Storm Water

A proposal scheduled to come before the Anne Arundel County Council on Monday would create a property tax surcharge to help reduce storm-water runoff into the Chesapeake Bay. measure would permit a $35 annual fee on residential property tax bills and $25 on condos and townhouses; nonresidential properties would be assessed depending on square footage. Advocates say the measure will help local government play a crucial role in cleaning up the bay, but opponents argue that it's too costly in tough economic times.

A City Council committee on Tuesday approved a 16 percent cut to Baltimore's proposed storm water fees. Under a plan that will go to the full council for a vote Monday, homeowners would pay $40 to $120 per year. That's down from a range of $48 to $144. The legislative committee, chaired by Councilman James Kraft, also approved a cap designed to help businesses avoid what some have called exorbitant fees. The measure would limit fees to 20 percent of property taxes. The committee also approved an 83 percent cut to the administration's proposed rates for religious institutions.

Heavy rain over the holiday weekend caused three storm water overflows in Howard County on Memorial Day, public works officials said. About 15,500 gallons of storm-water overflow contaminated with raw sewage entered the Patuxent River at the North Laurel sewage pump station on U.S. 1 on May 26, said Bob Beringer, chief of the Department of Public Works' Bureau of Utilities. The overflow was reported at 6:30 a.m. and ceased about 1:30 p.m., he said. The station continued to experience heavy flows for hours after the river level receded, however.

Residents will see clear benefits from paying storm water fee Most people probably wouldn't let their child bathe in a storm drain. Yet allowing him or her to swim or wade in many of the creeks and rivers of Carroll County after a heavy rainstorm is virtually the same thing. That's because of storm water. It's not an everyday term, storm water. But it's a genuine problem. Storm water pollution is increasing around the region. Thanks to cooperation between government, business and citizens, water pollution from farms, sewage plants, and other sources has been reduced.

THE GOALS were put forth 39 years ago: reduce the nation's water-polluting discharges to zero and make waterways clean enough for swimming and fishing. We haven't come close to meeting those ambitious targets, contained in the Clean Water Act of 1972. But the debate taking place among members of the Anne Arundel County Council right now provides one example of the progress since the days when little attention was paid to the harm that development can do to streams, rivers and oceans - and estuaries like our Chesapeake Bay. The Arundel council is debating the degree to which commercial property owners must reduce storm runoff - especially from asphalt parking lots and rooftops - if they decide to redevelop their property.

Environmental advocates, stream restoration experts and local officials urged state lawmakers Tuesday to require all jurisdictions to charge property owners a fee to deal with the Chesapeake Bay's growing problem - pollution washing off lawns, driveways, buildings and parking lots. Members of the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee heard opposing views on legislation requiring a "storm-water remediation fee" for every city, county and town. Polluted runoff from urban and suburban lands is a significant and growing source of pollution fouling the Chesapeake Bay, advocates noted.

Despite earlier attempts by a local developer to solve the problem, a Hampstead community is plagued with a storm water management dilemma.Residents of Small Crossings are concerned about a drainage area that has become an eyesore in the development at Fairmount and Upper Beckleysville roads.Residents are especially concerned that the homeowners association may be responsible if any nearby houses -- not located in the development -- are damaged."We are trying to get some help in regards to the problem we are having with our storm water management drain inSmall Crossings," said Steve Harmon, president of the homeowners group.

The State Highway Administration plans to begin rebuilding the natural stream banks of the Jabez Branch next summer in an effort to restore the only natural trout stream in Maryland's coastal plane.But Robert A. Bachman, director of the Fish, Heritage and Wildlife Administration with the Department of Natural Resources, said more needs to be done if the stream is to be saved. He said surges of warm storm-water runoff continue to threaten the trout that spawn and live in the Jabez Branch, a shallow Severn River tributary running through Gambrills and Severn.

Fees will be reduced in Carroll County for small developers who incorporate grassy swales, shoulders and other techniques to capture storm water - rather than relying on ponds that the county must maintain. The change was approved yesterday by the county commissioners and means a savings of at least $500 for developers of three or fewer lots, said Martin B. Covington III, storm-water program engineer for the county Bureau of Resource Management. The permitted measures include the use of grassy swales, reduced slopes and grass shoulders along small subdivision roads.

