Framework for the Future 2030

Environment Goals, Policies, Strategies, and Implementation Actions

The long-range planning goals for Environment are:

• Surpass federal air quality standards.
• Reduce transportation, industrial and community background noise within the City.
• Improve the water quality of the James River, its tributaries and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay.
• Redevelop the City in a manner that improves the water quality of the James River and its tributaries.
• Increase the environmental awareness, education and participation of the public, city employees and contractors working on behalf of the City.
• Preserve and protect the natural features and environment of Newport News that are intrinsic to water quality.

AIR QUALITY

The Framework for the Future sets forth the following goal, policy, strategies and implementation for Air Quality.

Strategy 1.1.1: Restrict open burn permits for land clearing refuse based on performance standards, such as; increased setback from non-premise occupied dwellings, no open fire may burn for more than 96 consecutive hours, no open burning.

Strategy 1.1.2: Encourage the use of alternative based paints.

Strategy 1.1.3: Encourage vapor recovery practices where applicable and appropriate.

IMPLEMENTATION 1.1:

1.1.1:  Request the State Air Pollution Control Board to require Stage II Vapor Recovery, which is a program to control vehicle refueling emissions and establish procedure to enforce the requirements.

1.1.2: Investigate the use of the Erosion and Sedimentation Control Ordinance to require recycling of land clearance refuse, such as stumps, brush, etc., to the maximum extent possible, through wood chipping or other recycling techniques.

1.1.4: Promote wood chipping for mulch instead of pit and open burning for land clearing refuse.

1.1.5: Establish incentives to convert wood burning fireplaces or stoves to provide cleaner emissions, e.g. the use of catalytic converters to second burn the flue gases.

1.1.6:  Require Stage II Vapor Recovery as a condition for gas stations during the Conditional Use Permit process.

1.1.7: Use alternative fuels for fleet vehicles.  

Strategy 1.2.1: Develop strategies to reduce the number of single occupancy vehicles on the road and increase mass transportation ridership.

IMPLEMENTATION:

1.2.1: Fund mass transportation projects through a combination of state and federal grants and the City’s Capital Improvements Program.

NOISE

The Framework for the Future sets forth the following goal, policies, strategies, and implementation for Noise.

Strategy 2.1.1: Construct sound walls as a last resort.

Strategy 2.1.2: Develop specific noise minimum threshold should apply to all industry bordering residential areas.

Strategy 2.1.3: Require wider and enhanced vegetative buffers, not simply trees, between industrial/commercial and residential zoning districts.

Strategy 2.1.4: Require community facilities that abut residential uses to comply with existing noise abatement regulations and/or develop and enforce new regulations for community facilities permitted by regulation in residential areas.

Strategy 2.1.5: Request that the military prepare an Air Installation Compatible Use Zone (AICUZ) for Felker Field at Fort Eustis. Coordinate planning with Fort Eustis on solutions for noise impacts for Felker Field.

IMPLEMENTATION 2.1:

2.1.1:  Enforce the existing Noise Abatement Policy for development along planned or existing major thoroughfares.

2.1.2: Obtain wider rights-of-way for future road projects to provide for dense vegetation and landscaping to achieve noise abatement.

2.1.3: Amend the City’s Zoning Ordinance to include noise performance standards, which will vary by type of industry, but require the same noise minimum threshold for all industry bordering residential areas.

2.1.4: Amend the City’s Zoning Ordinance to require wider and enhanced vegetative buffers, not simply trees, between industrial/commercial and residential zoning districts.

2.1.5:  Enforce existing noise abatement regulations regarding community facilities and/or develop and enforce new regulations for community facilities allowed by regulation in residential areas.

2.1.6:  Increase efforts in enforcement of the existing regulations in the City Code, Section 28-36 Noise from Sound Systems and Devices pertaining to motorbikes and loud radio volumes in automobiles within residential neighborhoods.

2.1.7: Update noise zones around the airport.

2.1.8: As part of disclosure information require all real estate agents to have property purchasers within a specific distance of the railroad tracks sign liability release waivers at the time of property purchase.

WATER QUALITY

The Framework for the Future sets forth the following goal, policies, strategies, and implementation for Water Quality.

Strategy 3.1.1: Develop pollution prevention measures, BMP removal techniques and other appropriate measures to control the quantity and quality of stormwater discharged from the development of properties.

Strategy 3.1.2: Use a regional approach and/or a regional utility district for storm water management.

IMPLEMENTATION 3.1:

3.1.1: Continue use of stormwater utility fees for stormwater capital improvements and maintenance. 

3.1.2: City government and citizens should lobby state legislators to stress more aggressive enforcement of existing water quality laws and standards.

3.1.3: Seek the expansion of federal grant assistance programs for storm water capital projects.

3.1.4: Implement a comprehensive Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Program through the implementation of an MS4 plan that meets the technology and water quality based effluent limits authorized by the City's MS4 permit.

Strategy 3.2.1: Require design criteria and construction techniques for streets and parking lots to reduce runoff by decreasing the use of curb and gutter and increasing the use of grass-lined drainage swales and storm water detention ponds.  

