GLOSSARY

BMP	Best Management Practice	Stormwater BMPs are measures that are implemented to mitigate or reduce the impacts of stormwater runoff from development.  These measures can be engineered structures (e.g., detention basins, constructed wetlands) or non-structural actions (e.g., public education, LID).
DENR	Department of Environment and Natural Resources (also NC DENR)
DWQ	Division of Water Quality (also NC DWQ)	Division of NC DENR responsible for regulating stormwater and issuing NPDES permits.
EMC	Environmental Management Commission (also NC EMC)
EPA	U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
ERU	Equivalent Rate Unit	Basis for the Town of Chapel Hill stormwater fee calculation.  An ERU is equal to 2,000 square feet of impervious area.
E&SC	Erosion and Sediment Control (also E&S)
FEMA	Federal Emergency Management Agency
FIRM	Flood Insurance Rate Map
FIS	Flood Insurance Study	A detailed flood risk assessment.  Flood hazard areas are determined using statistical analyses of records of riverflow, storm tides, and rainfall; information obtained through consultation with the community; floodplain topographic surveys; and hydrologic and hydraulic analyses. The FIS covers those areas subject to flooding from rivers and streams, along coastal areas and lake shores, or shallow flooding areas.  These flooding areas are depicted on the Flood Insurance Rate Maps or FIRMs.
HMGP	Hazard Mitigation Grant Program
LID	Low Impact Design	These design techniques are conservation-oriented and help to minimize/negate the impacts of increased impervious area on the environment.  The goals of stormwater Low Impact Design are to maintain groundwater recharge and quality; reduce stormwater pollutant loadings; protect stream channels; and prevent increased flooding.  This can be accomplished by providing stormwater controls that are decentralized and disconnected and that are also multi-functional.
MS4 NFIP	Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System National Flood Insurance Program	Conveyance or system of conveyances (including roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, man-made channels, or storm drains) that is (1) owned or operated by a State, city, town, borough, county, parish, district, association, or other public body, (2) designed or used for collecting or conveying stormwater, and (3) which is not a combined sewer; The term MS4 does not solely refer to municipally-owned storm sewer systems, but rather is a term with a much broader application that can include, in addition to local jurisdictions, State departments of transportation, universities, local sewer districts, hospitals, military bases, and prisons. http://www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/fact2-1.pdf When the community chooses to join the NFIP, it must adopt and enforce minimum floodplain management standards for participation. FEMA works closely with State and local officials to identify flood hazard areas and flood risks. The floodplain management requirements are designed to prevent new development from increasing the flood threat and to protect new and existing buildings from anticipated flood events. Communities must ensure that their adopted floodplain management ordinance and enforcement procedures meet program requirements. Local regulations must be updated when additional data are provided by FEMA or when Federal or State standards are revised. In return, the Federal Government makes flood insurance available for almost every building and its contents within the community.
NPDES	National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System	The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Stormwater Program regulates stormwater discharges from three potential sources: municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s), construction activities, and industrial activities. Most stormwater discharges are considered point sources, and operators of these sources may be required to receive an NPDES permit before they can discharge. This permitting mechanism is designed to prevent stormwater runoff from washing harmful pollutants into local surface waters such as streams, rivers, lakes or coastal waters.
RCD	Resource Conservation District
TMDL	Total Maximum Daily Load	A TMDL is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards, and an allocation of that load among the various sources of that pollutant.