MANSFIELD — A new $1.3 million stormwater utility program could cost each household in four Richland County townships as much as $36 annually, beginning in 2021.
The program, which the Richland County Soil and Water Conservation District discussed with county commissioners on Tuesday, will allow the county to comply with federal EPA regulations.
SWCD members told commissioners the estimated cost of the five-year program will be $270,000 annually. Failing to come into compliance could lead to fines of $10,000 per day.
Residents in unincorporated portions of Madison, Washington, Springfield and Mifflin townships, the four largest in the county, will be subject to the fee, which would be added to property tax bills.
The EPA first notified the district and commissioners via letter in 2015 that it was out of compliance under the Clean Water Act municipal stormwater provisions for urban areas, known as the MS4 program.
The Ohio EPA, which administers the MS4, sent a second notice of non-compliance in August 2018.
SWCD board members, only one of which was on the board in 2015, said they were uncertain why no work was done when the first notification was sent or what caused the EPA to wait three-plus years to follow up on the issue.
Erica Thomas began work as the local SWCD administrator in December, replacing John Hildreth. Thomas said she submitted a new five-year plan to the EPA during her first month, but has not yet received any feedback.
SWCD members said they explored different funding mechanisms to comply with what they labeled as unfunded mandates. The decision to initiate the assessments seemed most equitable and sustainable, they said.
County Commissioner Tony Vero said the EPA left the county little choice but to allow for the stormwater improvements, a comment echoed by commissioners Marilyn John and Darrell Banks.
Three of the four townships affected had representatives at the meeting Tuesday and all expressed support for the program.
Commissioners are expected to vote on Thursday in support of the program, which will allow the SWCD to proceed with a feasibility study and begin seeking bids to design and implement the plan.
According to the U.S. EPA website, an MS4 is a conveyance or system of conveyances that is:
- owned by a state, city, town, village, or other public entity that discharges to waters of the U.S.,
- designed or used to collect or convey stormwater (e.g., storm drains, pipes, ditches),
- not a combined sewer, and
- not part of a sewage treatment plant, or publicly owned treatment works (POTW).
To prevent harmful pollutants from being washed or dumped into MS4s, certain operators are required to obtain permits and develop stormwater management programs.
Those programs describes the stormwater control practices that will be implemented consistent with permit requirements to minimize the discharge of pollutants from the sewer system.