Strategy 3.2.2: Investigate the use of bio-engineered facilities, more porous paving materials, and other new Low Impact Development technologies to improve storm water absorption on site.

Strategy 3.2.3: Encourage innovative environmental site design to achieve” best” storm water management practices, control and recycling of storm water runoff, reduction of impervious surfaces and innovative treatment of runoff.

Strategy 3.2.4: Require the use of new technology in materials and installation techniques for all basic utilities in all development.

IMPLEMENTATION 3.2:

3.2.1: Develop an incentive program based on public/private ventures to assist business and industry willing to locate in defined redevelopment areas throughout the City.

3.2.2: Revise the City’s Engineering Design Criteria Manual to address the above strategies.

3.2.3: Work with the Peninsula Home Builders Association to develop a seminar series for builders and developers in order to implement the above strategies.

3.2.4: Revise the City’s utility construction materials standards as necessary to keep up with “Best Available Technology.”

3.2.5:  Fund training for City Public Works personnel involved with utility installation in order to keep up with “Best Available Technology” in installation and machinery.

Strategy 3.3.1: Continue to enforce the local Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area program through the Newport News Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance.

Strategy 3.3.2: Continue to promote the principles of minimizing impervious cover, retaining indigenous vegetation, and allowing no more land to be disturbed than is necessary.

Strategy 3.3.3:  Investigate the expansion of Intensely Developed Areas in commercial and residential areas impacted by the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area.

Strategy 3.4.1: Consistently enforce the City’s Erosion and Sedimentation Control Ordinance, Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance, Flood Plain Management Ordinance, and Storm water Management Ordinance during land development.

Strategy 3.4.2: Update the Design Criteria Manual and enforcement procedures regarding Erosion and Sediment Control and Storm water Management as new technologies and practices become available.

IMPLEMENTATION 3.4:

3.4.1: Encourage citizens to call the City to report possible violations of the Erosion and Sedimentation Control Ordinance, Storm water Ordinance, and Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance; and establish a citizen watch program so that citizens may call the City to report violations of the Erosion and Sedimentation Control Ordinance.

3.4.2: Develop a local education program with the Peninsula Homebuilder Association, for the City’s land development ordinances to include the erosion and sedimentation control ordinance.

3.4.3: Check all land disturbing activities of one or more acres to insure that the developer/contractor has received their VPDES general permit for construction activities.

3.4.4: Continue to work with the local Department of Health to monitor septic tank pump-out program as required by the City’s local Chesapeake Bay Program.

3.4.5: New underground storage tanks shall be installed according to federal standards and maintained in proper order.

3.4.6: Develop a program to identify and monitor existing residential underground storage tanks (UST), which are not federally regulated, for possible leaks and require remediation of UST’s that are leaking.

3.4.7: If located within areas with high water table, the Reservoir Protection Area and Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area, there should be mandatory connection of structures, with the provision of financial incentives, on existing septic tanks to the sanitary sewer system as soon as a sanitary sewer line is within 250 feet of the property line.

3.4.8: The City should continue to monitor and replace when necessary the shoreline erosion control structures on public property to ensure stability of the shoreline.

3.4.9: The City should provide private property owners with the educational and informational resources to maintain the effectiveness of existing erosion control structures and to provide alternatives to sea walls and riprap to halt the erosion of the shoreline.

IMPLEMENTATION 3.5:

3.5.1: Incorporate applicable strategies and activities from the final report into the City’s storm water management and land development programs to help meet the nutrient and sediment reduction goals for the James River.

3.5.2: Encourage HRSD to use advanced waste water treatment at the Boat Harbor and James River wastewater treatment Plants.

Strategy 4.1.1: Amend existing and require future Title 36 plans to include water quality improvement objectives.

Strategy 4.1.2: Amend the environmental conditions part of the Title 36 survey to include questions related to water quality impact conditions, such as: lack of vegetation; outside storage of hazardous substances; underground storage tanks; more than seventy-five percent impervious area; erosion problems; and if applicable, deteriorating bulkhead, dock, and pier.

Strategy 4.2.1: Phase I Environmental Assessments should be conducted on all property to be acquired by the City of Newport News and/or the Newport News Redevelopment and Housing Authority (NNHRA).  If warranted by the Phase I, a Phase II Environmental Assessment should be conducted.

Strategy 4.2.2: Contain or reclaim any identified petrochemical and /or hazardous waste contaminants before ground or surface water is polluted.

Strategy 4.2.3: Continue to apply for the Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA’s) “Brownfield” grants to help pay for the clean up of identified contaminated sites.

Strategy 4.3.1: During the development of greenway plans for the City’s creeks, encourage re-establishment of a portion of the RPA buffer.

Strategy 4.3.2: During the redevelopment of individual multi-family, office and commercial waterfront sites where existing development encroaches in the seaward fifty feet of the RPA buffer, pursue, depending upon site conditions, the following: relocation of impervious areas landward of the seaward fifty (50) foot or, if possible, landward of the full one hundred (100) foot RPA buffer, and re-establishment of a minimum of twenty-five (25) foot of vegetation in the seaward fifty (50) foot of the RPA buffer.

