On June 19 the House Environmental Resources and Energy and Local Government Committees held a hearing on the local impacts of MS4 Stormwater Pollution Reduction Requirements.

Local government associations from counties to boroughs described what they are doing to meet the requirements, including adopting fees to support their stormwater programs.

Most asked for more resources from the General Assembly to support their stormwater programs.

DEP was invited to the hearing, but did not provide a speaker.  The Joint Legislative Budget and Finance Committee was holding a meeting at about the same time involving DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell, Ramez Ziadeh, Executive Deputy Secretary for Programs and Aneca Atkinson, Acting Deputy Secretary for Water Programs.

The following individuals did provide comments to the Committee.

John Brosious, PA Municipal Authorities Association, provided the comments of Mike Callahan, stormwater program manager, Derry Township Municipal Authority, who was called away for a family emergency.

Brosious noted that since 1999 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has had requirements to reduce stormwater runoff pollution.

He said authorities are already handling water and wastewater so handling stormwater was a natural extension.  Authorities also have the ability to charge fees for their services to support the program.

The Derry Township Authority presentation outlined the different types of stormwater problems faced by the township even during typical rainstorms and estimated it will cost $40 million to correct all the problems they have identified with aging infrastructure and to build new facilities.

The Authority and Derry Township created a stakeholder group to help put together the stormwater program they are now implementing.

The Authority’s 7,700 customers pay about $6.50 per month for the stormwater program.

Click Here for Derry Township presentation.  Click Here for 2018 Township Stormwater Program report.

Matt Quesenberry, Elk County Commissioner represented the County Commissioners Association of PA, said, “My testimony today is to recognize that while the mandates facing communities because of MS4 regulations are significant, there is a bigger picture, and a bigger need for resources and assistance, when it comes to water planning across the state.”

Quesenberry said Elk County began developing stormwater watershed plans for the county under Act 167 in 2007, however, although the Act requires DEP to reimburse counties 75 percent of the cost of preparing these plans no funding has been appropriated since FY 2008-09.

“This meant that we ended up leaving out things that could have been helpful to our plan. And it has been a deterrent, both for us and other counties, to maintain any existing plans.”

“We need to do a better job of addressing the root cause of our water problems, and understanding that the efforts we make in one community might help to address a storm water problem there, but could have adverse impacts on communities downstream. 

“For instance, we often hear that there are so many people who just want to dredge a waterway to remove sediment and debris, and they get upset because DEP will not just let them go in with a bulldozer to do so.

“DEP, however, does allow for material to be removed 50 feet upstream or downstream from a bridge under the maintenance agreement. But once that material is removed, we often see it fill right back in following the next high water event. In the meantime, that water has to go somewhere, and that somewhere is downstream at an accelerated pace.

“This type of routine maintenance is only a temporary fix for a watershed-wide problem.

“It can be a huge challenge to address water management in any kind of collaborative way or to get local stakeholders to come together and think about water in a broader or more regional way, and we would encourage incentives for communities to coordinate.

“Funding and resources are also critical to addressing these issues in any kind of comprehensive way, including additional technical resources to make sure we have the data we need to make informed decisions.”

“Unfortunately, because the funding ran out during our stormwater management planning process, we had to leave out things like modeling that could have been helpful. And while we do our best with our conservation district, it is challenging to look at the whole watershed – in our case, some are quite large.

“In addition, we need to increase property owner education to promote best practices that can help to manage stormwater.

“It does no good for us to put in place complex stormwater management systems if every property owner along the water mows their grass clear to the edge of the stream, or piles up debris, or removes trees.

“And finally, we know that both the House and Senate have devoted considerable attention in recent months to permitting processes as a whole and how much time it can take to navigate this process.

“There is no silver bullet to this matter, as we have heard, as you have, that there are a multitude of reasons for the lengthy review time – everything from workload increases as growth and development continue to occur, particularly in some parts of the state, as well as application and technical deficiencies that need additional time to address, and insufficient staff resources to manage the workload, and, we are sure, more.

“We would be pleased to work with DEP and the legislature to identify areas within the permitting process that are causing the permits to be delayed in an effort to streamline these processes.

“By way of example, we appreciate that DEP working with Bradford County to allow it to move forward with its pilot project that will delegate its conservation district the ability to authorize stream reconstruction actions.

