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Deadline For Setting Stormwater Fees Looms

eutrophication&hypoxia via Flickr

Most local governments ordered by the state to impose new fees to reduce rainwater pollution will make the July 1 deadline—despite much protest and delay. After a recent siege of storms, some wonder if Mother Nature did a bit of lobbying.

After a dry spring, Maryland was deluged this month with rainfall three times greater than average, according to the National Weather Service.  Ranging from steady drizzles to flash floods, the downpour washed everything available--from dog poop to poisons-- off the city streets, into storm drains and out into local waterways. 

Beaches in Anne Arundel County were closed for fear of contamination just as officials from Baltimore and Maryland’s nine largest counties were debating how to meet a state mandate that they impose a fee to curb pollution caused by stormwater run-off.

Alison Prost, Maryland executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, saw the irony. “If you look at how the debate has intensified in some of these counties over the last weeks at the same time we’re having these heavy rainstorms—and if you look at all the beach closures and Anne Arundel County’s preemptive warnings--none of us should be in the water right now,” she said. “Yet, people are questioning why we need stormwater protection.”

Even so, nine out of the 10 local governments charged with imposing a stormwater fee on their constituents have taken at least preliminary action. And the 10th—Carroll County—may act this week.  Prost observed that there is great variation among the counties, but at least they appear to be taking the mandate seriously.

Indeed, Maryland is now a patchwork of stormwater fee programs. Some are flat, some differ between residential and commercial properties, some grant breaks for religious or non-profit organizations. In some cases, residents can get credit if they take steps to trap rainwater on their property.

Blaine Young, president of the Frederick County Board of Commissioners, complained that by mandating a fee but none of the details, the General Assembly is trying to avoid taking the blame. “To me it was the biggest, gutless move in the history of the legislature,” Young said.

Frederick County has met its mandate by approving a yearly fee of one penny per property. It's not enough to finance remedial efforts, but Young is hoping the General Assembly will reopen the issue next year. 

Other county leaders may not share his desire to revisit the issue. Leslie Knapp of the Maryland Association of Counties said his organization originally opposed the fee mandate.  But now that the counties have  complied with it, he thinks they would prefer to move on. “It would be a significant hardship on the counties that have done so much work and effort into this process to have to go back after next year and redo their fees,” he said.

Former state Senator Bernie Fowler has been wading into the Patuxent River for 26 years to check pollution levels. He said upgrades to major sewage treatment plants worked well by the early 1990’s. “Oh, I thought I had died and gone to heaven,” he recalled. “Grass was all over the place, the water was transparent.”

But the rush of land development and the failure to address storm water has taken a huge toll, he said. “I think storm water has to be tackled, and it has to be done soon.” He acknowledged, “It’s not an easy one to solve.   And it’s an expensive one also, but it must happen if we have any hope of saving the Chesapeake Bay in its tributaries.”

Maybe the June rain was a warning.

Also: Trent Zivkovich, an attorney at Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, has been regularly updating this chart breaking down the various stormwater fee structures in different jurisdictions.