Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Feb. 27 closed the public comment period on proposed municipal stormwater system rules.
On Sept. 30, the EPA issued a draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System general permit for stormwater discharges from small municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4) in Massachusetts.
The federal Clean Water Act requires that the MS4 permit be re-evaluated every five years to ensure that it continues to protect the environment. The previous permit was issued in 2003.
Municipal storm sewer systems collect rain and snowmelt from streets and direct the flow to water bodies. The new MS4 permits would require communities to institute more advanced programs to reduce pollutants that are discharged from municipal storm drainage systems to rivers, lakes and bays.
The proposed rules include “best management practices,” such as removing illegal sewage connections to storm drains, street sweeping, public education, and steps to expand the filtration of stormwater rather than diverting it into sewer systems.
The MMA and municipal officials have raised concerns about the cost burden of the new regulations.
In a letter to the EPA, MMA Executive Director Geoff Beckwith wrote: “We urge the EPA to amend its approach, and incorporate goals that are more realistically attainable and within the financial constraints of the current economic climate, or wait until adequate federal funding is available to ensure that these requirements do not translate into a harmful unfunded mandate on cities, towns and taxpayers.”
The EPA has stated that it will respond to all significant comments, make the responses available to the public, and issue a final permit. The final permit and response to comments will be posted on the website below. A notice of availability for the final permit will be published in the Federal Register.
The final permit will become effective once it is signed, and the regulated communities will be notified. According to the EPA website, the communities will then have 90 days to submit a new Notice of Intent (NOI) from the effective date.
For more information, visit www.epa.gov/region1/npdes/stormwater.
• Download MassDEP letter to EPA re: MS4 rules (783K PDF)