Stormwater fee

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A stormwater fee is a charge imposed on real estate owners for pollution in stormwater drainage from impervious surface runoff.

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This system imposes a tax that is proportional to the total impervious area on a particular property, including concrete or asphalt driveways and roofs, that do not allow rain to infiltrate. In other words, the more area covered by impervious surfaces the more stormwater is generated and conveyed to the sewer, so the higher the stormwater fee.

Germany

Equivalence issues were raised concerning the imposition of sewage fees based on the usage of water supply. In 1985, in order to ensure the legal equity of charging based on the polluter pays principle, the German Federal Administrative Court and the local high court ruled that the sewage system charges should be separately collected as usage fees for rainwater exclusion and as usage fees for sewage exclusion. [1] This ruling became a decisive motive to bring about a switch in the sewage system for rainwater in Germany. The German states took legal action to impose a stormwater tax on developers like the builders who made artificial surface in the 1990s. Many resistances were raised, but Berlin, which had been the strongest opponent, has accepted the plan since 2000. About 73 percent of cities with a population of 100,000 or more apply a separate calculation method, which divides the cost of sewage into the rainwater cost. Usually, Germany calculates concrete, asphalt, and building roofs as impervious areas and charges an annual fee of $2.6 per m². Builders are installing rainfall storage tank and permeation facilities to receive reduction in fees. In addition, outdoor plant cultivation facilities and green business are also proposed as alternatives to the reduction of the stormwater fee. [2]

Germany has seen two effects in this regard : increasing rainwater recycling rates and reducing sewage fee and tap water usage. Rain water recycling plays a great role in preventing the city from flooding in the event of heavy rain and saving energy.

Italy

Such taxes have been collected in regions of Italy, acquiring international attention, and challenging Italian tax morale. [3] Authorities in Ravenna, Italy, have imposed 3% increase on local water bills to maintain and improve drainage systems. Officials cite the severe damage inflicted by the heavy rain on infrastructure, buildings and agriculture in the Po valley, insisting that this money urgently needs to be recouped. The local water board, which wants to backdate the new tax three years, claims that the payments will save it €1 million a year. Gianluca Dradi, head of environmental policy for the Ravenna city council, likened the levy to a street cleaning tax and clarified that those paying more for their water use, such as factories, will pay proportionately more than individual households. "Including the cost in water bills is more equitable," he told the Repubblica newspaper.

However, consumer organisations are opposing the move, and residents have been urged to resist the authorities and refuse to pay the tax. [3]

United States

Maryland

The Maryland General Assembly enacted a stormwater management fee program in House Bill 987 (April 2012), which was signed into law by then-governor Martin O'Malley. The law applies to the largest urban jurisdictions in Maryland (nine counties and the City of Baltimore) in order to meet the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act as it concerns the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Tax Foundation stated that House Bill 987 "was passed in response to a decree by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) formally known as the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load, which identified mandatory reductions in nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment that damage the Chesapeake Bay." The EPA TMDL requirements apply to the states of Maryland, Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Polluted runoff is the only source in the Chesapeake Bay watershed that is still increasing, as of 2018. [4] [5] [6] This fee, of course, does not tax rain but has been implemented in Maryland in varying ways at the county level, such as a flat fee per property owner, or based on impervious surface square footage. [7]

The law specifies that accrued funds must be used for specified stormwater pollution-related purposes. [8]

This law was modified in 2015 to make the county-assessed fees optional rather than mandatory while still holding the counties responsible for making progress on managing polluted runoff. [9]

Illinois

The Illinois General Assembly passed Public Act 98-0335 in August 2013. [10] The law provides DuPage and Peoria counties with the option of charging fees to residents whose property benefits from county stormwater management. HB1522 allows the counties to assess the tax in a nonuniform manner, based on their own rules, exemptions and special considerations. Home rule municipalities in Illinois have always had the ability to establish special fees under their own ordinances.

