Shenango Township supervisors are hoping they can bypass a potentially costly storm-water management program.

Monday, supervisors agreed to apply for a waiver from the regulations, which Sharpsville, Farrell, Sharon and Hermitage are required to comply with.

Communities that do not receive waivers must receive permits to discharge storm water, map storm-water discharge points, monitor and sample dry weather discharges and educate citizens on storm-water issues under new regulations

Shenango Township, along with West Middlesex, Wheatland and South Pymatuning Township, must apply for a permit to meet the regulations even as they apply for waivers that would exempt the municipalities from them.

"You have to apply for the permit, then they can say they want to do the exemption," said Chris Conti, senior planner for Mercer County Regional Planning Commission, which is helping Shenango, South Pymatuning, Wheatland and West Middlesex apply for the waivers and permits.

There is a $100 fee to apply for the permits, and if the waiver-eligible communities are lucky, that's all they will have to pay.

"If you don't get the waiver, it will be quite onerous," Conti said

The regulations are mandated by the federal government, with the state responsible for enforcement.

The cost of implementing the plan is what has officials in Sharon, Sharpsville, Hermitage and Farrell worried. The state has a program to reimburse up to 75 percent of the local cost of implementation, but the program does not have enough money to honor all local requests, officials said.

That's why municipalities, such as Shenango Township, are hopeful that they can waive the required plan implementation.

"If you get the waiver you don't have to worry about the plan," Conti said.

He wants to have the applications for all the waiver-eligible municipalities by no later than the first of next week. The deadline for waiver and permit applications is March 10. He said that he had heard from the other three municipalities and they too are applying for the permit and waiver.

"Basically, the state government is pushing something off on the local people," said supervisors Chairman Larry Robinson, referring to what has been termed as an "underfunded mandate."