a strategic framework

This Plan’s goals, policies, and recommendations are intended to guide the efforts of multiple agencies, plans,
programs, and work programs. Evolving water quality regulations will require updating existing plans and
programs, and new ones as we move forward.

The strategic framework for implementing this Plan includes the land use plans, permit implementation
processes, growth policy decisions, and site design and development practices described below.

Water resources-related planning occurs in many government agencies. For example, the bi-county Washington
Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) provides water and sewer service to Montgomery and Prince Georges
Counties. It works with the two Counties to ensure adequate water supply and wastewater capacity for planned
development and redevelopment, and to ensure that development is not approved unless water and sewer
adequacy is clearly demonstrated.

The Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin (ICPRB) is a regional agency whose studies of the health
and flow regime of the Potomac River and its tributaries are used by WSSC for their long-range capacity
projections. ICPRB also coordinates Potomac source water protection activities.

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) is a regional agency that coordinates
drought preparedness and management plans used by local jurisdictions. MWCOG also tracks monitoring data
and works with local agencies on watershed and stormwater issues.

Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties have Ten-Year Water and Sewer Plans covering water, sewer,
groundwater, and septic systems planning. Montgomery County’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
is responsible for the County’s Ten-Year Comprehensive Water Supply and Sewerage Systems Plan.

Many other agencies are responsible for programmatic and planning functions that address water resources
issues (Chart 1). (See Appendix 1, and Chapter 1 of the Ten-Year Comprehensive Water Supply and Sewerage
Systems Plan)

Plans

The Planning Department is developing a multi-faceted environmental policy and planning framework for
Montgomery County. This Plan will be part of that framework. The component plans within the environmental
framework will be coordinated to inform and realize multiple goals and maximize environmental benefits for the

FUNCTIONAL PLAN PLANNIG BOARD DRAFT

County. This Plan will provide important policy guidance for other functional plans. Knowing where water quality
needs are greatest will be important in prioritizing natural resource preservation, enhancement, and restoration
efforts. Master plan coordination will increase both the success in achieving the goals and objectives of each
plan, as well as the success of the various plans working together in meeting water resources requirements and
goals.

A number of plans address water resources in Montgomery County:

M-NCPPC
 The General Plan and the master, sector, and functional plans that amend it
 Land Preservation, Parks and Recreation Plan
 Countywide Green Infrastructure Functional Master Plan
 Legacy Open Space Functional Master Plan
Montgomery County DEP
water resources

 Montgomery County Ten-Year Comprehensive Water Supply and Sewerage Systems Plan
 MS-4 Permit Implementation Plans

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 chart 1 government agency water resources–related responsibilities

state agencies

Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) Maryland Department of Planning (MDP)

 Water and Sewer Plan approval  Planning and Zoning Oversight
 Comprehensive Plan Guidance and Review  Comprehensive Plan Guidance and Review
 Impaired Water Listing  Smart Growth Program
 TMDL Program  Land Use Forecasts
 Tier II Waters Anti-degradation Program
 Stormwater Manual
 NPDES Program

Montgomery Soil Conservation District (MSCD) Maryland Department of Natural Resource (DNR)
 Agricultural Management and Conservation  State Forestry Program
Support  Bay Program Support
o Soil Conservation  Park and Natural Resource Management
o Water Quality
o Nutrient Management
o Agricultural BMPs

regional agencies

D.C. Water and Sewer Authority (DCWASA) Interstate Commission on the Potomac River
 Blue Plains Wastewaste Treatment Plan Basin (ICPRB)
o Bi-County Agreement  Pollution Control and Prevention
o Inter-Municipal Agreement  Source Water Protection Partnership
 Water Quality Technical Studies and Modeling
 Drought Management Support
 Water Supply Planning Analyses

Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments

(MWCOG)
 Forum for Coordination of Regional Actions
o Water Supply
o Watershed Protection
o Anacostia Restoration
o Water Conservation
o Drought Management Plans
o Water Emergency Response Plan
o Regional Water-Related Databases
o Urban Forestry
o Regional Air Quality

