Members of the East Pennsboro Township board of commissioners Monday said they are concerned over what it will cost taxpayers for the municipality to comply with Environmental Protection Agency rules and regulations necessary to maintain a national pollutant discharge elimination system permit.
Engineering consultant Heather Myers gave the commissioners a list of those rules at Monday night’s meeting.
Among regulatory requirements listed were public education outreach, monitoring of illicit discharge, post-construction management, construction site runoff control, pollution prevention and maintaining best practices as detailed in the Good Housekeeping Guidance Manual, which spans several hundred pages.
Commissioners said they were worried over the costs involved in maintaining compliance, which would include hiring and training staff and the extensive bookkeeping required to ensure the many layers of laws are followed.
Commissioner George Tyson said governments “are not flush with cash. We all know the economy is not as robust as it once was, and this dramatically impacts the cost for the new homebuyer.”
Officials estimated the regulations could cost those who want to build a new home between $5,000 and $6,000 to meet clean water ordinance standards, and buyers will then be required to sign an agreement within the township that is memorialized in the deed and carried on to all heirs and assigns.
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