State officials question if funds aimed at improving wastewater treatments plants to reduce nutrient runoff into the Chesapeake Bay aren?t, in fact, encouraging excessive development.
“We want to find out if the funds are directing something that is not Smart Growth,” Laurence Fogelson the of Maryland Department of Planning said at the Bay Restoration Fund Advisory Committee meeting Monday in Baltimore.
Concerns were raised that these upgraded treatment plants attracted residential and commercial development, because public sewer is more affordable and accommodates more growth. Money for the upgrades came from the Bay Restoration Fund.
As a result, the General Assembly passed a law last spring requiring the yearly report on the fund including information on building permits issued.
That information will help officials determine if the funds are promoting growth rather than reducing the wastewater?s pollution-causing nutrients of nitrogen and phosphorous, for which the fund originally was intended. These nutrients can cause events such as the recent fish kills in the Baltimore?s Inner Harbor and Annapolis by feeding large algal blooms.
The law calls for one additional planner at the Maryland Department of Planning with a $48,000 salary, plus $25,000 in contractual expenses. Fogelson said more staff may be required, but the looming state budget deficit may hinder efforts.
The state?s planning department and Department of the Environment will put the report together and have until 2009 to document this year. So far, five treatment plants are online and 10 are under construction.
BY THE NUMBERS
Those serviced by wastewater treatment plants pay $2.50 a month into the Bay Restoration Fund, while those with septic tanks and on-site wastewater systems pay $30 a month.
The Maryland Department of the Environment expects $72 million a year from both fees.
Fees collected in the region since 2004 are:
» Anne Arundel County ? Public sewer: $10.3 million; Septic: $2.7 million
» Baltimore City ? Public sewer: $17.3 million; Septic: $96,000
» Baltimore County ? Public sewer: $18.9 million; Septic: $1.4 million
» Carroll County ? Public sewer: $1.7 million; Septic: $2 million
» Harford County ? Public sewer: $3.9 million; Septic: $1.7 million
» Howard County ? Public sewer: $5.6 million; Septic: $805,000
