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Sustainable Pennsylvania

Sustainable Pennsylvania

Municipal Certification Project

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Home › Action Resources › Water › Stormwater and Flooding

FOCUS AREAS

stormwater pipe icon
Related Criteria

W6 Stormwater Management: The municipality has developed and implemented a Stormwater Management Plan of Best Management Practices including all 6 minimum control measures, including Public Education and Outreach, Public Participation, Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination, Construction Site Runoff Control, Post Construction Runoff Control, and Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping, to meet the MS4 requirements.

W7 Capital Investment Plan for Water: A water infrastructure capital assessment has been completed and an improvement plan developed with a budget to ensure that investments are being made to water, sewer, and stormwater infrastructure systems to keep pace with maintenance and operations to improve water quality, and green infrastructure strategies are prioritized over grey.

W8 Low Impact Development Requirements: The municipality requires, incentivizes, or promotes green infrastructure techniques or "enhanced stormwater management" to mitigate runoff from onsite stormwater, such as pervious pavement, bioswales, and/or green roofs. 

Water Infrastructure

Description:

Many Pennsylvania municipalities are currently impacted by stormwater management issues and are set to be increasingly impacted as our region’s climate changes in the coming years and decades. With wet weather events projected to become more frequent and more intense across the state, communities of all types will need to become more actively involved in planning for major infrastructure improvements to address the growing need for stormwater solutions.

Communities with combined stormwater/sewer systems should work to raise the capital necessary to separate their systems to address combined sewer overflows. Communities with separate storm sewer systems identified as urbanized areas by the PA Department of Environmental Protection should work to fulfill the obligations of the state’s MS4 program, which is administered as an obligation of a consent decree to bring Pennsylvania into compliance with the federal Clean Water Act. Across the board, community outreach and education will help to ensure that residents and other local stakeholders understand the importance and benefits of stormwater work.

All communities should work to implement stormwater infrastructure solutions that mitigate against risks like flooding and pollution. Gray infrastructure, like the traditional pipes, culverts, and underground storage tanks that have long served to manage stormwater in communities, can be effective in safely channeling water away from problem areas. Green infrastructure—which includes more natural solutions such as bioswales, rain gardens, retention ponds, and even trees—can in many instances hold water as or more cost-effectively than gray infrastructure, with the additional benefits of improving the pedestrian experience and public realm, restoring native pollinators and wildlife habitats to communities, and improving the air quality and urban heat island effect felt in many communities.

Prioritizing opportunities for green and gray infrastructure can be done with the support of regional planning authorities and watershed nonprofits as well as civil engineering and green design firms, who can do hydrology assessments to help municipal officials understand where priority zones for green infrastructure exist in the community. After understanding community priorities for green and gray infrastructure projects, the municipality can work with its engineer and budgeting team to create a capital plan for addressing water infrastructure projects. The activities of the plan can be supported through a municipal stormwater fee; the directing of existing revenue into a capital line item; county, state, or federal grants; or municipal bonds. Additionally, the municipality can set zoning requirements and create incentives to encourage strategic private adoption of green stormwater management practices.

Resources


Financial Assistance/Incentives
GROW Program
ALCOSAN GROW is a multi-million-dollar grant program that provides funding for source reduction projects in our partner communities and authorities. Under the program, any municipality or municipal sewer authority within the ALCOSAN service area is eligible to submit a source control project for grant funding consideration. Visit resource website
Growing Greener Plus Grants
Department of Environmental Protection Growing Greener remains the largest single investment of state funds in Pennsylvania's history to address Pennsylvania's critical environmental concerns of the 21st century. Growing Greener Plus grants are dedicated to watershed restoration and protection, mine reclamation, and abandoned oil and gas plugging projects. Visit resource website
PENNVEST | Funding Programs
PENNVEST PENNVEST has been empowered by the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority Act (Act 16 of 1988) to administer and finance the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) pursuant to the federal Water Quality Act of 1987, as well as to administer American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funds. Visit resource website
PA Small Water and Sewer
Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Grants for small water, sewer, storm sewer, and flood control infrastructure projects. Visit resource website

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About Sustainable Pennsylvania

Sustainable Pennsylvania, a joint project of the Pennsylvania Municipal League and Sustainable Pittsburgh, is a voluntary performance recognition program designed to help municipalities set and achieve sustainability goals, save money, conserve resources, and foster a vibrant community.

Pennsylvania Municipal League

The Pennsylvania Municipal League is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization established in 1900 as an advocate for Pennsylvania’s 3rd class cities. Today, The League represents participating Pennsylvania cities, boroughs, townships, home rule communities and towns that all share The League’s municipal policy interests.

The mission of the Pennsylvania Municipal League is to strengthen, empower and advocate for effective local government.

Sustainable Pittsburgh

Sustainable PGH is a nonprofit committed to building the knowledge, perspective, and ability needed to create a better tomorrow for our region.

Contact us

Email info@sustainablepa.org or call Leslie Rhoads from PML at 717-236-9469 *237 or Sustainable Pittsburgh at 412-258-6642

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