Emerging State LID Regulatory Approaches and Compliance Tools for Local Governments

Environmental policies do not normally have widespread use until states require local governments to implement them. Emerging state-level requirements for Low Impact Development (LID) indicate that LID is reaching that stage in the process. Tetra Tech researched LID-related state policies and found requirements that could achieve LID at the local level and others that achieved LID principles but not a true, or holistic, application of LID. Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey have LID-related requirements, either in place or under development, that can lead to a holistic application of LID. Where state requirements fall short of requiring LID holistically, a number of policy tools are available to local governments for expanding on state requirements. These policy tools are reviewed for use in both complying and expanding upon state LID-related requirements.