§ 32-201.07. Clean Water Act Fee; reduction.

(a)

Fee. The Clean Water Act Fee shall be set, collected and deposited pursuant to the provisions of Subtitle 10, Division 20 of this Code.

(b)

Reduction of Fee.

(1)

The Director of the Environment or his designee shall establish policies and procedures to reduce any portion of the Clean Water Act Fee established under Subtitle 10, Division 20 of this Code and subsection (A) of this section to account for on-site and off-site systems, facilities, services, or activities that reduce the quantity or improve the quality of stormwater discharged from the property, or for demonstrated substantial financial hardship as a result of the fee.

(2)

The policies and procedures established by the Director of the Environment pursuant to subsection (b)(1) of this Section shall include:

(A)

Guidelines for determining which on-site systems, facilities, services, or activities may be the basis for a fee reduction, including guidelines:

(i)

Relating to properties with existing advanced stormwater best management practices;

(ii)

Relating to agricultural activities or facilities that are otherwise exempted from stormwater management requirements by the County; and

(iii)

That account for the costs of, and the level of treatment provided by, stormwater management facilities that are funded and maintained by a property owner;

(B)

The method for calculating the amount of a fee reduction;

(C)

Procedures for monitoring and verifying the effectiveness of the on-site systems, facilities, services, or activities in reducing the quantity or improving the quality of stormwater discharged from the property;

(D)

Procedures that require County-based businesses, as defined in Section 10A-101(13), to the extent practicable, be utilized for on-site and off-site systems, facilities, services, or activities that reduce the quantity or improve the quality of stormwater discharged from the property, except where the Director of Central Services determines in writing that insufficient local business capacity exists for a particular good or service or that such a requirement would cause undue hardship; and

(E)

Procedures by which qualified tax-exempt religious organizations or other 501(c) nonprofit organizations may be exempt from the portion of the Clean Water Act Fee based upon the impervious area existing on the property owned by the organization.

(c)

Monitoring. For the purpose of monitoring and verifying the effectiveness of the on-site systems, facilities, services, or activities under paragraph (c)(3) of this Section, the Department of the Environment may:

(1)

Conduct on-site inspections;

(2)

Authorize a third party, certified by the Maryland Department of the Environment, to conduct on-site inspections on behalf of the Department; or

(3)

Require a property owner to hire a third party, certified by the Maryland Department of the Environment, to conduct an on-site inspection and provide to the Department of the Environment the results of the inspection and any other information required by the Department.

(d)

Appeals.

(1)

The Director of the Environment or his designee shall establish policies and procedures governing the consideration of appeals of Clean Water Act Fees imposed pursuant to Subtitle 10, Division 20 of this Code and this section.

(2)

An appeal shall be in writing in a form suitable to the Department and shall be provided to the Director of the Environment or his designee not later than October 1 of the year for which the Clean Water Act Fee is assessed.

(3)

The grounds for appeal shall be limited to the following:

(A)

For multifamily residential and nonresidential properties only, errors made regarding the impervious surface measurement of the property;

(B)

For single-family residential properties only, errors in the zoning classification of the property;

(C)

Mathematical errors in the calculation of the fee; and

(D)

Misidentification of the property owner.

(e)

The Director of the Environment or his designee may enter into agreements with municipal corporations to engage in restoration efforts using monies from the Local Watershed Protection and Restoration Fund.

(CB-45-2013; CB-30-2014)

Editor's note

CR-59-2013 established a schedule of fees to be collected as part of the Watershed Protection and Restoration Program.