Executive Order for Developing and Implementing the County’s Program for Compliance with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Phase I Municipal Stormwater Permit

This Order requires and empowers King County Departments to cooperate and coordinate on the development and implementation of the County’s program for compliance with the NPDES Phase I Municipal Stormwater Permit.

WHEREAS, the effective management of stormwater has an important role to play in reversing the ongoing degradation of King County’s wetlands, streams, rivers, lakes, and Puget Sound;

WHEREAS, King County is committed to do its share as part of a concerted regional effort to clean up the Puget Sound ecosystem by 2020;

WHEREAS, King County is the owner and operator of a municipal separate storm sewer system that is regulated under Phase I of the Clean Water Act’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) through a municipal stormwater permit (municipal permit) issued by the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) for a term of five years that became effective on February 16, 2007;

WHEREAS, King County is fully committed to complying with its Phase I NPDES permit (municipal permit) as part of its effort to contribute to the clean up of the Puget Sound ecosystem;

WHEREAS, virtually every one of the County’s departments has an important contribution to make to improving the quantity or quality of stormwater and must effectively make this contribution so that the region may realize its goals of cleaning up Puget Sound;

WHEREAS, the municipal permit requires, within one year of its effective date, either written agreements among branches of regulated municipalities or an executive order to ensure compliance;

WHEREAS, the municipal permit requires written documentation of the County’s compliance programs and activities and annual reporting to Ecology; and

WHEREAS, the Clean Water Act provides for significant fines and penalties for failure to meet compliance requirements within NPDES permits;

NOW, THEREFORE, I Ron Sims, King County Executive do hereby order and direct all King County departments to implement the following policies and procedures to ensure King County’s full compliance with its municipal permit:

1. The Water and Land Resources Division shall be the agency responsible for coordinating the County’s municipal stormwater permit compliance activities and shall designate a municipal stormwater permit coordinator (the coordinator). The role of the coordinator is to facilitate and assist all affected departments with permit compliance.
2. Each department of the county that is directly regulated by the permit or whose activities or programs could support its water quality goals, shall be responsible for understanding the requirements of the municipal permit and for integrating compliance activities into departmental programs.
3. No later than November 1, 2007, each department engaging in any activities or programs that may be subject to or could support the municipal stormwater permit shall designate a municipal permit lead who will analyze the permit for its applicability to the department’s programs and activities. If the permit is applicable to multiple divisions or work groups within the department, then each of those divisions and work groups shall also designate a municipal permit lead.
4. No later than November 15, 2007, the municipal permit leads (the leads) shall submit to the municipal permit coordinator a brief description of the applicability of the permit to their programs and activities and of how they propose to integrate permit compliance into these programs and activities.
5. The coordinator shall assist the leads by providing links, written materials, and other information necessary to analyzing the municipal permit’s applicability to their programs and activities.
6. No later than December 15, 2007, the coordinator, together with the leads, shall prepare a draft written description of the compliance activities to be undertaken in 2008 by each department, division, and working group and a schedule for implementation of those compliance activities consistent with the municipal permit's deadlines. These written descriptions will become part of the County’s Stormwater Management Program document to be submitted to Ecology with the first municipal permit annual report in March of 2008.
7. No later than December 31, 2007, the director of each affected department or division shall review and approve the written descriptions and commit to the staff time and other costs necessary to implement the compliance activities and schedule documented in the written descriptions.
8. No later than December 31, 2007, the coordinator, together with the leads, shall set up a reporting structure for each affected department, division, or work group. The decision about the appropriate administrative level at which to develop the reporting structure shall be made by the reporting entities with the approval of the coordinator.
9. During the annual budget development period, but by no later than July 31 of each year beginning in 2008, the leads shall communicate with the coordinator about any proposed changes to their compliance activities for the next year. If changes are to be made, a new reporting structure shall be in place by the date of budget adoption in the year before they are actually implemented.
10. No later than February 25 of each year, the leads shall submit to the coordinator the information required for the annual report to Ecology on their programs and activities.
11. These policies and procedures shall apply to subsequent municipal permits under which the County is regulated.

DATED this 20th day of November., 2007.

/s/ Ron Sims, King County Executive (Original Signed)

ATTEST: (original signed)

/s/ Sherril Huff

Records, Elections and Licensing Director