A public hearing on the Salisbury Township Pollutant Reduction Plan will be held 7 p.m. June 14 in the meeting room of the municipal building, 2900 S. Pike Ave.

The hearing takes place prior to the Salisbury Township Board of Commissioners meeting.

Salisbury Township Engineer David J. Tettemer of Keystone Consulting Engineers, Inc., informed township commissioners at the May 24 meeting workshop that implementing the PRP could cost the township $1.2 million.

Discussion of the PRP is also on the agenda of the 7 p.m. June 20 Salisbury Township Environmental Advisory Council meeting, also held in the municipal building meeting room.

According to the STEAC June 20 agenda, Salisbury Township MS4 Coordinator, Building Code Enforcement Officer, Assistant Zoning Officer and Building Inspector Sandy Nicolo will address STEAC members “regarding the requirements for MS4” to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection “relative to stormwater impacts.”

MS4 is nomenclature for the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System. The “M” stands for “Municipal.” The numeral “4” represents the four “S” first letters of each word in Separate Storm Sewer System.

The Salisbury Township Department of Public Works maintains the township stormsewer system.

The STEAC agenda states, “According to both the state and federal government, the regulations include water quality as a major environmental issue.

“The major source of groundwater and surface contamination is nonpoint source pollution.”

According to the United States Environmental Protection Administration website, “NPS pollution is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters and ground waters.”

The STEAC June 20 agenda refers to NPS pollution. “Normally, the contribution of water pollutants from a homeowner’s lawn is small, but cumulatively could add to a significant impact on water quality.”

“The goal of all MS4 programs is to reduce the discharge of pollutants. Water and any items that go in the water flow directly into the streams, contains various forms of pollutants that are carried into the receiving stream-river or small tributary,” according to the agenda.

“The STEAC is involved with addressing the issues associated with public education and public outreach relative to MS4. A copy of the STEAC tracking log and journal has been provided and relates to 2015 up to 2016. We will require a representative of the STEAC to provide updates to the current log.”

At the May 24 workshop, Tettemer gave copies of the 27-page PRP summary to commissioners.

The PRP goal is to reduce debris, soil, cinders, sedimentation, and the like from entering the township’s stormwater system and flowing into rivers, creeks and ponds in the township.

The DEP requires Salisbury to reduce its sediment load by 10 percent, or 198,354.61 pounds, i.e., about 200,000 pounds, per year.

The STEAC June 20 discussion regarding NPS pollution is expected to be finalized at its 7 p.m. July 18 meeting in order for Nicolo to prepare the information starting Aug. 1 for a progress report due Sept. 30.

The township must meet the PRP mandate in order to receive a renewal of its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, which expires Feb. 28, 2019. The township must submit the plan for DEP approval in order for the permit to be renewed.

The deadline for implementation of the PRP, dating from granting a new NPDES permit, is 2023.

How the township will pay for the $1.2 million project, expected to take place over five years, is uncertain.

The PRP is the outcome of MS4, which dates to the 1970s when the EPA handed over stormwater enforcement to state government agencies, which in the commonwealth’s case, is the DEP.

“For the first 40 years or so, the only recommendations were water-rate requirements,” Tettemer said at the May 24 workshop. “Now there are water-volume and water-quality requirements.

“The DEP has clamped down on municipalities,” Tettemer told commissioners at the May 24 workshop. “Pennsylvania now requires townships to improve water quality. It’s a very detailed and complex requirement,” Tettemer said.

The MS4 Stormwater Management Program Protocol requires Minimum Control Measures to enforce the MS4 program.

Municipalities must fulfill six MCMs: 1. Public Education, 2. Public Participation, 3. Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination, 4. Construction Site Runoff Control, 5. Post-Construction Storm water Management, and 6. Pollution Prevention for Municipal Operations and Maintenance.

Nicolo is in charge of all six MCMs, but mainly Numbers 3 through 6.

The STEAC must implement MCMs 1 and 2.

Nicolo presented an MS4 report to commissioners July 14, 2016, and to the STEAC July 20, 2016.

Most of the 87 Best Management Practice items listed under the MCMs were completed in the township, according to the report.

Under the federal Clean Water Act, a municipality must have an MS4 stormwater management program for stormwater discharges to be in compliance with the permit.

Salisbury met conditions of the Administrative Order and Section 308 Requirement for Information of the Clean Water Act issued May 29, 2014, according to an EPA letter received by the township April 14, 2015. The township’s five-year NPDES permit, issued in 2014, is good until early 2019.

Salisbury Township, along with other Lehigh Valley municipalities, received notice June 25, 2014, to provide the EPA with evidence of MS4 compliance.