Stormwater runoff has come into the limelight during the past year with the announcement of the Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts undertaken by those states located within the Bay's drainage basin. As announced back in September, Manheim Township, along with five other local municipalities, will be participating in a stormwater audit program that will evaluate the effectiveness of the Township's current stormwater management program. A kick-off meeting was held in September with a second meeting having taken place in November. Each municipality is currently providing information to the Environmental Finance Center at the University of Maryland for their compilation and evaluation.
In addition, on October 10, 2012, the Lancaster County Commissioners adopted a Stormwater Model Ordinance. The County is submitting the Model Ordinance to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for approval. Manheim Township will have six months from the DEP approval date to incorporate any new regulations from the Model Ordinance into the Township's Stormwater Ordinance.
There will be meetings held in 2013 where public comment will be solicited for both the NFWF Grant Study and the Stormwater Ordinance update. Stay tuned for meeting announcements.