The troubling state-imposed moratorium on new sewage permits in the Butler Area Sewer Authority's service area is an issue that must be resolved expeditiously. The Butler region should not be made to endure a construction season without any new construction outside the parameters of public need, such as a fire station or school.

This is a growth county where there is much homebuilding, and new construction must not be made to endure a long halt when other options exist.

It is encouraging that a meeting is planned for April 18 between representatives of the Butler Area Sewer Authority, officials of authority municipalities and the state Department of Environmental Protection. Hopefully, that session will help bring about a breakthrough in expediting an end to the moratorium.

But it would seem easier for DEP officials to travel here for that important session, rather than requiring a cadre of Butler County officials to travel to the DEP office in Meadville, Crawford County — which, unfortunately, is the current game plan.

And, there is another point to consider in terms of meeting attendance. In addition to the delegation of authority and municipal officials, state lawmakers who represent the BASA service area should either personally attend or send their top aides, who could convey information from the meeting to the lawmakers.

News emanating from a meeting Friday beween BASA and DEP officials suggests that a plan has been proposed for getting stormwater out of the authority's sewer lines — the key issue in the sewer-permit shutdown. The question is if and how soon all seven of the municipalities served by the authority can provide the necessary approvals to pave the way for the moratorium to be lifted.

BASA must shoulder the bulk of the blame for failing to meet requirements of a consent order that carried a deadline of Dec. 31, 2005. It is to be assumed that if BASA had come close to meeting its consent-order obligations, it might have gotten a DEP extension without imposition of a permit moratorium.

But DEP and its predecessor agency, the Department of Environmental Resources, also must shoulder a significant amount of blame for not addressing the BASA service area's problems long before they became such a serious concern.

It's virtually a given that when all is said and done, authority customers will be paying much more for sanitary sewer service. But the area should not have to suffer unreasonable economic constraints in the meantime.

DEP can talk tough and impose requirements authorized by state law. However, it also has the obligation to look at the bigger picture regarding everything that's at stake for this county.

Indeed, Butler County doesn't want polluted waterways and lands stemming from sewage overflows. But people here want the problems corrected without excessive burdens that damage the county in other ways, particularly economically.

That is the challenge that is at the heart of BASA's current conundrum.

The April 18 meeting must produce results, not just dialogue.