Dighton committee advances bylaw and rules updates to meet MS4 permit, aims for Sept. EPA filing

DIGHTON — The Dighton Stormwater Committee on Wednesday heard a detailed regulatory review from Weston & Samson that concluded the town’s stormwater bylaw and rules require revisions to comply with the MS4 (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System) permit.

"This has been something that we've been working on for a while now with the town," Jerice of Weston & Samson told the committee, describing an annotated memorandum that ties proposed track changes to specific permit requirements. The consultant said many of the required updates were due in permit year three, and Dighton is now in permit year eight.

The consultant recommended aligning the town’s disturbance threshold with the 1-acre standard in the MS4 framework and prioritizing adoption of the rules and regulations first — because the rules contain much of the technical detail and can be enacted sooner than a bylaw change that requires town meeting. Jerice said the consultant expects to finish a memorandum and updated mapping by the end of July and recommended reporting progress when Dighton files its annual MS4 report, due Sept. 29.

Chair Nancy said members received a 15-page annotated regulatory review memo and asked committee members to use it as the primary guide when comparing the draft language to the existing bylaw and regulations. "That memo is the best place to start," she said, noting the material includes citations and track changes intended to make it easier to review.

Committee members pressed for comparisons with other towns. Jerice said many municipalities adopt the 1-acre threshold, though some denser towns use smaller thresholds to capture more small-lot development; she cautioned that smaller thresholds increase the workload for plan review and inspection. She added that the EPA has been monitoring compliance statewide and that Dighton’s steady communication with EPA staff has so far provided some procedural latitude.

On technical work, the committee said outfall testing and mapping were recently completed under a combination of APA grant funding and the town’s FY26 budget; Nancy confirmed about $15,000 supported last week’s fieldwork. Jerice said the final mapping and a memorandum to accompany the updated maps would likely be ready by the end of July for inclusion in the MS4 report.

The committee discussed next steps: moving the rules and regulations forward for adoption as soon as feasible, preparing the public hearing and public meeting schedule required for a bylaw change, and coordinating review and comment from the planning board and other town bodies. Nancy said planning had responded positively to the draft changes and that the committee would seek their input before advancing to town meeting.

The committee set a target to show meaningful progress on bylaw/rules adoption in its Sept. 29 MS4 filing, while recognizing that final bylaw changes would require the fall town meeting and the public-notice process required by state regulations.