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MS4 Regulations & Legal Provisions Municipal Options for Implementing the Program
MS4s listed by County for DEP's Southcentral Region Blair County MS4
Altoona, Pa - Urbanized Area Map Additional Information/ Education and Outreach
New federal regulations enacted in December 1999 require municipalities in urbanized areas to implement a stormwater management program beginning in March 2003, over the next five years. The regulations apply to “municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s),” and mandate that MS4s adopt certain local legal requirements through an ordinance, or other regulatory mechanism, to initiate the local stormwater management program.
The regulations
require MS4s to have the following legal provisions:
• Prohibition of non-stormwater discharges (with certain exceptions)
• Requirement for erosion and sediment controls
• Requirement to address post-construction runoff from new development and redevelopment, including operations and maintenance of stormwater BMPs
• Sanctions to ensure compliance with the above provisions
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) developed a draft model ordinance and published it for public comment in the Pennsylvania Bulletin in October 2002. The draft ordinance was based on the Department’s existing model ordinance used in the program under the Stormwater Management Act, 32 P.S. §§ 680.1 et seq. (“Act 167”), as well as various ordinances currently in use around the state. A copy of the draft model ordinance was sent to each of the approximately 940 MS4s, requesting comments. The draft ordinance was also distributed at various public meetings held by the Department during November 2002 – January 2003. A number of the comments received indicated that many municipalities around the state already have ordinances or other regulations addressing stormwater, and that it would be preferable to simply augment the required provisions needed to meet the additional federal regulatory requirements.
DEP issued a General Permit (“PAG-13”) for use by MS4s in meeting their permit requirements, in December 2002. The basic requirement for MS4s is to implement a program for minimizing stormwater impacts from their system over the 5-year permit term. The permit gives MS4s the option of using the Department’s Stormwater Management Protocol—a detailed plan for implementing a stormwater management program over the five-year permit term—or developing their own program. These same options apply to Individual Permit applicants (required in Special Protection Watersheds).
The Protocol contains DEP’s preferred and recommended program for MS4s to address the six required elements contained in the federal regulations:
• Public education and outreach
• Public participation and involvement
• Illicit discharge detection and elimination
• Construction site runoff control
• Post-construction stormwater management in new development and redevelopment
• Pollution prevention and good housekeeping for municipal operations and maintenance
The Protocol requirements also include use of DEP’s model stormwater ordinance. DEP will consider that aspect of the Protocol to have been met when an MS4 adopts any of the three options identified below. Ordinance provisions different from these model provisions can be acceptable, but are subject to DEP approval.
THREE OPTIONS FOR
MS4s
To satisfy the Protocol requirement to adopt DEP’s model ordinance, MS4s have three options:
1. Augment an existing ordinance, or regulations, by adopting model provisions in four key aspects.
2. Adopt a complete stormwater ordinance, focusing on water quality, using DEP’s model ordinance.
3. Adopt an ordinance under the Act 167 program which contains MS4-related provisions.
Each one of these options is described below:
OPTION 1: Use Selected Model Provisions
There are four types of provisions which must be used:
1. Prohibition of non-stormwater discharges - these provisions contain a basic prohibition against non-stormwater discharges into the MS4, with certain exceptions. The exceptions include discharges under a state or federal permit, and discharges in 14 categories specified in the federal regulations.
2. Erosion and sediment control requirement - These provisions apply the requirements contained in existing state regulations at 25 Pa. Code Chapters 92 and 102, including the NPDES Construction Permit program administered by DEP and County Conservation Districts. Issuance of an NPDES Construction Permit can be used to satisfy this requirement.
3. Requirement to address post-construction runoff from new
development and redevelopment, including operations and maintenance of
stormwater BMPs - these provisions apply the requirements contained in existing
state regulations at 25 Pa. Code Chapter 93 (Water Quality Standards), and are
consistent with the NPDES Construction Permit requirements of 25
4. Sanctions to ensure compliance with the above provisions. The Ordinance needs to set forth sanctions for failure to comply with the above provisions in the Ordinance. The provisions for controls during and after construction in apply to controls required for surface water quality protection. Municipalities may modify the provisions as shown in the Appendices to allow for use with other, related construction and post-construction control requirements of the Municipality.
OPTION 2: Adopt Complete Model Stormwater Ordinance
MS4s that wish to use a complete, comprehensive stormwater
ordinance are provided a sample ordinance that can be used to meet the MS4
permit requirements. This ordinance contains the required provisions, as well as
other relevant provisions commonly used by municipalities in
This ordinance contains useful provisions to ensure long-term operations and maintenance of post-construction Best Management Practices (BMPs), which is required by the federal regulations.
OPTION 3: Adopt
Stormwater Ordinance Containing MS4-required Provisions, as Part of Approved Act
167 Watershed Plan
Many municipalities will be using the existing Act 167 process to help meet their permit requirements. This can occur with updates of current plans, or development of new plans. This process is administered by the Bureau of Watershed Management in the Department. Under the Act 167 planning process, counties and municipalities in watersheds around the state develop watershed-based plans to address three main aspects of stormwater impacts—flooding, water quality and groundwater recharge. While flooding is not required to be addressed by the federal MS4 permit requirements, there are obvious benefits to addressing flooding. The Act 167 model ordinance used in that program can be easily modified to contain MS4 provisions. The department will work with municipalities who wish to achieve compliance with the MS4 requirements as part of an Act 167 planning effort. Therefore, no appendix for this purpose is provided in this guidance.
Blair County Conservation District is working with designated MS4 regions on mapping those outfalls 4 inches or greater. Activities include collecting GPS points (Latitude/ Longitude) of outfalls, developing tables of associated data and the creation of large scale maps. This information will be used by the regions for future monitoring and planning purposes. The District is also active in the promotion/ education of the MS4 program.
This is an example of a map created for the City of Altoona using the collected outfall data
displayed on top of county orthophotography.
MS4 : Altoona PA - Urbanized Area Map
Storm Water Entities as Defined by the 2000 Census
For additional information on the MS4 Program, including components for Education and Outreach (flyers, brochures, and Microsoft ® Power Point Presentations) to Model Ordinance Guidance and Inspection Reports visit DEP's MS4's Public Education and Outreach website.
