Section 9
Picture: Stream after a storm
Links from this page are included to assist the reader, and are not part of the rule. Text amended effective December 27, 2006.
9. Municipal stormwater management programs. The department may allow a municipality or a quasi-municipal organization, such as a watershed management district, to substitute a management system for stormwater for the stormwater permit requirement pursuant to 38 M.R.S.A. § 420-D(2). The management system may apply to an entire watershed, or a subcatchment, of a receiving water, and may include multiple watersheds within the jurisdiction of the municipality or quasi-municipal organization. A project located within the area served by a management system approved by the department is exempt from the stormwater permit requirements contained in this chapter.
The municipality or quasi-municipality may elect to have the substitution take effect at the time the system is approved by the department, or at the time the system is completed as provided in the implementation schedule provided by the department.
A management system may not substitute for an aspect of a project that is required to meet the infiltration standards described in Appendix D or required to obtain a waste discharge permit.
A. Program approval criteria. The department may review and approve a stormwater management program submitted by a municipality or a quasi-municipal organization, such as a watershed management district to meet this exemption, provided that the municipality or quasi-municipal organization demonstrates that the following criteria are met.
(1) Relationship to water quality. The municipality or quasi-municipal organization shall have a stormwater treatment system that, upon implementation, will result in the collective treatment of stormwater from new and existing sources within the watershed and will result in water quality in the receiving water that is as good, or better, than would be achieved with stormwater permits issued by the department for individual projects The stormwater system may apply to an entire watershed, or a subcatchment, of a receiving water, and may include multiple watersheds within the jurisdiction of the municipality or quasi-municipal organization.
(2) Funding and implementation. The program must include funding provisions and an implementation schedule that provides that the treatment system for new and existing sources will be in place and functioning within five years unless a longer time period, not to exceed 10 years, is approved by the department.
(3) Annual reporting. The program must also include a provision for annual reporting by the municipality to the department on progress toward implementation and a listing of the new development within the jurisdiction of the management system.
B. Reinstatement of permit requirement. The department may reinstate the stormwater permit requirement if it finds that the implementation schedule is not being met, or that the management program and associated stormwater treatment system is not achieving the plan's objectives.
