NeFSMA

EPA Construction Permit

admin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 21:50:54 +0000

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a new permit, in accordance with the Clean Water Act, that will provide streamlined permitting to thousands of construction operators, while protecting our nation’s waterways from discharges of polluted stormwater from construction sites.

http://pwmag.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=760&articleID=1821967

New York City Investing in Green Solutions for CSO Program

admin — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:46:16 +0000

This is an older news story, but I thought it was relelvant. Most of New York City’s green solutions will need to involve stormwater retrofitting. The Douglas County Environmental Service and UNL Extension office are offering a webinar entitled “Retrofit This – A Guide to Retrofitting the World?”. See http://dl.dropbox.com/u/44308028/Webcast%20announcement.pdf to register.

New York City is investing $2.4 billion in Green Infrastructure over the next 20 years to help address their CSO Program. http://www.dec.ny.gov/press/77894.html

Twin Cities Stormwater Tour

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:25:29 +0000

The NeFSMA Education committee has been considering the idea of a road trip to the Twin Cities. The trip would allow attendees to see the evolution of stormwater practices. However, this trip will require considerable coordination on the part of our volunteer education committee. At this point, we are trying to gauge the interest in this sort of event. Click here to complete our short survey. If you have any other feedback for the education committee please contact Lori Laster or Rock Krzycki, our Education Committee Chair.

The Blog is Back

admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:42:13 +0000

Greetings NeFSMA Members!

I hope this new year is treating you well so far. If you’re subscribed to our blog, you probably got an email today with four blog posts. Our new website is now complete. We will resume our regular blog posts in the coming weeks.

I hope you enjoy the new website format. As always, please pass on any information to our Publication Committee that you think would be of interest to our members for consideration as a blog post.

Lori Laster, Chair

Consider State Revolving Funds for Green Infrastructure

admin — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 06:04:28 +0000

The following is a snippet of an email I received from Donna Garden, Financial Assistance Section Supervisor, NDEQ.

“Nebraska State Revolving Funds (SRF) can provide funding for munipalities, NRDs, etc for storm water management, not just the treatment of wastewater. And to top it off, our current grant funds provided by EPA to the SRF has funds specifically for green projects. This Green Project Reserve also comes with a lower interest rate than non-green projects (2% vs 2.5%).

In order for communities or NRDs to become eligible for a loan, they must submit their needs via our Needs Survey and be listed in our annual Intended Use Plan (IUP). We are gathering these surveys right now for compilation into the IUP that will be approved by the Environmental Quality Council and EPA in June 2012. I would like to encourage the NeFSMA members to consider their storm water needs for submission to the IUP as well.”

NeFSMA will look for an opportunity to have Donna present information about this program in 2012, but contact her immediately 402-471-4200 (donna.garden@nebraska.gov) if you are interested in adding it to your plan.

Submitted by: Jesse Poore

EPA Post About 319 Success in Nebraska/Iowa

admin — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 06:16:36 +0000

Full post found at

http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/success319/ne_carter.cfm

Waterbody Improved

Runoff and lakebed sediment resuspension led to elevated nutrient and turbidity levels in Carter Lake (which lies in both Iowa and Nebraska). As a result, Iowa placed Carter Lake on its Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list because of excess algae and turbidity (in 2004) and low dissolved oxygen (in 2008). The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) added Carter Lake to the state’s 2006 CWA section 303(d) list because of phosphorus, nitrogen, chlorophyll a, algal toxins and pH impairments. A community-based implementation effort to restore the lake has successfully reduced nutrient concentrations and blue-green algae (and their microcystin toxins). As a result, NDEQ will propose to remove Carter Lake’s algae toxin impairment from the state’s 2012 CWA section 303(d) list.

Nebraska Stormwater Consortium Discussion

admin — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 05:10:49 +0000

If you attended the afternoon session regarding “MS4 Discussion and Collaborative Education”, please review the attached meeting notes and provide comments/suggestions/clarifications by November 4th. After the meeting notes have been finalized and the next steps and timeline have been established, a focus group (outside of NeFSMA) will coordinate those efforts. Email Rock Krzycki (rkrzycki@lincoln.ne.gov) if you have questions or comments.

Thank you again for taking the time to have this discussion and a desire to make stormwater compliance a well planned and efficient process for all involved.

Click here for the discussion notes.

Annual Membership Meeting

admin — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 05:16:35 +0000

Today is the last day to register for the Annual Membership Meeting. The meeting will be held this Thursday, October 20, at the New World Inn in Columbus, Nebraska. Registration begins at 9:30. The meeting is free for members. Non members who wish to attend will need to pay the annual membership fee ($35 for indiviuals, $100 for agencies/corporations). Email Lori Laster (llaster@papionrd.org) to RSVP for the meeting.