The BVA partners with 26 local
municipalities to implement the Public Education and Public
Participation part of their MS4 Stormwater Program.
Untreated or uncontrolled stormwater
runoff is the number one cause of impairment in our local
waterways. Polluted runoff is often transported through
municipal stormwater systems where it is eventually discharged
into streams untreated. The Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) has established a municipal stormwater management program
known as the MS4 Program that is intended to improve our
Nation’s waters by reducing the quantities of pollutants that
stormwater picks up and carries into the storm sewer systems
during a storm event. As part of the MS4 Program, your
municipality holds a permit to discharge their stormwater into
local waterways. This permit requires the municipality to
design a stormwater management program that reduces the
discharge of pollutants to the maximum extent possible, that
protects water quality and that satisfies the water quality
requirements of the Clean Water Act. In Pennsylvania, the MS4
program is administered by the Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP).
The MS4 stormwater management
program has six elements termed “minimum control measures” which
when implemented should result in significant reduction in
pollutants discharged into receiving waters. The six minimum
control measures and the actions required by your municipality
are outlined below.
- Public
Participation/Involvement
Provide
opportunities for citizens to participate in the stormwater
management program or other programs which improve water
quality.
- Illicit
Discharge Detection and Elimination
Develop and
implement a plan to detect and eliminate non stormwater
discharges into the stormwater system.
- Construction
Site Runoff Control
Develop, implement
and enforce an erosion and sediment control program for
construction site activities of that disturb one acre or
greater.
-
Post-Construction Runoff Control
Develop, implement
and enforce a program to address discharges of post-construction
stormwater runoff from new development or redevelopment areas.
- Pollution
Prevention/Good Housekeeping
Develop and
implement a program that reduces or prevents pollutant runoff
from municipal operations
The BVA and our local
municipalities are committed to improving water quality in their
watershed through better management of stormwater runoff.
Every resident and business owner can participate in their
municipal stormwater program by reducing or preventing pollutant
runoff from their own property and by reporting any non
stormwater discharges into their local waterways.
