You think that as a property owner you have basic rights and that if there are changes to those rights you must be notified of them.  Not necessarily. If you are a property owner in Milford, Bellingham, or Franklin, you may lose your rights to appeal changes in how you manage stormwater discharges from your property.

Though all affected property owners should have received notice of the comment period for EPA’s Draft General Permit for Residually Designated Discharges, we recently learned that EPA used aerial photos from 2005 to determine what properties hit their two acre threshold. So, any properties that have been developed since that time probably did not receive any notice, but will still be required to comply.

More importantly, only those who participate in this permit process by filing comments on the draft permit or by participating in the public hearing, may appeal a permit decision.  You don’t write a letter, you cannot later appeal!  It does not have to be a technical letter; just go on record that you have concerns about this proposed permit and you want to reserve your rights to appeal.

The deadline to submit comments on is midnight on September 30, 2010.

To view NAIOP’s in-depth comment letter and additional information (links, fact sheets, and presentations) on this regulatory initiative, please visit NAIOP’s new website and click on stormwater (member login required).