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 bi-county agencies

Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission

Commission (M-NCPPC) (WSSC)
 General Plan  Water Supply and Sewerage Systems
 Master, Sector, and Functional Plans o Planning
 Growth policy o CIP Program
 Park Planning and Development o Design
o Natural Resource Management o Construction
o Recreation o Operation
o Stream Monitoring in Parks o Maintenance
 Zoning Code
 SPA Imperviousness Requirements
 Forest Conservation Program
o Law, Regulations, Enforcement
 Development Review
o Environmental Guidelines
o Environmental Inventory Approval
o Special Exceptions and Mandatory Referrals
o Forest Conservation Plans
o Water Quality Plans in SPAs

county agencies

Department of Permitting Services (DPS) Department of Transportation (DOT)

 Floodplain Review  Road Code
 Sediment and Erosion (S&E) Control  Road Planning, Design, and Construction
 Site Plan Inspection and Enforcement  Bridge and Road Stream Crossings
 Stormwater Code  Road Development Plan Review
 Stormwater Review, Inspection, Enforcement  Road SWM and S&E Control
 Building Code  ROW Maintenance
 SPA, S&E Control, and SWM design goals
 Well and Septic Regulations and Permitting

FUNCTIONAL PLAN PLANNIG BOARD DRAFT

Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Department of General Services (DGS)
 Environmental Policy and Compliance  Pollution prevention at County facilities
 Comprehensive Water and Sewer Plan  Abatement of existing pollution problems at
 Countywide Stream Protection Strategy County facilities
 Stream Monitoring  Inspection and maintenance of existing pollution
 SPA Monitoring and Reporting devices at County facilities, including stormwater
 Watershed Management Planning ponds
 Forest Protection Strategy  Building new retention and control devices at
 CIP Program new existing County facilities including ponds
 NPDES/MS4 Program and containment buildings
 Stormwater Management Facility Maintenance  Permits where applicable to a specific County
 Water Quality Protection Change site
 Air Quality  County underground storage tanks
water resources

 Hazardous Waste (maintenance, permits, installation, and removal)

 Solid Waste
The General Plan

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 The General Plan contains the comprehensive land use vision and development plan for Montgomery County.
Goals and strategies are defined to guide land use, transportation, housing, environmental protection, and
community design.

The 1993 General Plan Refinement already contains goals, objectives, and strategies for water resources. This
Plan does not replace that document, but supplies detailed policies and recommendations to reach the same
objectives based on the requirements of HB1141. It also provides general guidance for detailed implementation
that will occur in a number of plans and permit documents specified by law.

Master Plans
Master plans, sector plans, and functional plans will be guided by this Plan. This
guidance will continue the coordination of the General Plan’s land use element
with water and wastewater planning, and ensure long-term water and sewer
adequacy as the County grows. Other plans that deal with the County’s natural
resource issues, such as the Green Infrastructure Plan, will be coordinated with
this Plan to help optimize water quality benefits associated with natural resource
stewardship. Likewise, master and sector plans will also be revised periodically
and implemented to maximize the water quality improvement and protection
benefits in their particular geography. Specific decisions about the pattern,
density, and zoning of development are established in master and sector plans
and are updated periodically.

The Montgomery County Ten-Year Comprehensive Water Supply and Sewerage Systems Plan
The Ten-Year Comprehensive Water Supply and Sewerage Systems Plan (Water and Sewer Plan) prepared by
DEP documents the policies, needs, issues, and planned infrastructure related to public water and sewer systems,
private systems (groundwater and septic systems), and related public health, environmental protection, and land
use issues in Montgomery County. It gives both background information and a planning basis for the evaluation
of water supply and sewerage system needs in the County, and coordination of these capacities and related
infrastructure with planned development. The continued close coordination of the Water and Sewer Plan with the
County’s General Plan and master plans is vital in ensuring ongoing adequacy of water supplies and wastewater
treatment capacity as the County continues to grow.

The Water and Sewer Plan also details the inter-agency coordination of planning and implementing the
County’s water and sewer service. It is closely coordinated with WSSC, reviewed by various local and State
agencies, and approved by the County Council.

