Lawrence County's small municipalities are wondering if they can weather the storm of the Ohio EPA's new storm water regulations.

In an effort to protect the nation's water resources from polluted storm water, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been contacting small municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s). These may be required to obtain permit coverage for storm water discharge, according to a June 28, 2001, letter sent to local mayors from Robert E. Phelps, the now-retired manager of the storm water section of the Ohio EPA's Division of Surface Water.

The new regulations apply to the MS4s in urbanized areas, areas becoming urbanized and those that discharge to surface waters with impaired water quality. Because small MS4s are areas with a population less than 100,000, every municipality in Lawrence County could be affected.

This includes urbanized township areas such as Burlington, Carolyn Cheek, education coordinator for the Lawrence Soil and Water Conservation District, said. There are no impaired water bodies in Lawrence County.

Under the new regulations, MS4s would be required to design a storm water management plan to reduce the discharge of pollutants, the letter said. The plan would be required to satisfy each of six minimum control measures. Those controls are public education and outreach, public participation and involvement, illicit discharge detection and elimination, construction site runoff control and pollution prevention and good housekeeping.

To comply with these requirements, operators of the regulated MS4s must submit a Notice of Intent to Ohio EPA for general permit coverage by March 10 and develop the storm water management plan by Dec. 7, 2007.

The Lawrence County Commission wants Lawrence SWCD to write the plan for the townships that are in the affected areas, Cheek said. The incorporated villages can apply for their own permit or go along with the county's plan.

However, local mayors have said they cannot afford this.

"How in the world can a small town afford something extra? I don't know," Coal Grove Mayor Tom McKnight said.

Because the application process and planning on how to implement the new storm water drainage processes will be so complicated, McKnight said Coal Grove will have to hire an outside consultant to help with planning alone. That does not include the cost of actually implementing the plan, which the consultant would have to determine, he said.

"It would cost us money to find out how much money it would cost us," McKnight said.

Ironton Mayor Bob Cleary said the city has known about the increased regulations for some time and has already been meeting with EPA representatives.

The city would also have to hire an outside consultant for both short-term and long-term plans it has for storm water drainage. In a worst-case scenario, hiring a consultant could cost the city $50,000, Cleary said. The city does have money for special projects, and because the consultant would be working into the next year, this would not all come out of this year's budget, he said.

However, Ironton could not afford the implementation without federal funding, Cleary said. Next week, the consulting job should go out to bid. He said one consultant would most likely do all the planning because it would be more economically feasible.

Cheek said some of the municipalities are already practicing some of the six minimum controls.

Municipalities that have a population of 1,000 or less and do not discharge storm water in an impaired water body can apply for exemptions, Cheek said. The villages of Hanging Rock, Athalia, Chesapeake and Proctorville have filed for this.

Coal Grove has also filed for this because the village's population is approximately 2,000, close to the 1,000 limit, and the village cannot afford the charges, McKnight said.

Currently, only low-interest loans from the state are available to help pay for the mandates, Cheek said. However, municipalities can possibly get grant funding through the Ohio Environmental Education Fund, and the Lawrence SWCD is working with other agencies such as the CAO and health departments. The agencies will apply for grants in the next cycle, which has a July 15 deadline.

A meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m. Jan. 22 at the Lawrence County Municipal Court in Chesapeake to address concerns. Ohio EPA representative Jason Fyffe will attend the meeting, Cheek said.