NPDES Phase II and North Carolina Counties

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Last Modified
  • February 28, 2019
Creator
  • Clegg, William Russell
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of City and Regional Planning
Abstract
  • The federal laws governing water quality are still changing to meet the challenge set out by the Clean Water Act. Storm water runoff, which is regulated under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), is one of the main contributors to water quality problems. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is responsible for administering NPDES, has begun Phase II of the program. This phase targets smaller storm water conveyance systems than did the first phase. This paper discusses a problem that North Carolina has had in implementing Phase II rules. Although counties are responsible for the storm water drainage systems that they own, most storm water drainage systems exist in road right-of-ways, and these right-of-ways are not owned by county governments. The roads, and their drainage systems, are owned by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT); yet DOT does not have the land use authority to regulate the developments that send water into these drainage systems. An examination of the laws makes it clear that the state should hold counties with Phase II permits accountable for storm water runoff conveyance systems in unincorporated areas, despite the confusion over who owns the storm water runoff conveyance systems. The paper looks at five different counties to assess the level of burden the regulations will place on county governments, if counties are given responsibility for Phase II permits throughout their jurisdiction. The five counties represent different levels of urbanization and land use or storm water controls.
Date of publication
DOI
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Rights statement
  • In Copyright
Advisor
  • Moreau, David H.
Degree
  • Master of City and Regional Planning
Degree granting institution
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Language
Location
  • North Carolina, North Carolina, United States
Extent
  • 51 p.
Access right
  • Open access
Date uploaded
  • December 10, 2010

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