Updates to Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act that go into effect at the end of September will offer homeowners and developers some limited ways to mitigate the impacts of sea level rise on their property.
Mathews County Planning and Zoning Director Thomas Jenkins said that when the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act was first created, it looked specifically at the effects that upland runoff can have on the quality of the water in the bay and its tributaries. What it did not address, he said, were the effects that sea level rise and climate change would have on those properties over time. The new regulations seek to address those considerations, he said, providing property owners with some measures to help protect their properties from the effects of resultant flooding.
Jenkins, who has attended a number of meetings on the changes, along with his staff, said that all localities will be required to develop ordinances that incorporate the new regulations, but the regulations are so new that no localities have had a chance to do that yet. While this update is likely as simple as using the text of the new regulations as a model ordinance, he said, localities are still waiting for DEQ to develop guidance on how to administer the new rules.
Local governments will now be able to identify potential impact of sea-level rise and flooding on proposed development in the RPA and require adaptation measures to diminish those impacts, said Thomas. For instance, if a water-dependent aquaculture facility were to expand in the RPA, the local government could require some sort of sea-level rise adaptation in addition to water quality mitigation measures. And if a homeowner wanted to demolish a structure and rebuild in the same footprint, the locality could require that he/she instead build in an alternate footprint based on the projected 30-year impact of flooding.
As far as using fill dirt, the draft regulations, which were provided by Jenkins, state that the grading and slope created by fill can be no greater than necessary “based upon the project specifications” and must minimize the impact of runoff.
In addition, the fill must have “the necessary biogeochemical characteristics” to grow vegetation, including organic content, and it has to allow infiltration.
Further, the use of fill can’t “enhance” stormwater runoff from the RPA, and any impacts the fill has on managing stormwater runoff from uplands into the RPA have to be mitigated. Any flow of stormwater onto adjacent properties has to be controlled, as well.
Finally, the use of fill can’t impact septic systems and drain fields and it has to be consistent with federal and state laws.
The regulations continue to require that “nature-based solution adaptation measures” be used, including the preservation of existing natural vegetation and mature trees, with minimal land disturbance. They also call for continued adherence to best management practices and Virginia’s Tidal Wetlands Guidelines and stress that adaptation measures that contravene floodplain management requirements won’t be allowed.