City staff are in the final stages of drafting the Stormwater Water Quality Treatment Credit Transfer Policy (Policy), Implementation Procedures Manual (Manual), and minor ordinance amendments needed to implement the Stormwater Water Quality Treatment Credit Transfer Program (Program). The Program will operate under the City’s Stormwater Ordinance and applicable state and federal stormwater regulations, including the Minnesota Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) General Permit.

The Policy establishes the framework and core requirements for the Program. It complements the City’s Stormwater Ordinance by defining when and how off-site stormwater water quality treatment may be used and establishing that it will be administered through a formal credit transfer program. The Policy also establishes requirements for generating, certifying, transferring, and using credits, as well as principles for achieving greater environmental benefit and recovering costs for City-funded projects to protect Stormwater Utility ratepayers.

The Program provides the administrative structure for implementing off-site treatment allowed under the City’s ordinance and Policy. This includes generating treatment credits through additional treatment capacity, certifying eligible credits, maintaining a City-administered credit bank, transferring credits between approved parties, applying required transfer ratios, and tracking credit ownership, balances, and transfers. In short, the ordinance and Policy establish the rules and foundational requirements, while the Program provides the mechanism for putting those requirements into practice.

The Manual provides the operational details needed to administer the Program. It describes processes, roles, responsibilities, documentation, submittal requirements, and methods for recovering City costs, consistent with the Policy. The Manual is a living document that will be reviewed and updated as needed by Staff to effectively implement the Program.

City Council approval will be required to adopt the final Policy and proposed ordinance amendments. Staff anticipate returning the final Policy and proposed ordinance amendments to Council within six weeks. This glide-path review is intended to confirm that the core policy framework and foundational requirements align with Council direction before the final documents are brought forward for adoption. The draft Policy and Manual are included with the Council packet for review and feedback.