PRINTER'S NO. 879
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
145
Session of
2019
INTRODUCED BY FOLMER, SCARNATI, BAKER, BARTOLOTTA, MARTIN,
VOGEL, PHILLIPS-HILL, J. WARD AND HUTCHINSON, JUNE 5, 2019
REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, JUNE 5, 2019
A RESOLUTION
Urging the Congress of the United States to delay and review the
Environmental Protection Agency's MS4 program.
WHEREAS, In 1990, the United States Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) began requiring urban areas with populations of
100,000 or more to obtain National Pollution Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) permits for storm water runoff as
part of the Phase I Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4)
regulations; and
WHEREAS, In 1999, the EPA issued Phase II of the MS4
regulations, requiring small urbanized areas to obtain NPDES
permits for storm water discharges; and
WHEREAS, With more than 7,000 MS4s nationwide, the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is home to two Phase I and 953
Phase II MS4s in boroughs, cities, towns and townships; and
WHEREAS, NPDES permits for MS4s require permittees to develop
and implement storm water controls to minimize the discharge of
runoff from the rainwater sewer systems; and
WHEREAS, MS4s are designated in urbanized areas as determined
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by the latest Federal decennial census and, accordingly, as
communities of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania grow, they are
included in MS4 permitting requirements; and
WHEREAS, Controlling storm water runoff to comply with the
MS4 regulations has become a financial burden on many
communities of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, The cost of compliance with the MS4 program has been
estimated to cost Pennsylvania taxpayers several billion
dollars; and
WHEREAS, This unfunded mandate has already caused additional
costs and increased taxes on residents and businesses and
restricted growth in our neighborhoods; and
WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Storm Water Management Act, Act 167
of 1978, and 25 Pa. Code Chapter 102, Erosion and Sediment
Control, adequately address storm water within the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
urge the Congress of the United States to delay and review the
EPA's MS4 program for a period of two years to develop a
coherent and equitable plan for the program's implementation;
and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted by
the Secretary of the Senate to the President of the United
States, the Administrator of the United States Environmental
Protection Agency, the President pro tempore of the United
States Senate and the Speaker of the United States House of
Representatives.
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