Public Review of Proposed Changes to City of Portland Code and Establishment of New and Revised Administrative Rules

The City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) proposes changes to City Code to support implementation of the Nonconforming Sewer Conversion Program, the Green Street Maintenance Program and Public Works Permit Enforcement Program. The following regulatory packages are available for review:

-An Engineering Code Change package that proposes replacement of City Code titles 17.32 and 17.33 as well as minor changes to Titles 16, 17.24, 17.38, and 29

-An Administrative Rules package that combines the existing June 2008 Mandatory Sewer connection Rules and the temporary Nonconforming Sewer Connection Rules into one Required Sewer Connection Rules package.

-A new Administrative Rule for taking enforcement actions against persons modifying public sewer and drainage improvements without the required permit

BES plans to bring the proposed code changes to the Portland City Council in November 2009, a month after the temporary administrative rules for the Nonconforming Sewer Conversion Program were set to expire. BES proposes that temporary rules set stay in place till the new combined rules set is adopted by Council in November. In addition to some minor code cleanup and reorganization to enhance clarity, the proposed regulations implement the following BES policy goals:

-To help clarify the distinctions and commonalities between the Mandatory Sewer Connection and Nonconforming Sewer Conversion Programs

-To clarify that BES is responsible for maintenance of plantings and structures in green street facilities, including street trees located in facilities

-To add specific authorities for taking enforcement actions against persons modifying City facilities without a permit

BES is accepting public comment until 4:00 p.m. on Friday, September 18, 2009. If requested, BES will hold a public hearing on these proposals. A tentative public hearing is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 in Room B on the second floor of the Portland Building at 1120 SW 5th avenue, Portland OR. If a hearing request is not received by 8:00 a.m. on Monday, September 14, 2009, the tentative hearing will be canceled and notice emailed to interested parties.

The code and rules packages are available to download for review at www.portlandonline.com/bes/codereview. For more information, to submit comments, or to request a public hearing please contact Dawn Hottenroth at dawnh@bes.ci.portland.or.us. or call 503-823-7767.

The documents should be posted hopefully by the end of today

Dawn Hottenroth

Environmental Policy Analyst

City of Portland

Bureau of Environmental Services

1120 SW 4th Ave, Room 1000

Portland, OR 97204-1912

503-823-7767

fax (503-823-5344)

www.portlandonline.com/bes