Stormwater Mandates Will Require New Practices for Municipalities

Matthew Hersh

In February, new state-mandated stormwater regulations went into effect that are viewed by many as the most sweeping effort in 20 years to protect water quality and preserve drinking water supplies. While all 566 municipalities in the state need to follow these rules, compliance for some is more difficult than for others.

"I think for the first time, the Township is ahead of the Borough," quipped Borough Engineer Carl Peters, saying that the Borough's stormwater regulations have been "rather meager" up to this point.

However, he said that the state codes will give the opportunity for the Borough to create laws that are flush with those in the Township.

Speaking at a community meeting last Thursday at Township Hall, Mr. Peters also expressed concern for the "lack of control" to date regarding the increase in impervious surfaces for one- and two-family dwellings.

"We found that as more people are building larger houses and paving larger areas for more cars, we have more neighborhood squabbles because one person has dumped their runoff on to their adjacent neighbor," he said.

He added that the new rules also require monthly sweeping of curbed streets with a speed limit equal to or less than 35 m.p.h., a practice that is already implemented in the Township. Mr. Peters said that the Borough's street sweeping program needs to "step up" to the levels at which it was prior to being reduced due to residents' complaints regarding the noise of the sweepers.

Princeton Township officials said that in anticipating requirements handed down from Trenton, the municipality already has laws in the books for much of what the new rules dictate. In establishing design and performance standards for new development, the Township already has set requirements for extension detention basins and limits on amount of impervious surfaces of new developments.

"Princeton Township is one of the originators of stormwater quality standards," said Stormwater Management Consulting (SWM) president Joseph Skupien. SWM is a Ringoes-based consulting firm that has worked with Princeton Township on flood issues.

Township Engineer Robert Kiser said that the new rules have already been taken into consideration for Elm Court and Hovnanian's Bunn Drive senior housing construction plans.

The regulations, which have long been anticipated by municipal officials, are widely viewed as necessary, albeit costly, laws to which towns must adhere.

"Stormwater management is no longer an afterthought," said Mr. Skupien. "The stormwater management rules now establish what the standards are for development."

A major component is to minimize the impact of new development projects by controlling development within a 300-foot buffer around more than 6,000 miles of high-quality waterways.

This applies only to areas that have what are called "C1" waterbodies – the highest level of water quality protection in the state. While neither Princeton Borough or Township feature this classification of waterway at the moment, the state is looking to determine whether Lake Carnegie qualifies as a C1. If it does, areas in both Princetons and Plainsboro will have to rethink how development can occur.

Mr. Skupien said that the new rules establish standards that govern how municipalities design and build land development projects, and also for the stormwater management measures that those projects will now be forced to implement.

The state stormwater program governs how municipalities will plan for, regulate, and review new development with respect to stormwater, said George Hawkins, executive director of Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, adding that towns are also required to comply with the new permits that control how they design and maintain municipal storm systems.

The mandates also require municipalities to create ordinances to dictate maintenance and safety standards to reflect the new state requirements.

The rules help increase the "recharge" of fresh water into underground aquifers, decrease the amount of pollutants that flow into the water supplies from construction sites, new developments, public complexes, and transportation agencies, Mr. Hawkins said.

"I'm tremendously excited, I must say," said Mr. Hawkins. "These rules represent a nirvana for organizations like mine."

Mr. Hawkins added that the rules aim to decrease the "ferocity" of storm surges that cause flooding which, in turn, can erode stream banks.

In March, Princeton Township held a meeting that addressed flooding concerns that involved many of the same principals as last Thursday's meeting. The presentation was set to outline steps on how to improve conditions for homes that fall in the Township's various floodplains.

With budget concerns in both the Borough and Township, however, the Borough's Mr. Peters said "something would have to give" to facilitate the execution of the new rules. The state rules allow for municipalities to create mitigation plans if they cannot be carried out as dictated. If towns cannot manage a mandate, "it needs to be made up in some fashion," SWM's Mr. Skupien said.