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2015 SESSION

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HB 2067 Daylighted streams; not required to become Resource Protection Area.

Introduced by: Vivian E. Watts | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles | history

SUMMARY AS PASSED:

Daylighted streams. Provides that the State Water Control Board (SWCB), when developing the criteria for a Resource Protection Area (RPA) under the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act, shall not require that a daylighted stream become an RPA. The bill requires any locality that does not designate an RPA adjacent to a daylighted stream to use a water quality impact assessment to ensure that development adjacent to the stream does not result in the degradation of the stream. The locality's assessment must (i) be consistent with the SWCB's criteria for water quality impact assessments in RPAs, (ii) identify the impacts of proposed development on water quality, and (iii) determine measures to mitigate adverse impacts. The bill defines a daylighted stream as a stream that has been previously diverted into a culvert, pipe, or other underground drainage system and is redirected into an aboveground channel using natural channel design concepts. The bill does not limit a locality's authority to include such a stream within an RPA.

SUMMARY AS PASSED HOUSE:

Daylighted streams. Provides that the State Water Control Board (SWCB), when developing the criteria for a Resource Protection Area (RPA) under the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act, shall not require that a daylighted stream become an RPA. The bill requires any locality that does not designate an RPA adjacent to a daylighted stream to use a water quality impact assessment to ensure that development adjacent to the stream does not result in the degradation of the stream. The locality's assessment must (i) be consistent with the SWCB's criteria for water quality impact assessments in RPAs, (ii) identify the impacts of proposed development on water quality, and (iii) determine measures to mitigate adverse impacts. The bill defines a daylighted stream as a stream that has been previously diverted into a culvert, pipe, or other underground drainage system and is redirected into an aboveground channel using natural channel design concepts. The bill does not limit a locality's authority to include such a stream within an RPA. 

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

Daylighted streams. Directs the State Water Control Board (SWCB), when developing criteria for what constitutes a Resource Protection Area (RPA) under the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act, not to require that a daylighted stream become an RPA. However, the bill does not limit a locality's authority to include such a stream within an RPA. A daylighted stream is a stream that has been previously diverted into a culvert, pipe, or other underground drainage system and is redirected into an aboveground channel using natural channel design concepts. The bill also requires the SWCB to adopt minimum criteria that are to be included in any agreement between a locality and property owners adjacent to the daylighted stream to ensure that the stream continues to provide a water quality benefit.