The current Water and Sewer Plan covers 2003-2012 and is being revised, with approval expected in 2010.
The current plan is online at: montgomerycountymd.gov/waterworks

Water and Sewer Plan Goals and Objectives

The overall goal of the Water and Sewer Plan is to ensure that the existing and future water supply and sewerage
system needs of Montgomery County are satisfied in a manner consistent with:
 emphasizing service to urban areas
 adopted land use recommendations
 provision of other services
 Smart Growth initiatives
 protection of surface and groundwater resources
 identifying water and sewer and public health needs and solutions.

Supporting information from the Water and Sewer Plan is provided in Appendices 1 through 4 of this Plan.
Appendix 1 has information on objectives, policies, and inter-agency responsibilities. Appendix 2 contains
general information on characteristics of the natural environment, as well as the cultural background that

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includes demographics, land use, and development. Appendices 3 and 4 pertain to water supply and
wastewater systems, respectively.

Technical information on WSSC’s water supply and wastewater flow projections is provided in Appendices 5 and
6. The complete Water and Sewer Plan provides full details on all these aspects of water and sewer planning in
Montgomery County.

Coordination with Land Use Element of the General Plan

The Water and Sewer Plan is closely coordinated with the land use element of the General Plan. The County’s
growth projections based on master plan recommendations and zoning capacity are provided to MWCOG for
their regional forecasts. The forecasts are based on master and sector plan land use, and the forecasts must be
within the capacities allowed by existing or proposed zoning. This information is used in conjunction with County
wide trends. The projected growth is placed geographically in relation to Traffic Analysis Zones (TAZs). Through
this process, County forecasts are developed for households, jobs, and population. (Municipalities with
independent planning and zoning authority do their own forecasts, which are incorporated into the County
totals.) These projections are used by DEP and WSSC in planning for existing and future adequacy of water
supply and sewerage systems in the County. (See Appendix 1, and Chapter 1 of the Ten-Year Comprehensive
Water Supply and Sewerage Systems Plan)

As master and sector plans are developed, DEP and WSSC are consulted regarding the adequacy of systems
and the feasibility of any needed extensions. Once the County Council approves a new master plan and any
related zoning changes, the Water and Sewer Plan is amended to implement the master plan’s
recommendations. These amendments are either comprehensive service area changes for large areas proposed
by DEP, or individual service area change requests filed by property owners. These proposed changes are
judged for consistency with the Water and Sewer Plan’s service policies and with the master plan’s land use and
service recommendations. If the County Council approves, these areas are added as amendments to the Water
and Sewer Plan.

Policies

Along with a coordinated framework of plans, the County has established development policies and zoning
standards that contribute to preserving water quality.

Growth Policy
Reviewed biennially, this policy guides future development in Montgomery County, reinforcing smart growth
principles and ensuring that development is coordinated with the provision of infrastructure. The current Growth
Policy supports smart growth within the Priority Funding Area that focuses new development on areas already

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served by water and sewer infrastructure and minimizes expansion of development into greenfield areas.
Consequently, future growth to be served by public water and sewer will help achieve the statewide goals of
increasing the current percentage of growth in Priority Funding Areas (PFAs), and decreasing the current
percentage of growth outside of PFAs.

The County Council adopts the Growth Policy every two years based on Planning Board recommendations. The
Policy sets the rules the Planning Board will use to consider subdivisions over the following two year period, in
the context of the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO). The APFO ensures that there is enough school
and road capacity to accommodate development. Adequacy of water and sewer service is determined through
the Water and Sewer Plan process.

By 2030, an additional 200,000 residents are expected in the County. Only four percent of the County, about
14,000 acres, remains undeveloped. And there is even less developable land when steep slopes, floodplains,
water resources

and other regulated sensitive areas are considered. Because of this, new strategies and policies are needed to
guide the County’s growth in the future, and to be more consistent with Smart Growth practices.

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 Montgomery County’s growth management tools, including master plans, zoning, and subdivision regulations,
are being used to direct growth toward redevelopment in transit-served areas to reduce the vehicle miles
traveled relative to the population and job growth. It will also limit adverse effects of growth on water quality by
accommodating that growth with a significantly smaller increase in imperviousness. Redevelopment and infill,
along with enhancing and revitalizing activity centers will become increasingly important strategies in growing
smarter and will create opportunities for creative use of Environmental Site Design to increase water quality in
urban areas. Finding ways to decrease our carbon footprint and become more sustainable will increasingly
come to the fore as the County continues to grow. The Growth Policy is available online at
montgomeryplanning.org

The InterCounty Connector (ICC)

From a master planning perspective, the ICC has been master planned along its current alignment since 1972
(with only minor changes in 1981 and 2009) so the project supports the land use plans already in place. No
master planned land use changes are associated with the ICC.

