Apparently Douglas County requested this, and they claimed to be “exempt” and asked for a second opinion from the Attorney General, who then stated that local government has no business telling the state what to do. If this isn’t installed…will it cause flooding?? From an article in today’s AJC:
“Douglas County, part of the 15 county Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District that seeks to protect and conserve the region’s water, requested GDOT apply for a storm water permit for construction of a park-and-ride lot in Douglasville near a creek.
GDOT said it was exempt from the district’s regulations and asked the Attorney General for an opinion.
“Local governments, hav(e) no inherent power to regulate the state,” the July 9 ruling stated.
Pete Frost, executive director of the Douglasville-Douglas County Water and Sewer Authority, sees something of a double standard in the AG’s ruling.
“If water quality standards are good for everybody else, shouldn’t they at least be good for the state?” he asked.
Builders are required to prevent runoff from leaving construction sites via silt fences, hay bales, rock filters, detention ponds and other low-tech devices.
Environmentalists wonder if taxpayers and developers upstream or downstream from any state construction project may have to shoulder heavier storm water mediation costs to maintain the health of a stream or river.
“The opinion has serious implications for where the burden of managing storm water lies,” said Juliet Cohen, general counsel for the Riverkeeper.”