The city of Elgin, Illinois was planning to assess its Stormwater Utility Tax in 2014, [11] but public opinion and election results led to a decision by the Elgin City Council to unanimously reject the tax. [12]

Virginia

To help comply with the Chesapeake Bay TMDL requirements, most large jurisdictions in Virginia have also enacted stormwater fees, including Alexandria, [13] Arlington County, [14] Richmond, [15] Roanoke [16] and Virginia Beach. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chesapeake Bay</span> Estuary in the U.S. states of Maryland and Virginia

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and the state of Delaware. The mouth of the Bay at its southern point is located between Cape Henry and Cape Charles. With its northern portion in Maryland and the southern part in Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay is a very important feature for the ecology and economy of those two states, as well as others surrounding within its watershed. More than 150 major rivers and streams flow into the Bay's 64,299-square-mile (166,534 km2) drainage basin, which covers parts of six states, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, and all of Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stormwater</span> Water that originates during precipitation events and snow/ice melt

Stormwater, also written storm water, is water that originates from precipitation (storm), including heavy rain and meltwater from hail and snow. Stormwater can soak into the soil (infiltrate) and become groundwater, be stored on depressed land surface in ponds and puddles, evaporate back into the atmosphere, or contribute to surface runoff. Most runoff is conveyed directly as surface water to nearby streams, rivers or other large water bodies without treatment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Storm drain</span> Infrastructure for draining excess rain and ground water from impervious surfaces

A storm drain, storm sewer, surface water drain/sewer, or stormwater drain is infrastructure designed to drain excess rain and ground water from impervious surfaces such as paved streets, car parks, parking lots, footpaths, sidewalks, and roofs. Storm drains vary in design from small residential dry wells to large municipal systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anacostia River</span> River in Maryland and the District of Columbia, United States

The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Channel and ultimately empties into the Potomac River at Buzzard Point. It is about 8.7 miles (14.0 km) long. The name "Anacostia" derives from the area's early history as Nacotchtank, a settlement of Necostan or Anacostan Native Americans on the banks of the Anacostia River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock Creek (Potomac River tributary)</span> Tributary of the Potomac River in Maryland and Washington, D.C., United States

Rock Creek is a tributary of the Potomac River, in the United States, that empties into the Atlantic Ocean via the Chesapeake Bay. The 32.6-mile (52.5 km) creek drains about 76.5 square miles (198 km2). Its final quarter-mile is affected by tides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Impervious surface</span> Artificial structures—such as pavements covered with water-tight materials

Impervious surfaces are mainly artificial structures—such as pavements that are covered by water-resistant materials such as asphalt, concrete, brick, stone—and rooftops. Soils compacted by urban development are also highly impervious.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Combined sewer</span> Sewage collection system of pipes and tunnels designed to also collect surface runoff

A combined sewer is a type of gravity sewer with a system of pipes, tunnels, pump stations etc. to transport sewage and urban runoff together to a sewage treatment plant or disposal site. This means that during rain events, the sewage gets diluted, resulting in higher flowrates at the treatment site. Uncontaminated stormwater simply dilutes sewage, but runoff may dissolve or suspend virtually anything it contacts on roofs, streets, and storage yards. As rainfall travels over roofs and the ground, it may pick up various contaminants including soil particles and other sediment, heavy metals, organic compounds, animal waste, and oil and grease. Combined sewers may also receive dry weather drainage from landscape irrigation, construction dewatering, and washing buildings and sidewalks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rain garden</span> Runoff reducing landscaping method

Rain gardens, also called bioretention facilities, are one of a variety of practices designed to increase rain runoff reabsorption by the soil. They can also be used to treat polluted stormwater runoff. Rain gardens are designed landscape sites that reduce the flow rate, total quantity, and pollutant load of runoff from impervious urban areas like roofs, driveways, walkways, parking lots, and compacted lawn areas. Rain gardens rely on plants and natural or engineered soil medium to retain stormwater and increase the lag time of infiltration, while remediating and filtering pollutants carried by urban runoff. Rain gardens provide a method to reuse and optimize any rain that falls, reducing or avoiding the need for additional irrigation. A benefit of planting rain gardens is the consequential decrease in ambient air and water temperature, a mitigation that is especially effective in urban areas containing an abundance of impervious surfaces that absorb heat in a phenomenon known as the heat-island effect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First flush</span> Initial surface runoff of a rainstorm

First flush is the initial surface runoff of a rainstorm. During this phase, water pollution entering storm drains in areas with high proportions of impervious surfaces is typically more concentrated compared to the remainder of the storm. Consequently, these high concentrations of urban runoff result in high levels of pollutants discharged from storm sewers to surface waters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nonpoint source pollution</span> Pollution resulting from multiple sources

Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution refers to diffuse contamination of water or air that does not originate from a single discrete source. This type of pollution is often the cumulative effect of small amounts of contaminants gathered from a large area. It is in contrast to point source pollution which results from a single source. Nonpoint source pollution generally results from land runoff, precipitation, atmospheric deposition, drainage, seepage, or hydrological modification where tracing pollution back to a single source is difficult. Nonpoint source water pollution affects a water body from sources such as polluted runoff from agricultural areas draining into a river, or wind-borne debris blowing out to sea. Nonpoint source air pollution affects air quality, from sources such as smokestacks or car tailpipes. Although these pollutants have originated from a point source, the long-range transport ability and multiple sources of the pollutant make it a nonpoint source of pollution; if the discharges were to occur to a body of water or into the atmosphere at a single location, the pollution would be single-point.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surface runoff</span> Flow of excess rainwater not infiltrating in the ground over its surface

Surface runoff is the unconfined flow of water over the ground surface, in contrast to channel runoff. It occurs when excess rainwater, stormwater, meltwater, or other sources, can no longer sufficiently rapidly infiltrate in the soil. This can occur when the soil is saturated by water to its full capacity, and the rain arrives more quickly than the soil can absorb it. Surface runoff often occurs because impervious areas do not allow water to soak into the ground. Furthermore, runoff can occur either through natural or human-made processes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable drainage system</span>

Sustainable drainage systems are a collection of water management practices that aim to align modern drainage systems with natural water processes and are part of a larger green infrastructure strategy. SuDS efforts make urban drainage systems more compatible with components of the natural water cycle such as storm surge overflows, soil percolation, and bio-filtration. These efforts hope to mitigate the effect human development has had or may have on the natural water cycle, particularly surface runoff and water pollution trends.

A total maximum daily load (TMDL) is a regulatory term in the U.S. Clean Water Act, describing a plan for restoring impaired waters that identifies the maximum amount of a pollutant that a body of water can receive while still meeting water quality standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green infrastructure</span> Sustainable and resilient infrastructure

Green infrastructure or blue-green infrastructure refers to a network that provides the “ingredients” for solving urban and climatic challenges by building with nature. The main components of this approach include stormwater management, climate adaptation, the reduction of heat stress, increasing biodiversity, food production, better air quality, sustainable energy production, clean water, and healthy soils, as well as more anthropocentric functions, such as increased quality of life through recreation and the provision of shade and shelter in and around towns and cities. Green infrastructure also serves to provide an ecological framework for social, economic, and environmental health of the surroundings. More recently scholars and activists have also called for green infrastructure that promotes social inclusion and equity rather than reinforcing pre-existing structures of unequal access to nature-based services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watts Branch (Anacostia River tributary)</span> River in Maryland, Maryland

Watts Branch is a tributary stream of the Anacostia River in Prince George's County, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban runoff</span> Surface runoff of water caused by urbanization

Urban runoff is surface runoff of rainwater, landscape irrigation, and car washing created by urbanization. Impervious surfaces are constructed during land development. During rain, storms, and other precipitation events, these surfaces, along with rooftops, carry polluted stormwater to storm drains, instead of allowing the water to percolate through soil. This causes lowering of the water table and flooding since the amount of water that remains on the surface is greater. Most municipal storm sewer systems discharge untreated stormwater to streams, rivers, and bays. This excess water can also make its way into people's properties through basement backups and seepage through building wall and floors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philadelphia Water Department</span>

The Philadelphia Water Department is the public water utility for the City of Philadelphia. PWD provides integrated potable water, wastewater, and stormwater services for Philadelphia and some communities in Bucks, Delaware and Montgomery counties. PWD is a municipal agency of the City of Philadelphia, and is seated in rented space at the Jefferson Tower in the Market East area of Center City, Philadelphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Low-impact development (U.S. and Canada)</span>

Low-impact development (LID) is a term used in Canada and the United States to describe a land planning and engineering design approach to manage stormwater runoff as part of green infrastructure. LID emphasizes conservation and use of on-site natural features to protect water quality. This approach implements engineered small-scale hydrologic controls to replicate the pre-development hydrologic regime of watersheds through infiltrating, filtering, storing, evaporating, and detaining runoff close to its source. Green infrastructure investments are one approach that often yields multiple benefits and builds city resilience.

