(1) Coordinated with project review. Water quality review, including submittal and review of the preliminary and final water quality plans, where required, must be done in conjunction with the review process for a development plan, diagrammatic plan, schematic development plan, project plan, preliminary plan of subdivision, site plan, sketch plan, floating zone plan, conditional use, or special exception in accordance with this Section. The Planning Director must coordinate review of the water quality plan with the DPS Director.
(2) Division of approval responsibilities. To avoid duplication of effort, responsibilities for review and approval of water quality plans are divided as follows:
(A) In acting on a preliminary or final water quality plan, the Planning Board has lead agency responsibility for:
(i) Conformity with all policies in the Planning Board's Environmental Guidelines which apply to special protection areas;
(ii) Conformity with any policy or requirement for special protection areas, including limits on impervious area, in a land use plan, watershed plan, or the Comprehensive Water Supply and Sewer System Plan; and
(iii) Any other element of the plan in which the Planning Board has primary lead agency design, review, and approval responsibility.
(B) In acting on a preliminary or final water quality plan, the Planning Board's approval must conform to the approval of the DPS Director on any element for which the DPS Director has lead agency responsibility. Those elements include:
(i) Performance goals for the approved best management practices;
(ii) Stormwater management concept plan;
(iii) Erosion and sediment control concept plan; and
(iv) Any other element of the plan for which the Department has primary lead agency design, review, and approval responsibility.
(C) The Department of Environmental Protection has the lead agency responsibility for the monitoring program, including the monitoring of streams and best management practices.
(3) Amendments and minor modifications to an approved plan.
(A) Significant amendment. Any written request to amend a development approval which involves any significant alteration to a water quality plan must undergo review as described in subsection (b), except as otherwise modified by regulation.
(B) Minor modification. The Planning Director or the DPS Director may approve a modification to an approved water quality plan, for any element in their respective jurisdictions, which is consistent with this Chapter if:
(i) inspections or design evaluations reveal minor inadequacies in the plan; or
(ii) the modification is required by permit conditions and does not significantly affect site layout.
(C) Emergency situation. The Planning Director or the DPS Director may approve a modification or exception to an approved water quality plan for any element in their respective jurisdictions where necessary in an emergency situation.
(1) The applicant must submit to the Planning Director a preliminary water quality plan as part of a complete application for a development plan, diagrammatic plan, schematic plan, project plan, sketch plan, floating zone plan, preliminary plan of subdivision, or site plan, whichever is first required. For a special exception or conditional use that is subject to this Chapter, the applicant must submit a preliminary water quality plan as part of the special exception or conditional use application to the Board of Appeals. For a project on publicly owned property, the agency or department should submit the water quality plan in conjunction with the mandatory referral process.
(2) If the development proposal requires more than one of the approvals listed in paragraph (1), the applicant must submit a preliminary water quality plan to the Planning Director in conjunction with the first approval and a final water quality plan in conjunction with the last approval.
(3) If only one approval listed in paragraph (1) is required, an applicant, with the approval of the Planning Board, must submit a combined preliminary and final water quality plan.
(c) Review. After receiving a preliminary or final water quality plan, the Planning Director must refer the plan to the DPS Director and other reviewing agencies. The DPS Director must transmit to the Planning Director within the time limits for acting on a plan established by law:
(1) Findings on compliance with this Chapter of any:
(A) stormwater management concept plan;
(B) erosion and sediment control concept plan;
(C) stream monitoring plan and best management practices monitoring plan as prepared and implemented by the Department of Environmental Protection;
(D) maintenance agreements and easements; and
(E) other element of a plan in which the Department has primary lead agency review and approval responsibility.
(2) Comments, if any, on any element of a plan in which the Planning Board has primary lead agency review and approval responsibility, including any determination of conformance with a land use plan, watershed plan, or the Planning Board's Environmental Guidelines.
(d) Condition of approval.
(1) In the case of a water quality plan in conjunction with an amendment to a development plan, schematic development plan, diagrammatic plan, sketch plan, or floating zone plan, Planning Board action on the water quality plan must conform to Section 7.2.1.E or Section 7.7.1.B of Chapter 59.
(2) In the case of a water quality plan in conjunction with a special exception, the Planning Board, after holding a public hearing and finding that the plan meets the standards of this Article, must approve a water quality plan and forward the approved plan to the Board of Appeals with its recommendation on the special exception in accordance with Section 59-G-1.2.
(3) The final water quality plan, as amended by the Planning Board, must be a condition of approval of the development application and must conform to:
(A) changes made by the DPS Director to elements that are in DPS's jurisdiction under subsection (a)(2);
(B) any requirements and limits of the state water quality certification and wetland permit, as approved or, if not yet approved, as applied for, and other regulatory approvals, not inconsistent with the certification or permit;
(C) any regulations and guidelines, including any policies or requirements in a land use plan, watershed plan, or Comprehensive Water Supply and Sewer System Plan concerning water quality protection in a special protection area;
(D) any bond provisions required under Sections
19-10 and
19-32, and any element in the water quality plan required by the Planning Board; and
(E) any other condition necessary to implement this Article.
(4) For a water quality plan for a project on public property, the Planning Board, after public hearing which may be conducted when the Board considers a mandatory referral application, must determine if the plan meets the standards of this Article. The applying agency or department should not engage in land-disturbing activities that are inconsistent with the approved combined water quality plan unless the applying agency has found that the water quality protection measures it would otherwise use meet the purposes of this Chapter. (1994 L.M.C., ch. 32, § 1; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 20, § 1; 1998 L.M.C., ch. 12, § 1; , § 1; , § 2; , § 1; , § 1.)
