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Update on Occoquan Task Force Recommendations
July 7, 2003
On January 27, 2003, the New Millennium Occoquan Watershed Task Force (Task Force) presented its report Fulfilling The Promise: The Occoquan Watershed in the New Millennium to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors (Board). The report included recommendations in the areas of: The Reservoir; Streams and Ecosystems; Land Use and Open Space; Tree Preservation; Sediment and Erosion Control and Stormwater Management; Onsite Sewage Disposal; Citizen Involvement; Regional Coordination; and Implementation and Reporting. After some discussion, the Board directed staff to review the recommendations and to report with an implementation plan by July 2003. The County’s Environmental Coordinating Committee (ECC) circulated the Task Force’s recommendations among appropriate agencies (both County and non-County) and coordinated a collaborative, interagency staff response to each of the recommendations for consideration by the Board.
The following agencies responded to the Task Force’s recommendations:
· Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES)
· Department of Health (HD)
· Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA)
· Department of Planning and Zoning (DPZ)
· Office of Public Affairs (OPA)
· Environmental Coordinator
· Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District (NVSWCD)
· Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC)
· Northern Virginia Conservation Trust (NVCT)
· Fairfax County Water Authority (FCWA)
· Upper Occoquan Sewage Authority (UOSA)
· Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Laboratory (OWML)
In order to facilitate the interagency responses and the Board’s review of these responses, during May 2003 each agency completed individual response forms for each of the recommendations directed to it. Eighteen of the Task Force’s twenty-nine recommendations required interagency collaboration.
In June 2003, the County’s Environmental Coordinating Committee (ECC) reviewed the responses. The ECC is a collaborative, interagency management committee chaired by Deputy County Executive Robert A. Stalzer. Among other responsibilities, this committee was established to ensure an appropriate level of coordination and review of the County’s environmental policies and initiatives. The ECC has representation from the following agencies: Department of Public Works and Environmental Services; Department of Planning and Zoning; Department of Vehicle Services; Department of Transportation; Fairfax County Health Department; Fire and Rescue Department; Fairfax County Park Authority; Police Department; Office of Public Affairs; Fairfax County Water Authority; County Attorney’s Office; Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District; Department of Management and Budget; Housing and Community Development Department; and the County Executive’s Office.
While individual agencies took the lead in preparing responses to the Task Force’s recommendations, the responses reflect the views of the entire ECC and the non-County agencies that participated in this effort (see list above). A list of the Task Force’s recommendations with individual agency assignments (depicting the lead and coordinating agencies) is enclosed as Attachment 1. A complete set of staff responses is enclosed as Attachment 2. The staff responses are provided in the same order as the corresponding recommendations in the Task Force’s Report.
As detailed in Attachment 2, a number of the responses to the Task Force’s recommendations suggest activities that either have been implemented or are currently underway or planned by the County. Some of these recommendations require an expansion of the scope of services for existing or planned activities that to an extent could be undertaken assuming that current resource allocations are maintained. Others can be implemented at this time with current resources but can be expanded with additional resources (e.g., Reservoir 5). Other recommendations address policy matters and do not suggest any particular actions on the part of County staff.
Still other recommendations suggest new or expanded activities that staff believes will have significant budget implications requiring additional resources above current levels. Recommendations that have fiscal implications requiring significant commitments to continued funding include Reservoir 2, 3, and 4; Streams and Ecosystems 2, 3, 4, 5; and Land Use and Open Space 4 and 5. For the most part, these items are planned to be addressed as part of the multi-year watershed planning and stormwater management programs, the capital improvement program, and other existing programs and will require significant long-term funding which will be addressed in the normal budget review process. Additional resources above current levels are anticipated to be required for the following items: Land Use and Open Space 2 (which addresses standards and guidelines associated with special permit, special exception, and public uses in the R-C District); Land Use and Open Space 3 (which addresses the idea of a more proactive easement outreach program), and Onsite Sewage Disposal 1 (which addresses the establishment of a self-supporting” Onsite Sewage Disposal System Management Authority.”)
Unless otherwise directed, staff will prepare and submit to the Board a detailed description of resource needs and workload impacts associated with implementing the new initiatives (Land Use and Open Space 2 and 3 and Onsite Sewage Disposal 1). Staff intends to devote significant efforts, using existing resources, to implement the recommendations noted above relating to existing programs as well as to the remaining recommendations detailed in Attachment 2.
ENCLOSED DOCUMENTS: (In PDF format)
Attachment 1: Task Force Recommendations with Agency Assignments(139kb)
Attachment 2: Staff Responses to the Task Force Recommendations(190kb)
Attachment 3: Draft EPA Guidelines for Management of Onsite/Decentralized Wastewater(161kb)
Systems dated September 26, 2000
STAFF
Environmental Coordinating Committee
Robert A. Stalzer, Deputy County Executive
Kambiz Agazi, Environmental Coordinator