On Tuesday, May 24, 2011, the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board unanimously approved the state’s final Stormwater Regulations. The Regulations will fundamentally alter the way stormwater from construction activities is regulated in Virginia. The changes include new technical criteria limiting the quality and quantity of discharges for new development and for redevelopment. The changes will also result in local stormwater management programs being established in all localities and being administered either by the locality or by DCR.

Approval of the Regulations brings to end a process that began over seven years ago. In that time, the Regulations were revised, approved, suspended, revised again, and are now approved in final form. We’ve been following the regulatory process in prior posts. The final approved regulations are a comproromise that most stakeholders appear to be able to accept, but some may still call inadequate or onerous.

At the adoption, David Dowling, policy and planning director for the state Department of Conservation and Recreation said the rules will “benefit water quality throughout the state.”