York County WIP – IWRP and CBPRPs

A key strategy, supported by PA DEP, that is worthy of specific mention is the preparation of a County or Regional Chesapeake Bay Pollution Reduction Plan (CBPRP). All MS4 municipalities will be required to submit a CBPRP to PA DEP within one (1) year of receiving their MS4 Permit. Through an intergovernmental cooperative effort, a single Plan could be prepared at a lesser cost than multiple individual Plans. This cost savings could then be directed to implementing the BMPs. Additionally, this effort would enable participating municipalities to contribute to potentially larger structural BMP projects that would result in greater strides toward meeting the County targets. Likewise, they would receive credit for contributing to such projects, regardless of whether they were located in their MS4 urbanized area. The premise is that successful implementation of large projects identified in a County or Regional CBPRP could result in the reduction of more pollutants that an abundance of smaller projects listed in individual municipal CBPRPs.

Another notable strategy is using the York County Integrated Water Resources Plan (IWRP) Flowchart Tool. This web-enabled tool (www.paiwrp.com) integrates many of the solutions identified by this WIP into an overall process, addressing water related issues in a holistic manner. The development of a methodology by which municipalities could incorporate the Flowchart Tool into regulations, policies and/or procedures, would facilitate implementation of the County’s WIP, largely by addressing its identified solutions.