The Salisbury Township Environmental Advisory Council voted 4-0, with one member absent, to urge the township Board of Commissioners to hire a part-time MS4 coordinator.

STEAC Vice Chairman Glenn Miller made the motion, with STEAC member Jane Benning seconding it, at the Nov. 19 meeting.

MS4 is short-hand for Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System, with the "M" standing for "Municipal" and the numeral "4" representing the four "S" first letters of each word.

MS4 has do with a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection program to improve surface waters by reducing pollutants transported through runoff into the storm sewer system during rainfall.

The STEAC has been tasked by the Salisbury Township Board of Commissioners to educate residents about MS4.

STEAC members again expressed concern with some of the tasks recommended for the volunteer advisory council to be responsible for.

"This can't be anything that can burden us down," STEAC chairman Kreg Ulery said.

"I agree with you," said township Commissioner Joann Ackerman, the board of commissioners' representative to the STEAC.

Ulery and STEAC members agreed they are comfortable with the education portions of the MS4 mandate, but not with the enforcement aspects.

Inspection and enforcement should be handled by township employees, they said.

Salisbury Township Director of Planning and Zoning agreed. She said township residents are having stormwater problems in the township.

"The EAC doesn't have the capability to assess damage," Sopka said.

"I do think it will be the BOC [Board Of Commissioners] that will have to make that decision," Sopka said.

Sopka said some area municipalities may join forces regarding MS4 enforcement.

The STEAC was given a presentation at its Sept. 17 meeting by Salisbury Township Consulting Engineer David J. Tettemer, assisted by Benjamin D. Bowen, both of Keystone Consulting Engineers, Inc.

At the meeting, Ackerman and some STEAC members expressed concerns about MS4 responsibilities.

Under the federal Clean Water Act, a municipality is required to have an MS4 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit to cover stormwater discharges and to maintain compliance with the permit.

In Pennsylvania, the MS4 program is administered by the DEP, which has federal oversight from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Salisbury Township, along with other Lehigh Valley municipalities, received notice June 25 of a 30-day deadline to provide EPA with evidence of MS4 compliance.