It’s a long-standing conflict, how do governments protect the environment while still allowing for economic growth? How do we strike a balance that keeps our waterways clean and allows for new houses to be built?
The city of Owatonna is governed on the water side by a permit called the MS4 general permit, enforced through the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). This permit is designed to reduce the amount of sediment and other pollutants entering state waters from stormwater systems. Entities regulated by the MS4 general permit, must develop a stormwater pollution prevention program and adopt best practices.
Over time, the rules have tightened, then tightened again. The black and white nature of rules and regulations though aren’t often able to interpret the nuance on a building site. This is where conflict begins.
As the city implements structures to comply with state mandates, those using the system are finding themselves frustrated.
Builders are required to provide much more information at the beginning of the process increasing up front costs of doing the project. Grading drawings are now required on projects that did not need them in the past.
So how do you fix the conflict? Both the city and builders want to uphold environmental standards AND keep the cost of construction as low as possible.
The city has brought in a process consultant, a 3rd party, to work on the city process of stormwater permitting, but also hear from the builders and talk with other cities about their work on stormwater. The intent is to find solutions that make the process more streamlined and find solutions to the conflict areas.
The Chamber’s public policy committee has been working on this issue behind the scenes for over a year, meeting with builders and city leaders to find a path forward. The Chamber supports this step and process to work towards a solution.
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