D20 – Managing Costs to Meet Stormwater Permit Requirements (MADEP and CMRSWC)
| Project Description | Project Report | Executive Summary | Video Report and Brochure |
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Project Description
The pollution of stormwater can lead to many issues. Many chemicals are collected by stormwater as it flows to the stormwater systems. This can lead to a wide variety of environmental issues. In order to combat these problems, the EPA implemented new stormwater regulations in 2018 and requires a permit to operate stormwater infrastructure. While these regulations help improve water quality, many towns have struggled to meet the permit demands due to high costs. We will examine the permit and through the analysis of surveys, interviews, and research look for areas where it may be possible to reduce the costs.
Project goal and objectives
The goal of our project was to analyze the current methods of implementing the MS4 permit requirements to enhance the current water management procedures, allowing more towns to meet the regulations’ standards more efficiently and thus have safer, cleaner water. Our objectives were as follows:
- Understand the MS4 stormwater permit requirements as they apply to our stakeholders
- Analyze the MS4 Budget Benchmark Survey
- Analyze the implementation costs of the regulations of our subject communities and compare them to our towns’ original cost expectations
- Estimate budgetary needs for future years of the permit
Team Members
Evan Mackie, Joe Tzanetos, Noah Bradlee, and Jeremy Branch
Advisor
Professor Paul Mathisen
Project Sponsor
The Central Massachusetts Regional Stormwater Coalition, originally formed in 2012, is a partnership between 30 Massachusetts towns providing public education and aiding funding of stormwater regulations. Check out their website here.
Project Deliverables
Video Report