From a development staging perspective, the additional accessibility provided by the ICC is expected to affect
the timing of planned development to some extent. This effect was reflected in the adjustment of our cooperative
growth forecasts approved by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments as Round 6.4A when the
ICC was added to the region’s Constrained Long Range Plan in 2004. This reflected effect has been carried
through in subsequent forecast rounds that have been used in recent planning. As a result, any potential impact
of the ICC on water and sewer demand has already been factored into WSSC water and sewer demand
projections.

Urban Design Guidelines

Recent master and sector plans for urban areas have been accompanied by Urban Design Guidelines intended
to implement the plan vision by providing design guidance for applicants seeking approval of private
development or capital improvement projects. The guidelines are approved by the Planning Board for use in
developing and evaluating building projects and other applications. They will be revised to reflect new
technologies or field conditions and updated at least once every six years.

With the exception of street standards and other specific recommendations, the urban design guidelines are not
regulations that mandate specific forms and locations of buildings and open space. They illustrate how plan
recommendations and principles might be met, and they encourage applicants and public agencies to propose
designs that create an attractive and successful public realm. They include guidance on a wide range of
environmental issues including tree canopy, green open spaces, and stormwater management.

To date, draft urban design guidelines have been developed for the Twinbrook Sector Plan, the White Flint
Sector Plan, and the Germantown Master Plan. They are available at montgomeryplanning.org.

The Agricultural Reserve

The General Plan position that the desired land use in the Agricultural Reserve is agriculture is supported by the
Functional Master Plan for the Preservation of Agriculture and Rural Open Space. It established two zones, Rural
Density Transfer (RDT) and Rural Cluster (RC), in conjunction with a Transfer of Development Rights (TDR)
system. The RDT Zone requires a minimum of 25 acres per dwelling unit and the RC Zone allows one dwelling
unit per five acres. These densities enable the County to limit development and preserve large amounts of land
for agriculture.

The Agriculture and Open Space Plan also prohibits extending sewer and water to areas zoned RDT, unless
needed to address public health problems. This has helped preserve agricultural uses and limited sprawl,
thereby protecting water quality and supply. Continuing these policies will help guarantee these benefits in the
future. (See Appendix 1, and Chapter 1 of Ten-Year Comprehensive Water Supply and Sewerage Systems Plan)

Agriculture is also supported by Department of Economic Development’s (DED) Agricultural Land Preservation
Easements program. This program protects and preserves agricultural land from development with the goal of

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70,000 protected acres by 2012. Montgomery County has protected a higher proportion of agricultural land
than any other county in the nation. As of 2009, the County has exceeded its goal, protecting 71,000 acres,
20,000 of which are permanently preserved through perpetual easements. The remaining 51,000 acres are
protected under TDR easements, but retain development rights of one unit per 25 acres (Appendix 7).

The County has recently passed a Building Lot Termination (BLT) program designed to extinguish remaining
residential development rights through purchase. As with TDRs, the purchased density is transferred to
development in mixed-use zones close to services and transit.

Regulatory Framework

Montgomery County Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS-4) Permit

The County’s MS-4 Permit is the principal implementation tool in meeting stormwater point source water quality
regulatory requirements. DEP is the lead agency for implementing this permit, but most County agencies
participate. Watershed analyses will identify pollutant sources so that reduction and control options that meet
stormwater point source load reduction requirements can be developed. Information on the County’s MS-4
Permit is available online at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/DEP

Site Design and Development Practices

Environmental Site Design (ESD), which is required by State stormwater management regulations to be
implemented to the Maximum Extent Practicable (MEP), is vital to realizing this Plan’s goals. These standards
apply to any remaining greenfield development in the County, as well as to infill and redevelopment projects.
Redevelopment projects offer challenging constraints, but ESD approaches are especially important when using
redevelopment to improve water quality in urban areas.

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water resources

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