Virginia DEQ Issues More Stringent Stormwater Management Policy for Solar Projects
Williams Mullen
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By:?Bradley J. Nowak,?Patrick A. Cushing,?Christopher J. "Chris" McDonald?&?Henry R. "Speaker" Pollard, V
On March 29, 2022, Michael Rolband, the director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), issued a memorandum implementing a new and much more stringent post-development stormwater management policy for solar projects that are subject to Virginia Stormwater Management Program (VSMP) requirements related to Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) permitting for construction activity-related stormwater discharges. The new policy went into effect?immediately?and applies to any solar project for which its stormwater management (SWM) plan had not been approved prior to March 29, 2022 “regardless of the stage of design.”
Prior to this new policy, DEQ has not required solar projects that are subject to VPDES construction stormwater permitting to account for solar panels as impervious surfaces when applying VSMP post-development stormwater management technical criteria and performing related runoff calculations to determine water quantity and water quality controls necessary for the project. Under DEQ’s new stormwater policy, DEQ will consider solar panels as unconnected impervious areas when performing post-development water quantity calculations using the hydrologic methods specified in the VSMP Regulation at?9VAC25-870-72. Further, DEQ will consider solar panels as impervious areas when performing post-development water quality calculations using the Virginia Runoff Reduction Method (VRRM).
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