Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
At its March 9 meeting, the MMA’s Policy Committee on Energy and the Environment discussed the prospect of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection obtaining authority over National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System programs from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Over the past few months, the DEP has been examining the possibility of pursuing delegation.
The NPDES program in Massachusetts is currently administered by the EPA. The regulatory program includes permits, compliance, inspection and enforcement for facilities that discharge into surface waters.
The NPDES program covers municipal separate storm sewer system permits for stormwater. New MS4 permits are expected to be issued by the EPA in the coming weeks. (The EPA released draft requirements last year.) If the DEP were to receive delegation, it would be responsible for issuing the MS4 permits in future years.
Forty-seven states have obtained authorization to run their own NPDES programs, but Massachusetts has never formally sought delegation.
The MMA has been participating with other stakeholders in an advisory group formed by the DEP to study NPDES delegation. The group met three times to discuss implementation, staffing, cost and funding implications.
The DEP estimates that the cost to run a fully delegated program would be $7.5 million annually.
The NPDES delegation advisory committee discussed the option of funding the program through a wastewater assessment, modeled after the DEP’s current Section 70 drinking water assessment. Industrial facilities in Massachusetts currently pay permit fees, but municipal facilities are exempt.
Under this potential funding mechanism, the DEP would assess a fee on municipal wastewater treatment plant ratepayers based on wastewater flow. If the $7.5 million needed to fund the NPDES program was generated solely through this type of assessment, the DEP estimates that the average family of four would pay $1.62 per year.
In a letter to the MMA’s policy committee following the March 9 meeting, DEP Deputy Commissioner Beth Card indicated some of the advantages that the DEP expects if it pursues delegation. These include:
• Permitting using sound science
• Integrated water management
• A strong track record of administering federal programs
• Timely issuance of permits and fewer appeals and legal challenges