THE LEGAL BASIS FOR LID: REGULATORY STANDARDS AND LID DESIGN CRITERIA - Low Impact Development and Sustainable Stormwater Management - page 93

5
THE LEGAL BASIS FOR LID:
REGULATORY STANDARDS
AND LID DESIGN CRITERIA
5.1 THE LAND-WATER LEGAL PROCESS
It is intuitively obvious that what we do on the land has everything to do with
the water resources on which we rely to sustain our environment and habitat.
However, the system of laws, regulations established based on those laws, and
design criteria evolved to comply with those regulations do not recognize the
interdependency. It is the connection between land and water that has led to the
formulation of such concepts as low-impact development, sustainable site design,
LEED (Leadership in Environment and Energy Design) green buildings, “living
buildings,” and similar efforts to change or modify our land development process
in order to reduce or mitigate the resulting environmental impact. This is true not
only with respect to water but also to energy. The goal of LID and all similar
programs is that by applying sustainable building concepts, we can provide a
high-quality environment for future generations while creating places and spaces
that meet all of our needs for habitat.
Common Law
When we consider the laws that regulate how we develop the land and use the
rainfall, we begin with the common law. As described by Thomas Sullivan in
his Environmental Law Handbook [1]: