11/19/2008 Env Bd Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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• If formally adopted by the RCWD Board, the RMP and this rule would govern impacts from land disturbances, including wetland filling, excavation and draining, within the RMP area. Regulation of wetland impacts under this rule would be in place of the general terms of the Minnesota Wetland Conservation Act (WCA). The rule would apply only to the geographic area in the City of Lino Lakes encompassed by the RMP, as represented in Figure 1 of the proposed rule. It is also intended that components of the RMP will be incorporated into the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, Section 404 permit evaluations as a means to achieve a higher level of permitting consistency. Background. The permitting process described in the rule would replace individual permitting under existing RCWD Rules C (stormwater management) and F (wetland alteration). A single application would be submitted in which all stormwater and wetland impacts would be considered and addressed. The RMP assesses the role that water and related natural resources play within the RMP area. This assessment is used to develop an approach to managing surface resources and public drainage systems consistent with the Lino Lakes planning and regulatory framework. The RCWD's RMP effort follows from Lino Lakes comprehensive land use planning. The goal is to provide for the surface hydrology that will serve existing, continuing and anticipated new land uses for the foreseeable future without injuring the natural hydrological system of the watershed or the functions it provides. The most substantial difference from the RCWD's general permitting rules is the framework to determine wetland replacement obligations when wetlands are filled or drained for development. Because the RMP rests on the RCWD's assessment of the role that wetland areas play in the overall health of the subwatershed, the replacement requirements create significant incentives to direct unavoidable wetland impacts to wetlands that play a Tess important watershed role, and to direct required wetland replacement and preservation to areas in which the functioning of the hydrologic system will be best enhanced. Because the watershed -based approach recognizes the role of the riparian edge in the hydrologic system, replacement credit also is offered for preservation or enhancement of wetland buffer and habitat area. RCWD Rule RMP -3 SONAR Letter October 23, 2008 2