Why the Township Adopted a Stormwater Management Fee

As a result of the EPA establishing a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (“MS4”) Mandate and the heavy rainfalls in 2018 and 2019 that caused extensive flooding and damage in the Township to residential properties, businesses and municipal infrastructure, various projects and mitigation measures have been designed or are being developed to help ease flooding and stormwater runoff in the future.

The EPA established the MS4 Stormwater Management Program to improve the waterways by reducing the number of pollutants and sediment that stormwater carries into a system during rain. The Township is an MS4 community, as adopted by Ordinance No. 1296 in July 2015, and is required to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) permit to discharge stormwater runoff into waterways. The permit also requires the development, implementation and enforcement of a Comprehensive Stormwater Management Program approved by the PA DEP. The program includes reducing pollutants in stormwater runoff, educating the public about stormwater, and protecting water quality.

Due to southwestern Pennsylvania’s hilly terrain, clay soils and land development, the natural absorption of water runoff is compromised. Recent storm events produced a greater amount of rainfall in a short period of time causing faster water runoff, which pooled to the bottom of valleys and resulted in flash flooding. Also, clay soils absorb very little rain water and land development creates more impervious surfaces, which may cause the storm sewer system to have untreated, polluted water, contaminated with oil and grease from roads, lawn or farm fertilizers, pesticides, sediment from land development sites, carelessly discarded trash, such as cigarette butts, paper wrappers, plastic bottles, soda cans and other pollutants that enter the rivers, lakes and creeks we use for swimming, fishing and drinking water.

In the past, the Township funded stormwater projects from tax revenue. Due to the severe storms, particularly in the last two years, and increased regulatory requirements, a stormwater funding program was determined to be the fair and equitable mechanism for the Township to maintain its stormwater services and plan and construct new stormwater facilities.

On August 11, 2020 the Township adopted a Stormwater System User Fee which is used to provide funds for improving drainage, fulfilling MS4 regulatory requirements, and reducing pollution carried by stormwater to our waterways by implementing the Comprehensive Stormwater Quality Management Plan required by the EPA. This money is specifically designated for this purpose.

An Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU) has been developed for equitable assessment of the fee. Based on a study conducted by Lennon Smith Souleret Engineering, Inc. dated March 2020, one ERU contains 3,200 square feet of impervious area, as determined based on a sample of typical residential properties within the Township. A Single Family Residential Property of less than one acre is assessed a fee of 1 ERU. A Large Single Family Residential Property of one acre or greater and a Non-Single Family Residential (commercial, industrial, institutional, etc.) Property is assessed based on the actual amount of impervious surface. The fee for 1 ERU is $8.00 per month. For 2021, the fee will be billed in January with the option to pay the fill year with a 2% discount or you may pay it Quarterly.

The Township has also established a Stormwater Fee Reduction Program intended to provide incentives to reduce the Stormwater System User Fee by encouraging Single Family Residential Property, Large Single Family Residential Property and Non-Single Family Residential Property owners to take measures which would supplement or add additional capacity to any new or existing stormwater management facilities (“SWMF”) that are required by the Township’s Stormwater Management Ordinance or any other Township ordinance, which can reduce the impact their impermeable surface has on waterways and on the Township’s storm sewer infrastructure. This includes measures to reduce the rate and volume of runoff generated from impervious surfaces, along with reducing the amount of pollutants entering the stormwater system. Further explanation of the Stormwater Reduction Program and the application can be found on the Township’s website here.