“This is a new approach to stream management, which has already been used successfully in New York state, that will allow the county to work with its local partners to stabilize hydrology in watersheds and reduce sediment sources, thus also reducing the imminent threat to public health and safety.

“In conclusion, stormwater management is about so much more than just storm water – it is about water quality, and it is about floodplain management. It is about recreation, and it is about public safety.

“We cannot continue to chase individual programs, or individual permits, or individual communities – all state, federal and local agencies must work together in renewed cooperation to achieve these goals.”

Andrew Boni, Perry Township Supervisor in Fayette County represented the PA State Association of Township Supervisors, noted, “Under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations, Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permittees are responsible for reducing the quantity and improving the quality of stormwater discharge in their communities. For many of the townships that are subject to these provisions, it is the most expensive unfunded mandate they have ever faced and is expected to cost billions statewide.”

“In Fayette County, 14 of the 23 townships are MS4 communities and I’ve seen the burden that these requirements have placed on these communities. Frankly, I am glad that Perry Township does not have to comply with these requirements, but I’m fully aware that these mandates could be pushed onto smaller townships and the cost burden for this would be devastating. PSATS strongly opposes expanding MS4 coverage to include more municipalities.

“The state legislature has provided townships with revenue options other than simply requiring our property taxpayers to pay more. Townships of the second class may levy dedicated fees to pay for stormwater facilities and their maintenance through a stormwater authority or directly by the township, which PSATS requested on behalf of its members. This allows the cost to be spread over everyone in the community, not just property taxpayers.

“PSATS believes that more cost-effective approaches should be authorized to maximize the reduction in pollutants and sediments in the state’s waterways that doesn’t bankrupt communities or shut down economic growth. A common-sense approach by regulators at the state and federal level is needed.

“Lowering the pollution reduction targets would help reduce municipal costs. The 10 percent sediment reduction target I mentioned earlier is going to be very challenging and expensive for municipalities to achieve. In addition, extending the timeframe for achieving these targets to more than 5 years would also help reduce this unfunded mandate.

"DEP should amend its stormwater regulations to streamline permitting for local governments and reduce requirements for low-impact projects.”

“PSATS continues to urge Pennsylvania’s Congressional delegation to put pressure on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to roll back this federal mandate, which would be the most effective solution.”

“We are seeing more flooding issues than before and stormwater runoff is to blame for some of it. To prevent these issues from getting worse, we need to manage our runoff.

“If we don’t manage our runoff, it will end up in our streets and then we will have to deal with road improvements, pipes, and stormwater systems to try to move the water off of our roads.

“But residents would rather just run water off of their property and onto our roads so they don’t have to deal with it. In our township we want and need growth, but we also need development to comply with our stormwater regulations  

“There is a continued need for education. Many don’t want to hear it, but there is a need for stormwater management. Without it, we will see more flooding and property damage that could be prevented.

“With that said, severe storms happen and it is impossible to engineer for vast amounts of water. In 2016, Connellsville City, Connellsville Township, and Bullskin Township had a major flash flood, when more than 5 inches of rain fell in two hours. Several homes were destroyed and more were damaged.”

Click Here for an article from Township News on Stormwater Lessons Learned by townships.

Mayor Sherry Capello, City of Lebanon represented the PA Municipal League, said, “We are required to reduce sediment pollution by 10 percen through the construction of new stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) such as detention basins, retention basins, wetlands, infiltration trenches, pervious pavement, vegetated swales and streambank restorations, and/or by the upgrading of existing BMPs [best management practices].

“With the amount of impervious coverage in existence on our urban properties, the City would not have been able to arrive at enough projects to comply with this reduction.

“After discussion with other municipalities in the County, the City partnered with five other adjacent municipalities: Annville Township, Cleona Borough Authority, North Cornwall Township, North Lebanon Township, and South Lebanon Township to be able to jointly share in the costs and credits.

“Compliance with these unfunded mandates is expected to cost the City alone over $3.5 million over a period of 5 years.

“Each municipalities' share is based on a calculation that takes into consideration the municipalities' miles of impaired streams, population and acres of impervious coverage.

“Tax revenue alone is no longer enough to pay for these costs of compliance, so a dedicated stormwater management fee became necessary.

After reviewing six different fee scenarios, an ordinance was passed in 2018 to set a basic rate of $60 per year for each equivalent dwelling unit.  The City also offers credits to property owners who install best management practices.

