC Chairman Stan Clark on Thursday to Jeffrey Corbin of the EPA. Corbin was at Thursday’s meeting.

According to James City County Supervisor Bruce Goodson, who is the county’s representative with the HRPDC, “it is my hope the EPA will address all of these concerns so further legal action will not be necessary,” Goodson said, but “I still believe the time deadlines are unachievable and could result in the county being fined at a time we are scratching together precious funding to improve the Bay water quality.”

York County Supervisor Tom Shepperd told the York Supervisors last week about the the upcoming HRPDC meeting with an attorney. "I want to make it clear, there's no lawsuit," he said. "Certain commissioners" with the HRPDC "stirred this pot," but suing the EPA wasn't on the table.

No other region of Virginia has a greater stake in a clean Bay than Hampton Roads,” the HRPDC letter reads. Its member localities “are prepared to commit more money and resources to their storm water programs where needed to help restore the Chesapeake Bay and protect the James and York rivers.

“However, the Commission [members]… believe that a clean Bay can be attained without wasting scarce resources or exposing… localities to enforcement actions for failing to achieve unrealistic and unattainable… compliance obligations. Unfortunately, it appears that these may well be the consequences of several flaws in the TMDL.”

Some issues the HRPDC wants the EPA to address include the way the TMDL calculated waste load allocations for localities, which is used to decide how areas need to reduce runoff. These allocations used satellite imagery to figure out how much impervious area was in Hampton Roads, and the HRPDC feels the data is very inaccurate. Local data is more reliable, they say, and should be used.

The HRPDC also feels the specific area allocations shouldn’t have been included in the TMDL plan. They’re based on flawed data and could result in significant enforcement action, according to the letter.

Also, the group doesn’t believe the EPA has the authority to establish a deadline in the TMDL plan. The current 2025 deadline is especially troublesome in the Hampton Roads region because it “will require widespread implementation of storm water retrofits on private property in a heavily urbanized region,” the letter states.

The localities could add retrofits as redevelopment occurs, but the deadline will make it impossible to achieve the goals this way as each area would need to install and operate all the retrofits on private property and acquire easements by purchase or condemnation very quickly.

The HRPDC lays out several questions to the EPA related to these concerns. The ask that the EPA respond to the concerns within 30 days, and they also request a meeting before that date to discuss any other questions that might come up.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which has supported the EPA’s plan, said Friday that it “commends the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission for its decision to seek more complete information from the EPA and the state, rather than proceed immediately to litigation about the federal-state Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan.

“A healthy Chesapeake Bay and clean waterways will benefit everyone in Hampton Roads, which is so dependent upon water-related business, tourism, recreation, and quality of life. While meeting the pollution reduction targets of the Bay cleanup plan will be challenging, CBF stands ready and willing to work with all stakeholders to ensure the cleanup proceeds in a timely, efficient, and cost-effective manner.”