MODIFICATION TO THE PARTIAL CONSENT DECREE & CITY BEAUTIFUL H2O PROGRAM PLAN
Capital Region Water is awaiting final signatures to modify its Partial Consent Decree — an agreement with state and federal regulators that will serve as a roadmap for wastewater and stormwater improvements over the next decade.
The modification is designed to address alleged ongoing violations of the federal Clean Water Act and state Clean Streams Law, primarily due to sewer overflows and discharges of polluted stormwater into local waterways. Under the plan, CRW aims to make system improvements, implementing defined compliance measures that will aid in the overall goal of improving the quality of local waterways and protecting those downstream.
Projects included in this plan will have a direct effect on determining customer rates and annual budgets. Customers, residents, and other stakeholders will have opportunities to review and comment on the plan, including at an upcoming public feedback event scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. February 9, 2023, at the CRW Administrative Offices located at 3003 N. Front Street, Harrisburg Pa. 17110. Additional information about the event is available at capitalreigonwater.com and through CRW social media. Once all parties sign the modification, there also will be a formal, 30-day public comment period noticed via the Federal Register.
“This is another milestone along the path for clean water in and around Harrisburg,” said Capital Region Water CEO Charlotte Katzenmoyer. “The plan has evolved, but the goal remains the same – improved water quality and implementation of targeted, verified system improvements that will move us toward regulatory compliance, including during wet-weather events. The feedback session is a great opportunity for the public to provide input on a larger plan to control combined sewer overflow events, which are a symptom of our dated, aging infrastructure that exists in Harrisburg and nearly 800 communities throughout the United States.”
Since 2015, CRW has been operating under a Partial Consent Decree, which serves as a guide to improving and protecting the quality of local waterways, like the Susquehanna River and Paxton Creek. The agreement includes specific compliance measures that CRW must follow to control discharges from our sewer system, which includes both combined and separate sanitary and storm sewers. The City Beautiful H2O Program Plan is CRW’s integrated approach to addressing system-wide infrastructure rehabilitation and high-priority water quality compliance activities.
CRW has negotiated a draft to alter the original Consent Decree, working in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. A draft was recently approved by CRW’s Board of Directors. The city of Harrisburg has also signed off on the agreement. As we await final signatures from the federal government, CRW looks to ensure that the public has opportunity to understand and influence their role in creating a cleaner and greener city through the City Beautiful H2O program.
For more details on our current City Beautiful H2O Program Plan, please visit our website at: www.capitalregionwater.com/what-we-do/cbh2o/