Since the City began its stormwater efforts changes to the MS4 Stormwater Program may require that fee to be increased by 40 percent.

“We have expended approximately 1 million dollars on storm water pollution improvements in the City since designated as a MS4, have transferred $1.4 million to the Consortium for improvements outside the City over the last 2 years, and have committed 2.1 million over the next 3 years.

“We potentially are facing a 40+ percent increase in fees that most likely will have no significant impact on the improvement of water quality and with the [Chesapeake Bay Watershed] WIP, we may be looking at a $257 million dollar funding gap [to implement the entire draft Chesapeake Bay Watershed Plan] in our region for a mirrored project.

“We understand our end goal is to be a good steward of our environment, but we should also be smart about it. Let's put our money in areas where we will have the most beneficial outcome and use everyone's dollars wisely.”

 Jeffrey Stonehill, borough manager/director of utilities, Borough of Chambersburg, represented the PA State Association of Boroughs, provided an overview of the stormwater management program Chambersburg adopted to comply with the MS4 requirements, which includes a $4 per month fee on each equivalent dwelling unit.

Amy Sturges, represented the PA Municipal League and the PA State Association of Township Commissioners, provided comments to the Committees supporting House Bill 473 (Everett-R-Lycoming) and House Bill 474 (Everett-R-Lycoming) authorizing boroughs and first class townships to adopt stormwater management fees.

Harry Campbell, PA Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, provided comments to the Committees saying, “ Aging and deliberated stormwater sewers from the Commonwealth’s cities, towns, and boroughs discharge billions of gallons of untreated sewage into Pennsylvania’s rivers and streams each year.

“This waste carries bacteria, viruses, pathogens, and anything else flushed down the toilet to rivers and streams citizens rely upon for fishing, boating, and even as a source of drinking water.

“Unfortunately, Pennsylvania has the most combined sewer overflows (CSOs) in the nation, with over 1,600 identified outfalls. Many of these CSOs are within Pennsylvania’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

“Stormwater runoff from urbanized areas also pollutes over 3,100 miles of rivers and streams in Pennsylvania, according to scientific studies conducted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and others.

“And Pennsylvania has made significant commitments to control the water quality impacts of stormwater runoff in its plan to meet Chesapeake Bay cleanup commitments.

“As last year’s rains reminded us, the Susquehanna River Basin is one of the most flood prone river systems in the United States and affects hundreds of thousands of residents and businesses.

“Although the requirements can be daunting, thankfully there are myriad of public, private, and nonprofit entities capable of offering planning, design, and implementation assistance to MS4s, including alternative financing opportunities.

“For example, through a USDA Natural Resource & Conservation Service Conservation Innovation Grant, CBF along with several partners are exploring the concept of stormwater “offsetting” in which under certain situations MS4s could implement cost-effective non-urban stormwater practices to address MS4 PRP obligations.

“As part of this endeavor, the project is exploring under which circumstances certain types of private investments might help jumpstart implementation and leverage public grants/loans and locally generated fees.

“In closing, Pennsylvania’s stormwater infrastructure is in peril. Our health, our communities, our quality of life requires 21st century infrastructure for a 21st century economy. PRPs [Pollution Reduction Plans] provide a critical backbone for helping make that need into a reality.”

Written comments were also submitted to the Committees by Joseph Hajnas Associates on behalf of Sewickley Hills in Allegheny County and Butler Township in Luzerne County.

Click Here to watch a video of the hearing.

Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) serves as Majority Chair of the House Environmental Committee and can be contacted by calling 717-783-1707 or sending email to: dmetcalf@pahousegop.com. Rep. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-787-7647 or sending email to: gvitali@pahouse.net.

Rep. Dan Moul (R-Adams) serves as Majority Chair of the House Local Government Committee and can be contacted by calling 717-783-5217 or send email to: dmoul@pahousegop.com.  Rep. Robert Freeman (D-Lehigh) serves as Minority Chair and can be contact at 717-783-2152 or send email to: rfreeman@pahouse.net.

(Photo: from Derry Township presentation)

Related Articles:

EPA Says PA’s Chesapeake Bay Watershed Plan Comes Up Short, Lacks Commitments To Resources To Carry It Out [PaEN]

DEP Accepting Applications For EPA Section 319 Watershed Restoration, Planning Grants [PaEN]

[Posted: June 19, 2019]

6/23/2019