Frederick County Must Really, Really Hate the Bay

County, state face another bay cleanup showdown: Commissioners may impose a nominal stormwater fee while negotiating

The Frederick County Board of Commissioners may find itself in another showdown with a Maryland agency over state-imposed requirements to help reduce pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.

At their meeting Thursday, the commissioners are expected to discuss county staff recommendations for complying with a bill passed in 2012 that requires counties to set up fees to protect local watersheds and help provide money to implement stormwater management plans by July 1. While the recommendations range from $97.08 to $76.18 annually, depending on how the fee is calculated, the commissioners are expected to approve a much more nominal fee.

Commissioners’ President Blaine R. Young (R) said he believes there’s a consensus among the five commissioners to approve a very minimal fee as the county continues to negotiate with the state over the requirements.

The board would likely vote on the issue at a later date, he said.

If it were up to him, the fee would be a penny until the state can better articulate what the ultimate cost will be and what specific improvements will be done and what the changes will entail, Young said.

The staff recommended that the fee either be broken down by individual properties, by units of 2,000 square feet, or a combination of a flat rate for single-family homes and a per-unit price for other properties.

If charged by property, the fee would be $97.08, according to a county memorandum.

One of the problems here is that storm water mitigation is incredibly expensive compared to other means of pollution reduction:

If you believe this graphic from the Bay Foundation (and I think you should take anything from an advocacy organization with a salt lick, but I don't see a motive for their shading the truth here), storm water treatment is by far the most expensive way to reduce nutrient pollution, upwards of $90 per lb of nitrogen removed. Frederick County might be well served by trying a different approach, say for example, forest buffers, at a mere $1.20 per lb.  Admittedly, nitrogen isn't the only pollutant (and sediment and phosphorus may be more important in storm water situations than nitrogen.   Nevertheless, this suggests that Frederick County, and similar jurisdictions might benefit from looking at alternatives to storm water remediation.