Since new Phase II stormwater regulations took effect in March 2003, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation has received many questions.

In this issue and in upcoming issues of the Transportation Alert, we will highlight a few of these questions and answers published by NYSDEC.

Q. Which local highway department construction activities will require coverage under these new regulations?
A. Highway projects requiring permit coverage can include any construction activity involving clearing, grading and excavating that results in a land disturbance of one or more acres of land.

Exempt from the requirement to obtain a permit is routine maintenance, which is defined as maintenance performed to maintain the original line and grade, hydraulic capacity, or original purpose of a facility where the total land disturbance is greater than one acre and less than five acres (i.e. “Small Construction Activity�).

Q. Can a municipality get a annual “blanket� permit for local highway construction and reconstruction projects?
A. No, a Notice of Intent must be filed for each project that requires permit coverage.

Q. Does construction activity include the repaving of roads?
A. Repaving of roads does not require permit coverage because it does not disturb soil.

However, road recon¬struction projects where pavement is removed to the gravel subbase will require permit coverage if the disturbance spans one or more acres.

Q. Are two highway projects in the same right of way, but located many miles apart, considered to be part of a larger common plan?
A. Discrete construction projects located within a larger common plan of development or sale that are at least 1/4 mile part can each be treated as a separate plan of development or sale provided any interconnecting road, pipeline or utility project that is part of the same “common plan� is not concurrently being disturbed.