At the end of the 2014 meeting of the Maryland Legislature, the debate over the controversial stormwater management fee did not produce any change in the legislation. The stormwater management fee (which was passed in last year’s session) requires the 9 largest counties in Maryland to levy a fee on all properties for management of runoff that pollutes local streams and rivers, which then funnel this pollution into the Chesapeake Bay.
Opponents of the fee argued that it was a tax on the rain, and two counties, Carroll and Frederick, made efforts to exempt themselves from having to levy the tax on their constituents. During the recent legislative session, the two counties came to an agreement with the state that they would work with the Maryland Department of the Environment to develop alternative methods to fund their efforts to control pollution from stormwater.
Storage tanks are one solution commonly used for stormwater management purposes. By collecting stormwater before it becomes runoff, facilities both help the environment and themselves, as this water can be repurposed for use in the facility itself. For more information on how stormwater management and storage tanks work together, please see our blog.
