Topsoil debate shifts to local leaders

Now that the state's builders are off the hook for replacing topsoil on building sites whenever they decide it's 'infeasible,” it's time for a local conversation on topsoil to take root

This week, a legislative panel declined to delay a rule change approved by the state Environmental Protection Commission that erased a requirement that builders restore at least four inches of topsoil to large developments holding a stormwater permit if four inches of soil or more was present before construction.

The new rule directs topsoil to be replaced unless builders decide it's 'infeasible,” without any measurable standard.

Before the four-inch rule, builders routinely scraped away topsoil from housing developments, leaving homeowners with compacted clay yards that make growing healthy grass a difficult, costly prospect.

Soil soaks up water far better than clay, so the four-inch rule was intended to slow runoff, mitigate flash flooding and improve water quality. None of that seemed to matter as state leaders, elected and appointed, failed to stop or even delay a small group of central Iowa homebuilding interests from rewriting the rules. Environmental regulators admitted this week they don't even know what the change will cost Iowans, or whether homebuilders' claims of high costs to restore soil actually hold water.

The silver lining is that the state's blunder can be corrected locally. The Department of Natural Resources permits local governments to craft stormwater rules stronger than what's outlined in state rules. So it's possible for cities and counties to put their own topsoil replacement rules in place. Some cities, such as Davenport, have already done so.

In Cedar Rapids, City Council candidate Scott Overland, Council member Scott Olson and others are talking about taking on the issue. Overland calls for appointing a local stakeholder group that would recommend a topsoil requirement. Unlike a topsoil stakeholder panel at the state level that was packed with homebuilding interests and met behind closed doors, the local group would feature a broader array of perspectives.

Cedar Rapids, which was hit by the massive 2008 flood and struggles frequently with flash flooding, is a fitting place to start the conversation. A city that's partnering with rural landowners up stream to better manage the Cedar River watershed must also address problems posed by urban runoff.

State leaders failed Iowans. It's time for local leaders to dig in and do better.

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