We ask that all residents of Fountain Hill planting trees on your property notify the Borough Office at (610) 867-0301. The MS4 (Municipal Separate Sewer Storm System) requirement for the Borough has established a required allocation of trees planted. Your cooperation will assist the Borough in meeting these requirements.
This letter is being provided to inform residents and landowners of a new annual fee that will be assessed to each developed property in the Borough to cover costs associated with stormwater management required by federal regulations to restore and protect local waterways.
The fee will be based on the amount of impervious cover (e.g., rooftops, paved driveways, and other hard surfaces) which generates stormwater on your property that is then discharged into municipal stormwater facilities. Further, residents and landowners that effectively control stormwater on their own properties using approved, acceptable Best Management Practices (BMPs) such as rain gardens, rain barrels, drywells, and other qualifying controls, may be eligible for partial credit against their assessed fees.
To provide a brief history leading to this new fee: in 1972, the Clean Water Act was signed into law. Since then, there have been many amendments to the Act, such as the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) which is administered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and regulates the discharge of stormwater and pollutants into waterways. Phase I of the NDPES Program regulated “point source” discharges into streams, lakes, and other waterbodies. Phase II of the NDPES Program regulates “non-point source” discharges that originate from undefined or poorly defined sources, such as stormwater runoff from roads.
Almost 1,000 jurisdictions and Municipal governments in the State of Pennsylvania, including the Borough of Fountain Hill and most Lehigh Valley townships and boroughs, contain population densities that are classified as “Urbanized Areas” by the US Census Bureau. Urbanized Areas (UAs) generally contain a significant amount of development which ultimately produces large amounts of stormwater runoff. As such, UAs determine which municipalities are required to comply with the Phase II NPDES Program for management of stormwater discharges from municipal-owned roads, parks, and other facilities which impact local waterways. These requirements are known as the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) regulations, which are administered through the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) through five-year permits meeting the federal requirements.
MS4 permit requirements for Fountain Hill began in 2003 and have continued to increase in scope with each successive five-year permit term. The current permit requires the Borough to reduce sediment loads carried by stormwater generated from within the Borough by 10% by the end of the permit term in 2023. Based on a professionally developed Pollutant Reduction Plan (PRP), the Borough must implement numerous, costly stormwater BMPs to meet this goal. The proposed annual fee to cover these and other MS4-related costs will be assessed to landowners within the Borough, based on their respective amounts of impervious cover. This method has been determined as the most fair and equitable means for assessing such a fee.
Click here for the Reduction Pollution Plan
The Homeowners Guide to Stormwater BMP maintenance can be found here. What you need to take care of your property.
Click here for Fountain Hill Storm Water Plan.
Every parcel of land in the Chesapeake watershed impacts the quality of the Chesapeake Bay!
https://chesapeakestormwater.net/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/07/CSN-Homeowner-Guide_062713.pdf