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS, EDUCATION AND PARTICIPATION OF THE PUBLIC

The Framework for the Future sets forth the following goal, policy, strategies and implementation for Environmental Awareness of the public.

Strategy 5.1.1:  Endorse the continued publication of the Air Quality index in the Daily Press and encourage that local radio and television media announce the Air Quality Index on a daily basis as part of the weather report.

Strategy 5.1.2: Provide educational materials for the public and endorse public meetings concerning the dangers of loud noise.

Strategy 5.1.3: Provide, with the help of HRSD, literature to the public and endorse public meetings on sources of toxic and nitrogen contaminants in storm water runoff and household wastewater.

Strategy 5.1.4: Educate the public about household items that can and should be recycled and where to recycle them.

Strategy 5.1.5: Continue to provide literature to the public and endorse public meetings regarding the environmental benefits of using organic fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers and pesticides; and, work with regional education efforts, such as; HRWet and HRStorm.

Strategy 5.1.6:  Provide, with the help of the Home Builders Association, educational literature and public forums concerning alternatives to carbon based energy sources, such as solar power, etc.

Strategy 5.1.7: Create and support the efforts of a Clean City Commission.

Strategy 5.1.8:  Provide literature to the public and development community regarding the use of rain gardens to filter storm water runoff.

IMPLEMENTATION 5.1:

5.1.1: Develop and fund a program of environmental education and awareness using Newport News Cable educational channels, and other technology like webcasting, podcasting, etc.

5.1.2: Require gasoline stations to post signs on gasoline pumps discouraging the overfilling of gas tanks and why.

5.1.3: Develop an Environmental Awareness Center.

Strategy 5.2.1: Continually improve our environmental stewardship through responsible practices and procedures.

Strategy 5.2.2: Practice and support pollution control and prevention.

Strategy 5.2.3: Meet or exceed the requirements of all environmental regulations, legislation, or other environmental provisions to which the City subscribes.

Strategy 5.2.4: Establish and periodically review City environmental objectives and targets.

Strategy 5.2.5: Develop and implement a system for documentation and record maintenance.

Strategy 5.2.6: Educate and train City employees and require those working on behalf of the City to improve environmental performance and to increase awareness of environmental issues.

Strategy 5.2.7: Encourage public awareness of environmental issues and solicit citizen participation in meeting the objectives of this policy.

Implementation 5.2:

5.2.1: Strive for ISO 14001 ⁽⁴¹⁾ Certification.

NATURAL RESOURCES

The Framework for the Future sets forth the following goal, policy, strategies and implementation for Natural Resources.

Strategy 6.1.1: Continue the regulation of development near or in tidal wetland areas through the local Wetland’s Board, which coordinates with the Army Corps of Engineers, Virginia Marine Resources Commission, and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

Strategy 6.1.2: Enforce the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act by reviewing activities in the City’s designated Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas to ensure compliance with the City’s Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance.

Strategy 6.1.3: Continue to develop educational materials for the general public and local schools, which emphasize the importance of maintaining and protecting wetlands.

Strategy 6.2.1: Define and preserve functionally valuable and significant isolated non-tidal wetlands.

Strategy 6.2.2: Develop a Wetlands Bank to allow for mitigation of destroyed isolated non-tidal wetlands.

Strategy 6.3.1: Continue participation in the National Flood Insurance Program and the enforcement of the flood plain overlay district in the Zoning Ordinance.

Strategy 6.3.2: Use the principles of minimizing impervious cover, retaining indigenous vegetation and allowing no more land to be disturbed than is necessary.

Strategy 6.3.3: Investigate participation in the Community Rating System program through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Strategy 6.3.4: Based on the outcome of the Army Corps of Engineers study of the Newmarket Creek and Salter’s Creek systems, develop new policies for redevelopment in these flood plain areas.

Strategy 6.3.5: Continue the Flood Assistance Program. 

Strategy 6.4.1: Require new replacement trees when trees are damaged during development activities including construction.

Strategy 6.4.2: Develop a tree preservation ordinance.

Strategy 6.4.3: When preserving existing trees, encourage green areas on developing sites to be connected together.

Strategy 6.4.4: Survey the City to find 'Champion Heritage Trees' prior to development.

IMPLEMENTATION 6.4:

6.4.1: Hire additional certified arborists and supplement them with student interns and volunteers to advise developers regarding on tree preservation.

6.4.2: Educate developers and property owners about the mission of the Newport News Green Foundation and how it is funded.

6.4.3: Adopt and implement a tree preservation ordinance for Champion Heritage Trees.

6.4.4: Develop tree preservation requirements in the subdivision ordinance.

Strategy 6.5.1: Provide tax credits for open space and green areas donated in fee simple ⁽⁴²⁾ or by easements to the foundation.

Strategy 6.5.2: Identify green areas, open space, woods, historic areas, stream valleys, buffers, views and vistas and other natural features in the City that should be preserved by the conservation easement program.

IMPLEMENTATION 6.5:

6.5.1: The Departments of Planning and Development will assist the Green Foundation in identifying priority sites for acquisition by donated conservation easements and staffing.