In case you missed it, the Philadelphia Inquirer recently ran on article on PA DEPs decision to delay the implementation date for the new MS4 Phase II Permit.
Pennsylvania towns get more time to develop storm-water plans
By Sandy Bauers
Inquirer Staff Writer
After months of trying to impose tough new rules for how towns should manage their storm water, Pennsylvania regulators on Tuesday backed off and granted municipalities a nine-month extension for measures some had termed “draconian.”
Towns were to have submitted plans by Sept. 10 detailing how they would comply with new rules to handle the gushers of rain that often flow through culverts directly into streams, carrying with them road oil, fertilizer, trash, and other pollutants.
But anxious local officials pushed back, calling it an unfunded mandate and worse.
The way they read an initial ordinance floated earlier this year, they would be forced to spend millions of dollars sweeping salt off roads after storms, installing storm-sewer retrofits, and even requiring residents to submit storm-water plans for patios.
The state Department of Environmental Protection originally resisted an extension. But in an interview Tuesday (July 27), John Hines, the department’s deputy secretary for water management, said that one would be granted after all. He said he expected a formal announcement by mid-August.
“We have heard their concerns,” Hines said. “But in this extension period, we all have a lot of work to do, and we need to do it together.”
Read the complete article here>>
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