The notice of intent requires no immediate enforcement action by the town but is intended to catalog existing laws that mitigate stormwater runoff, identify bodies of water that are vulnerable to runoff and outline additional laws and programs needed to meet federal requirements.

The good news is that the town has been working for years to mitigate runoff, as explained by Mr. Ketcham and acknowledged by Ms. Keenan. The town has:

• Adopted runoff mitigation requirements in the Near Shore Peninsular Overlay District;

• Installed drywells and catchbasins at town landings and on low-lying roads; and

• Launched a drywell maintenance program using a town-owned vacuum truck.

Mr. Ketcham added that with minimal pathogens, the town's major pollutant concern is nitrogen loading.

The bad news is that town documentation of mitigation efforts and anticipated laws and programs required to fully comply with federal standards has not materialized and the DEC doesn't grant extensions for its deadlines; the September 23 deadline was issued by the DEC in March.

The problems MS4 is intended to mitigate are serious, as Ms. Keenan explained. “Polluted stormwater has been identified as the primary cause of deterioration” of marine waters in Long Island Sound and the Peconic Estuary. Contaminants picked up by stormwater are “diffuse” and “come from all of us,” making it necessary to reach the public so sources are controlled before stormwater picks them up, she said. To prevent that pollution, the MS4 program requires the town to address six primary components, as the town learned in 2007:

1. Ongoing public education and outreach that describes the impacts of runoff, pollutants of concern and their sources, steps people can take to reduce these sources.

2. Public comment on the mitigation plan.

3. Identification of sources of illicit discharges and adoption of laws prohibiting them.

4. Adoption of rules for construction site runoff control.

5. Identification and review of post-construction sources of runoff.

6. Establishing pollution prevention and good housekeeping practices.

The notice of intent requires initial identification of measurable goals for each of the six criteria. Implementing the program will involve forms, permits and adoption of local laws that will regulate discharges and require review of mitigation measures used during and after construction on properties greater than one acre. But the town doesn't have to go MS4 implementation alone, Ms. Keenan said.

The Peconic Estuary stormwater work group has been meeting, with Mr. Ketcham in attendance, since 2007, she said, and is about to file an application for a grant to hire a facilitator to bring together an intermunicipal consortium that will implement programs together. She strongly recommended that the town work with the Peconic Estuary Program.

“How are we supposed to do that in two-and-a-half months?” Ms. Dowd asked.

Ms. Keenan reminded her that the town was notified six months ago about the exact deadline for the notice of intent. The Peconic Estuary facilitator will help municipalities move forward with plans laid out in each notice of intent, she explained.

“The thing that's overwhelming to me is not the nuts and bolts but the soft costs, the administrative costs of complying,” Mr. Reich said. “How are other municipalities doing this without sticking it to the taxpayers?” By co-implementing their programs, Ms. Keenan responded. She added that other municipalities use a mix of in-house personnel and hired consultants to meet the MS4 documentation requirements but she could not say at what cost. She said that having one person coordinating the town's program was “essential.”

“It would be a mistake to piecemeal this out to various operating departments in the town,” she stated.

“One way or another we're talking money, money, money,” Mr. Dougherty commented, “either by a headcount increase or hiring a bunch of consultants.”

“The DEC is asking us to somehow increase manpower. What is the DEC doing to increase their manpower” to enforce the new rules,  Mr. Reich asked, citing a lack of DEC field officers to address ongoing environmental problems on the East End.

Ms. Keenan said that the DEC does not mandate specifically that anyone be hired but warned that “there are very, very, very significant penalties for noncompliance” — as high as $37,500 per violation per day; the fine for not filing a report could be less.

“That's just unreasonable,” Councilman Ed Brown said.

Ms. Keenan said that she has met with other villages on Long Island and that “your concerns are shared by all ... I realize that this is overwhelming but it can be manageable.”

Mr. Ketcham proposed that Ms. Keenan return in two to three weeks, when she can sit down with town officials and advise them on meeting the federal runoff rules. Between now and then, Mr. Ketcham told the Reporter that he will complete a draft notice of intent.

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