SB 355 Summary

• Amends Alabama Code sections governing municipal storm water management programs to limit their jurisdictional and substantive scope to only those rules and regulations absolutely required by the Clean Water Act and EPA regulations.

• Authorizes counties and municipalities to establish intercooperative public corporations for efficient compliance with storm water laws, with participation being optional and enforcement authority retained by governing bodies.

• Establishes fee caps for storm water compliance: residential properties limited to $10 annually, commercial properties limited to $0.005 per square foot (not exceeding $3,000), with exemptions for agricultural land, greenfields, and certain utility facilities regulated by the Public Service Commission.

• Requires ADEM to maintain primary permitting and enforcement responsibility for NPDES sites rather than subjecting them to double regulation by local programs, and mandates ADEM update regulations within 365 days of the bill's effective date.

• Designates discharges from Alabama Public Service Commission-regulated electric suppliers and commission non-jurisdictional suppliers as exclusively regulated by ADEM, exempt from local storm water management programs.