The Northeast Ohio Four County Regional Planning and Development Organization (NEFCO), as part of its water quality management planning contracts with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) has released a draft of the fiscal year 2025 208 Plan facilities planning areas (FPA) update. On September 18, 2024, NEFCO’s General Policy Board released this draft for a 30-day public comment period. NEFCO is a regional council of governments representing Portage, Stark, Summit, and Wayne Counties and the local governments within those counties. It is the state-designated water quality planning agency for the NEFCO region. This update was funded by the Ohio EPA, along with dues provided by NEFCO’s dues-paying members.
The comment period runs from Monday, September 30, 2024, through Tuesday, October 29, 2024. The last day comments will be accepted is October 29, 2024. The products from this update are 55 update areas consisting of about 721 parcels (large and small) and small gaps, slivers, and overlaps where six wastewater management agencies across the NEFCO region have proposed FPA boundary modifications or wastewater prescription (options) changes. The proposed FPA boundary modifications and wastewater prescription changes may be viewed on 32 .PDF maps in conjunction with an interactive online Clean Water (208) Plan draft FPA update map at https://www.nefcoplanning.org/annual-fpa-update/.
The interactive online draft FPA update map enables the viewer to see the fine details of 55 FPA update areas that can’t be seen on the .PDF maps due to the production scale limitations of static .PDF maps. The viewer can enlarge the online map with the parcel layer turned on and proposed FPA boundary and proposed prescription layers turned on then turn them off and back on to see how an update area is presented in both its current and proposed form. Viewers of the online draft update map can post comments about an update area, using the comment box that is part of the viewed image. Hyperlinks to the .PDF FPA update maps are also available on the website and on the online map. Comments may also be submitted to NEFCO by email at tlaplante@nefcoplanning.org or USPS mail to: Tom LaPlante, Water Quality/Environmental Planner, NEFCO, 175 S. Main St., Suite 211, Akron, Ohio 44308. Commentors should include with their comments their contact information and the update area ID number shown on the 32 .PDF maps and the online draft update map.
NEFCO staff will collect the comments and prepare a response as to how each comment was handled. Guiding the staff in this FPA update will be NEFCO’s Environmental Resources Technical Advisory Committee (ERTAC). The ERTAC is comprised of representatives from the four counties, including wastewater authorities, health departments, planners; and the Ohio EPA, and others.
The FY2025 FPA update timeline has this 208 Plan update scheduled to be considered in December 2024 by the NEFCO General Policy Board for approval. Board approval of the update in December will allow it to be submitted in January 2025 to Ohio EPA for state certification, thus completing this FPA update for fiscal year 2025.