A runoff footprint is the total surface runoff that a site produces over the course of a year. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stormwater is "rainwater and melted snow that runs off streets, lawns, and other sites". Urbanized areas with high concentrations of impervious surfaces like buildings, roads, and driveways produce large volumes of runoff which can lead to flooding, sewer overflows, and poor water quality. Since soil in urban areas can be compacted and have a low infiltration rate, the surface runoff estimated in a runoff footprint is not just from impervious surfaces, but also pervious areas including yards. The total runoff is a measure of the site’s contribution to stormwater issues in an area, especially in urban areas with sewer overflows. Completing a runoff footprint for a site allows a property owner to understand what areas on his or her site are producing the most runoff and what scenarios of stormwater green solutions like rain barrels and rain gardens are most effective in mitigating this runoff and its costs to the community.

Maryland's "rain tax" was implemented in 2012 through the Watershed Protection and Restoration Act to fund stormwater management aiming to reduce the level of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. This bill, HB 987, utilized a stormwater fee in the ten most urban jurisdictions in Maryland.

References

  1. ↑ Park, Kyoo-Hong; Kang, Byong-Jun; Park, Joo-Yang; Park, Wan-Kyu; Kim, Sung-Tae (2014-10-15). "The improvement of sewerage fee imposition system for efficient rainwater management". Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater. 28 (5): 517–527. doi: 10.11001/jksww.2014.28.5.517 . ISSN   1225-7672.
  2. ↑ "Raindrops falling in my reservoir - Harvesting Rain in Germany and the EU | Smart Cities Dive". www.smartcitiesdive.com. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  3. 1 2 Khan, Urmee (30 September 2008). "Wet Italian town imposes 'stormwater fee'". The Daily Telegraph . London.
  4. ↑ "Stormwater Fees: The Facts About Polluted Runoff and Maryland's Stormwater Utility Fees". Annapolis, MD: Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  5. ↑ "Stormwater Runoff". Annapolis, MD: Chesapeake Bay Program. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  6. ↑ "New high-resolution, land-use and change data improves decision-making in the Chesapeake Bay watershed". Chesapeake Bay Activities. Reston, VA: U.S. Geological Survey. 2022-09-27.
  7. ↑ For example, the "Water Quality Protection Charge" in Montgomery County, Maryland is calculated based on the amount of impervious surface area on a property. Different rates are established for detached houses, multifamily homes, non-residential properties, and agricultural properties. A credit is available for properties that have implemented stormwater management facilities or practices. ( "About the Water Quality Protection Charge". Department of Environmental Protection. Rockville, MD: Montgomery County Government. Retrieved 2024-01-24.)
  8. ↑ "House Bill 987" (PDF). Annapolis, MD: Maryland General Assembly. Effective July 1, 2012.
  9. ↑ Wood, Pamela; Wheeler, Timothy B. (2015-04-19). "Repeal of 'stormwater fee' requirement yet to trickle down to most area homeowners". Baltimore Sun.
  10. ↑ "County Stormwater Management. Bill Status of HB1522; 98th General Assembly". Legislative Information System. Springfield, IL: Illinois General Assembly. 2013-08-13. Approved August 13, 2013.
  11. ↑ Walker, Janelle (2011-12-30). "New Elgin budget plan calls for new fees and taxes but less from property taxes". The Courier-News . Elgin, IL. Archived from the original on January 16, 2014.
  12. ↑ Ferrarin, Elena (6 November 2013). "Elgin won't levy new stormwater fee for 2014". Daily Herald . Arlington Heights, IL.
  13. ↑ Kelleher, Colleen (2023-04-13). "Alexandria Expected to Hike Stormwater Fee". Northern Virginia Magazine.
  14. ↑ "New Stormwater Fee in Arlington for 2024". The Arlington Connection. Local Media Connection, LLC. 2023-12-20.
  15. ↑ "Stormwater Credit Manual" (PDF). City of Richmond, VA. 2019.
  16. ↑ "Storm Utility Fee and Credits". City of Roanoke, VA. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  17. ↑ "Stormwater & Flood Protection". City of Virginia Beach Public Works. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
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