What is MS4 & Why Should Stafford Care?

At the April 2, 2025 Board of Selectmen meeting, Stafford's Director of Public Works, Devin Cowperthwaite said that because of changes to the way urban areas were categorized during the 2020 census, Stafford may be required to register under the reissued General Permit for the Discharge of Stormwater from Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4).

According to the EPA, "The NPDES MS4 permit requires, permittees to develop and implement a comprehensive Storm Water Management Program (SWMP) that must include pollution prevention measures, treatment or removal techniques, monitoring, use of legal authority, and other appropriate measures to control the quality of storm water discharged to the storm drains and thence to waters of the United States."

At the moment, CT DEEP regulates 121 towns. Stafford was previously exempt from these regulations because it did not have the required population density. Cowperthwaite said only a small sliver of Stafford meets the population density requirements, but we may, nonetheless, be required to comply. In preparation for possibly being required to adhere to these new standards, Cowperthwaite says he has called several other towns and most said it costs between $20,000 to $30,000 annually to stay in compliance, and about double that to get started.

Cowperthwaite said that during a relatively recent scan of Stafford's roads, he had the town's catch basins located and that there are roughly 1,150 in town. Additionally, his team is already doing periodic inspections of catch basins. Sue Fisher, a resident, asked if there wer any grants available to help with a project like this. He said that he had not found any but would certianly keep looking.

If Stafford is, ultimately, required to comply, there is an 18-month grace period. Typically, Cowperthwaite says, towns hire consultants to implement some or all of MS4 abd that he has yet to find a town that does it entirely in-house. The current permit expires on September 30,2025, and we are in a 30-day comment period with DEEP. Those who would like to comment can do so by emailing DEEP@stormwaterstaff.gov.