Windknot
12-10-01, 02:08 PM
This is from Thursday's paper. The short version - EPD wants to impose higher permit fees on builders so they can hire more warm bodies to check erosion control.
Erosion control may bring big fees, new hires
Jim Tharpe - Staff
Thursday, December 6, 2001
State environmental regulators think a little more green from developers could help reduce the sweet-potato red color of many Georgia streams after heavy rains.
The state board for the Department of Natural Resources is considering recommendations to charge developers higher permit fees so the state can hire about 80 workers to oversee erosion control across Georgia.
The new hires would substantially increase state efforts to monitor erosion control efforts, a task assigned to only a few workers in the past. "There is a lot of concern that local governments are not doing the job in this area," said David Word, assistant director for the state Environmental Protection Division. "So there is the real need for the state to come in and supplement the local efforts."
Environmental officials say eroded dirt in storm runoff is one of the biggest causes of water pollution in metro Atlanta, where tons of reddish sediment wash off construction sites. The mud smothers fish and other aquatic life and makes streams unfit for recreation or drinking water.
Hiring the 80 workers would cost about $5.2 million, money that's tough to come by in a tight budget year. Georgia's financial woes were highlighted by Gov. Roy Barnes' recent decision to cut this year's state budget by about $200 million.
So EPD is researching fees as an alternative. Additional fees can be assessed in several ways. Proposals range from charging developers a flat fee, regardless of a development's size, to fees based on the acreage a development disturbs. One recommendation calls for a $200 fee on a development of up to five acres and $12,500 for a development of 50 to 250 acres.
The board will produce a funding recommendation in January, and that will be presented to the Legislature for a final decision. It likely would be July before any new fees are assessed or additional erosion monitors hired, Word said.
Earlier this year, the DNR board told its environmental division to come up with a list of proposals to improve erosion control efforts. Environmental officials Tuesday presented the board with a draft report outlining how to fund additional positions needed to oversee soil erosion efforts.
EPD Director Harold Reheis has complained that state and local laws to prevent streams from clogging with dirt are not working.
Reheis said regulations on erosion control measures and devices are not adequately enforced because of a lack of trained workers and confusion over who enforces the rules.
"There is still too much mud going into our streams," he said recently.
Some developers say the fees would drive up the cost of doing business and would be passed on to the home buyer.
Atlanta developer Steve Macauley said any new fee would not be a deal-breaker by itself.
"But the cumulative effect of all these fees definitely makes housing less affordable," he said.
Erosion control may bring big fees, new hires
Jim Tharpe - Staff
Thursday, December 6, 2001
State environmental regulators think a little more green from developers could help reduce the sweet-potato red color of many Georgia streams after heavy rains.
The state board for the Department of Natural Resources is considering recommendations to charge developers higher permit fees so the state can hire about 80 workers to oversee erosion control across Georgia.
The new hires would substantially increase state efforts to monitor erosion control efforts, a task assigned to only a few workers in the past. "There is a lot of concern that local governments are not doing the job in this area," said David Word, assistant director for the state Environmental Protection Division. "So there is the real need for the state to come in and supplement the local efforts."
Environmental officials say eroded dirt in storm runoff is one of the biggest causes of water pollution in metro Atlanta, where tons of reddish sediment wash off construction sites. The mud smothers fish and other aquatic life and makes streams unfit for recreation or drinking water.
Hiring the 80 workers would cost about $5.2 million, money that's tough to come by in a tight budget year. Georgia's financial woes were highlighted by Gov. Roy Barnes' recent decision to cut this year's state budget by about $200 million.
So EPD is researching fees as an alternative. Additional fees can be assessed in several ways. Proposals range from charging developers a flat fee, regardless of a development's size, to fees based on the acreage a development disturbs. One recommendation calls for a $200 fee on a development of up to five acres and $12,500 for a development of 50 to 250 acres.
The board will produce a funding recommendation in January, and that will be presented to the Legislature for a final decision. It likely would be July before any new fees are assessed or additional erosion monitors hired, Word said.
Earlier this year, the DNR board told its environmental division to come up with a list of proposals to improve erosion control efforts. Environmental officials Tuesday presented the board with a draft report outlining how to fund additional positions needed to oversee soil erosion efforts.
EPD Director Harold Reheis has complained that state and local laws to prevent streams from clogging with dirt are not working.
Reheis said regulations on erosion control measures and devices are not adequately enforced because of a lack of trained workers and confusion over who enforces the rules.
"There is still too much mud going into our streams," he said recently.
Some developers say the fees would drive up the cost of doing business and would be passed on to the home buyer.
Atlanta developer Steve Macauley said any new fee would not be a deal-breaker by itself.
"But the cumulative effect of all these fees definitely makes housing less affordable," he said.