If an Indiana
legislator sat down to write a bill whose specific perverse purpose were to
increase the likelihood of stormwater runoff pollution at a construction
site, it might look a lot like this: H.B. 1266, authored by State Rep. Doug
Miller, R-Elkhart.
H.B. 1266 was the
topic of some discussion at Monday’s meeting of the Chesterton Stormwater
Management Board, whose members expressed a certain befuddlement at what the
bill’s point might be, if its point isn’t actually to make it super easy for
developers and builders to sidestep and dodge a municipal MS4 department’s
enforcement of sediment and erosion control regulations.
According to his
official website, Rep. Miller is managing partner of Tailor Made Homes LLC
and owner of Creekside Realty LLC and White Pines Properties LLC, is seated
on the Board of Directors of the Builders Association of Elkhart County, and
holds a life directorship in the Indiana Builders Association.
Miller’s bill would
do the following:
* Prohibit an MS4
department from requiring sediment and erosion control measures more
stringent than those imposed by the Indiana Department of Environmental
Management. As Gadzala observed, IDEM currently gives MS4 departments the
flexibility to customize erosion and sediment control regulations for their
specific topography, geology, and terrain. Even so, she doesn’t believe that
Chesterton’s MS4 program currently requires any measures more stringent than
IDEM’s.
* Require that an
MS4 department complete its preliminary review of a builder’s Stormwater
Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) within 48 hours of its being submitted, a
significantly accelerated time frame than the maximum 28-day window used by
IDEM. “That seems like an awfully short period of time,” President Tom Kopko
suggested. “It’s an extremely short period of time,” Gadzala concurred, then
added that, in principle only, under H.B. 1266 a builder could break ground
well before an MS department has even finished reviewing the sufficiency of
what are frequently very complex plans. On the other hand, Town Engineer
Mark O’Dell noted, “whether the bill is enacted or not,” SWPPP permits are
not the same as building permits nor are they the same as primary plat
approvals, and that in Chesterton SWPPP review is baked into a much more
comprehensive process.
* Require that the
person reviewing an SWPPP be a registered professional engineer, architect,
or surveyor. IDEM already mandates SWPPP reviewers to be “trained
individuals,” experienced in the principles of stormwater quality including
erosion and sediment control. Registered professional engineers, architects,
and surveyors per se, however, may not have the same degree of
training.
* And forbid an MS4
department which has approved a builder’s SWPPP from issuing a stop-work
order if it proves that the erosion and sediment control measures provided
by that SWPPP are inadequate. “Then why bother?” Kopko wondered. “Exactly,”
O’Dell said.
MS4 Operator
Jennifer Gadzala conceded on Monday that different MS4 communities
administer their programs differently and implement different schedules of
non-compliance fines. But she wondered whether a statewide blanket fiat is
the best way to address the issue of variability.
Gadzala did say
that Miller introduced substantially the same bill in last year’s session of
the General Assembly and that it failed to make it out of committee. She was
unable to say what its status is now but promised to keep the board
apprised.
2018 in Review
In other business,
the Stormwater Utility ran a surplus in 2018 of $105,681, compared to a
projected surplus of $108.
Included in the
year’s financials was a $102,062 payment on the stormwater bond issued in
2011, of which $6,031 was interest.
2019 Officers
Meanwhile, members
re-elected Kopko president, Paul Stopko vice-president, and Clerk-Treasurer
Stephanie Kuziela secretary.
And Gadzala
introduced the Stormwater Utility’s newly hired MS4 Engineer, Kacie Kolbert,
who graduated Purdue Northwest University in December and began work in town
on Jan. 8.