Mr. Moore, first went over a little history of efforts to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay (the Bay). Through it’s history the Bay has played an important role in Virginia and the region by providing valuable economic, environmental and recreational resources. However, the health of the Bay began to decline in the 1950s, when underwater grasses started to disappear, and fish and shellfish populations decreased. The deteriorating water quality of the Bay is caused by pollution, which can be divided into two categories: point source pollution and non-point source pollution.
In 1986-1987 Virginia formed the Chesapeake Bay Land Use Roundtable to address the deterioration of water quality and damage to aquatic life in the Chesapeake Bay. The group realized that Virginia needed to address non-point source pollution into the Bay. In 1988, Virginia's General Assembly enacted the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (Bay Act) to improve the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary streams.
The Bay Act created a cooperative program between the Commonwealth of Virginia and 86 local governments to protect and enhance water quality through environmentally responsible land use management. Each local government created local land use requirements and ordinances which seek to minimize the non-point sources of pollution into the Bay.
The regulations for the Bay Act were created in 1991and subsequently amended in 2001 and 2014 step by step tightening the requirements to reduce nutrient and sediment pollution carried in stormwater from reaching the Bay. The Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act in Virginia was amended in 2001 to expand the Resource Protection Areas of the Act to all tidal wetlands, tidal shore, perennial flow bodies of water, non-tidal wetlands connected and contiguous to tidal wetlands and buffer lands within 100 feet of any of those features. All other areas of the Tidewater were named Resource Management Areas as was all of Prince William County.
Under the Bay Act all localities are required to identify and map RPA’s as part of their local Bay Act programs. Resource Management Areas (RMAs) are defined as lands that, if improperly developed, may result in substantial damage to the water quality of the Bay and its tributaries. The zoning maps of each locality are required to show the general boundaries of the RMA. Resource Protection Areas (RPAs) are vegetated areas along water bodies, such as lakes, streams, rivers, marshes or shoreline, also known as riparian buffers. These buffers are RPAs under the Bay Act. RPAs include the land area within 100 feet of a perennial stream bank or edge of wetlands adjacent to the perennial stream. RPA areas are protected under state law and local ordinances. In general, no development, land disturbance, or vegetation removal is allowed in an RPA. RPAs were designated along all perennial streams in Prince William County.
Current regulations prevent further development of RPA lands beyond minor additions to existing residences and structures and impose broad standards for septic regulations. A Water Quality Impact Assessment (WQIA) is required for any development or redevelopment proposed within an RPA, or for modification (clearing, grading, etc.) of any portion of the 100-foot RPA buffer greater than 2,500 square feet. The Bay Act also requires that all septic systems within a RMA be pumped out at least once every five years. This applies to all existing homes and businesses, as well as new development. In addition, a reserve septic drain field is required for all new development. Requirements for maintenance of existing septic systems are necessary to protect ground water quality, and also protect the water quality of the Bay.
In their natural condition, RPAs protect water quality, filter pollutants from stormwater runoff, reduce the volume of stormwater runoff, prevent erosion, and perform other important biological and ecological functions. As such the goals of the Bay Act ordinances are to minimize land disturbance, preserve indigenous vegetation, minimize impervious cover, assure compliance with Virginia stormwater regulations and septic regulations, and assure that any agricultural disturbance have a conservation assessment.
A lot of what Mr. Moore does is make sure that the local programs meet the requirements of the regulations and that the locality has an adequate and appropriate review process.
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