A 95-home development that received final approval from the Planningand Zoning Commission Monday night will send more cars onto an already congested Route 30, the State Highway Administration said.But the state told the town in a letter that because Shiloh Run wouldn't empty directly onto any state highways, it's up to the town to say yes or no to the developer.On Monday, the town said yes."This is the United States of America," Commission Chairman and Councilman Arthur C. Moler said. "Everybody has a right to buy and own a home.

Unhappy over a state law requiring property owners to pay a new fee to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay, Frederick County officials have decided to set the charge at just a penny a year. The county's board of commissioners approved the 1-cent storm-water pollution control fee on Thursday, declaring they were doing even that only to avoid possible state restrictions on new development in the county if they didn't act. "We are being forced to charge this fee, so we decided to keep it at one cent just to meet the letter of the law," Blaine Young, president of the county commissioners, said in a press release announcing the action.

Isn't the storm water tax just another "protect the bay" fee ("The 'rain tax' sham," April 17)? Otherwise, what is the "flush tax" for and where does all this money go? Your editorial suggests that "for most, the fee is modest. In Baltimore County, for instance, the owner of a single-family home will pay $39 annually. " I am being "modest fee'd" to death. Where are we now, 37 additional taxes, fees or rate increases in the last few years? I guess we need to establish another bloated government agency with twice as many employees as needed, being paid too much to do as little as possible.

Amid complaints over what critics dismiss as a "rain tax," some powerful lawmakers in Annapolis are mounting a last-minute attempt Monday to delay state-mandated storm-water fees that Baltimore city and Maryland's nine largest counties are about to assess their property owners for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay. State Sen. Joan Carter Conway , chair of the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, said Sunday she plans to propose...

In Councilman David Marks' recent newsletter, he presented "facts" regarding Baltimore County's proposal to levy a storm water fee on properties throughout the county. However, he failed to provide any context. The federal government is requiring the states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to dramatically reduce the pollution that goes into the bay. Maryland is one of these. We are being required to reduce the nitrogen, phosphorous and sediment that is killing this beautiful estuary.

I am responding to Del. Stephen Lafferty's most recent letter to the Towson Times, in which he complained that I failed to provide "context" regarding the storm water fee that Gov. O'Malley has required Baltimore County to pass. Since 2010, I have worked hard to increase open space and improve the environment in Greater Towson. During the 2012 rezoning process, the County Council acted on my recommendation to reduce the intensity of residential zoning in neighborhoods throughout Towson.

Now that it's clear Harford County is obliged to levy a storm water management fee on just about every home in the county, the time for political diatribes about the state being over-reaching is over. Harford County should make the best of the situation by establishing an efficient and effective storm water management operation with the dual goals of bringing storm water management facilities up to a high standard and putting itself out of business. First, a little background is in order.

State lawmakers from Howard County say they're pushing the state to shift spending from senior institutionalized care to programs that allow residents to remain in their homes as long as possible. Several delegates said at a community meeting last week that they would discuss the matter with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Joined by County Executive Ken Ulman and County Councilwoman Courtney Watson, the lawmakers also agreed to look for ways to create more youth conservation jobs in a program that will manage storm-water runoff.

A county administrative hearing officer has rejected a Brooklyn Park sand and gravel company's request to start mining unused acres of its property.In a decision dated Oct. 25, Hearing Officer Robert C. Wilcox said Belle Grove Corp. could not ensure that its storm drainage system was sufficient to prevent water runoff from flowing out of the company's sediment pond and onto residential streets in nearby Pumphrey.Belle Grove owns a 50.4-acre parcel along the north side of Hammonds Lane.The bulk of the property has been used as a sand and gravel operation, but 16.9 acres remain unmined.

A proposal to levy storm-water fees on many state-owned properties has cleared the House, setting the stage for shrinking a loophole in the year-old law that requires private landowners pay to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay. Delegates voted unanimously for HB508 , which partially removes an exemption for state lands in the law enacted last year mandating that Baltimore city and Maryland's nine largest counties levy a storm-water cleanup fee...

The following is the Friends of Harford testimony before the Harford County Council in support of Bill 13-12. levying a storm water remediation fee. A copy was provided for publication. Friends of Harford supports the purpose and philosophy behind Bill 13-12 "Storm water Remediation Fee" because past storm water management practices have proven inadequate to protect our properties, our streams, the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay. Just as these past inadequacies accumulated over time, so too will correcting them take time -- and money.