HB475 Alabama 2014 Session

This bill would allow the governing bodies of all counties and municipalities in the state which are now or may hereafter be specifically designated in 40 C.F.R. Part 122, including but not limited to, any revisions promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in conjunction with any expansion of the agency's municipal separate storm sewer system program or by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) pursuant to the authority delegated to it under the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. Section 1251 et seq., the authority to carry out the requirements of the municipal separate storm sewer system program

This bill would provide the governing bodies with the option to establish intercooperative public corporations for efficient compliance with applicable federal and state laws, rules, and regulations relating to storm water discharges into municipal separate storm sewers

This bill would expressly limit the jurisdictional scope of certain local storm water management programs

This bill would permit regulation of only those sites discharging storm water into a program's municipal separate storm sewer system

This bill would acknowledge EPA's "maximum extent practicable" standard applicable to its municipal separate storm sewer system program

This bill would require adherence by each county of the tenets of Section 111.05 of Article IV of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, and the limited authorities of self-governance conferred upon counties pursuant to Chapters 3 and 3A of Title 11 of the Code of Alabama 1975

This bill would expressly limit the substantive scope of certain local storm water management programs

This bill would clearly delineate the type of fees, charges, or assessments a governing body and/or certain public corporations levy and from whom such fees, charges, or assessments shall be levied

This bill would exempt discharges originating from any lands and/or facilities owned and/or operated by one or more entities under the jurisdiction and supervision of the Alabama Public Service Commission from regulation under any local storm water management program and declare that such discharges shall be regulated exclusively by ADEM

To amend Sections 11-89C-1, 11-89C-2, 11-89C-4, 11-89C-9, and 11-89C-10 of the Code of Alabama 1975, to provide the governing bodies of all counties or municipalities in the state which are now or may hereafter be subject to regulation pursuant to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) municipal separate storm sewer system program the authority to carry out the requirements of the municipal separate storm sewer system program and to provide such governing bodies with the option to establish intercooperative public corporations for efficient compliance with applicable federal and state laws, rules, and regulations relating to discharges into and from municipal separate storm sewers; to codify the Legislature's express intent in enacting Chapter 89C of Title 11 of the Code of Alabama 1975; to limit the jurisdictional scope of local storm water management programs created pursuant to Chapter 89C of Title 11 to include only those sites discharging into municipal separate storm sewer systems; to acknowledge EPA's "maximum extent practicable" standard applicable to its municipal separate storm sewer system program; to adhere to the tenets of Section 111.05 of Article IV of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, and the limited authorities of self-governance conferred upon counties pursuant to Chapters 3 and 3A of Title 11 of the Code of Alabama 1975; to enact as enforceable law the proclamations of the Legislature enumerated in House Joint Resolution 144 (1997), Act 97-931, by expressly limiting the substantive scope of local storm water management programs created and carried out pursuant to Chapter 89C of Title 11 to include only those rules, regulations, and/or aspects that are absolutely required to satisfy the Clean Water Act, as specifically set out in the Code of Federal Regulations, because the federal initiative upon which this regulatory scheme is based is an unfunded mandate; to clarify that the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) shall maintain primary permitting and enforcement responsibility for all ADEM NPDES sites and that local storm water management programs shall primarily rely upon ADEM for these functions, to the fullest extent allowed by applicable state and federal laws, rather than subjecting such sites to double regulation; to establish the type of fees, charges, or assessments a governing body and/or a public corporation established pursuant to Chapter 89C shall levy and from whom such fees, charges, or assessments shall be levied; and to exempt discharges originating from any lands and/or facilities owned and/or operated by one or more entities under the jurisdiction and supervision of the Alabama Public Service Commission from regulation under any local storm water management program and declare that such discharges shall be regulated exclusively by ADEM.