Bryant: Stormwater utilities key to Bay cleanup

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released its plan to produce a cleaner Chesapeake Bay over the next 15 years. And it's one that relies heavily on states and local governments in the Virginia-to-New-York watershed to strengthen pollution-control regulations and invest more heavily in clean-water infrastructure.

In addition to better controlling farmland runoff and improving sewage treatment plant operations, federal and state regulators agree that more effectively managing urban stormwater rain flows from roads, parking lots and lawns that wash oils, fertilizers, litter and other pollutants into nearby creeks and rivers is crucial to improving the bay's health.

The EPA has determined stormwater management to be an especially important part of Virginia's bay cleanup plan. Simply put, Virginia contributes one-third of all nitrogen and one-half of all phosphorus that stormwater from all six watershed states carries to the bay. It's a uniquely Virginia burden. Addressing this will cost billions leading up to the federal 2025 deadline.

The state plays a role in stormwater management: State law governs how it's done, and the legislature can help fund programs. But controlling surface and lawn pollutants falls chiefly to local governments. And if Virginia and its localities fail to meet specific stormwater management goals, EPA, under federal law, can lay down stricter and more expensive rules.

So how will cash-strapped towns, counties and cities meet this dauntingly expensive stormwater challenge over the next 15 years?

Well, they'll first look to the federal and state governments to ante up dollars, as they should. But grants from on high will go only so far. Localities will have to come up with their own sustainable revenue streams for these infrastructure investments.

There are 11 large, urban Virginia localities that have regulated stormwater collection and handling systems. Those will have to be beefed up, and it won't be cheap. Additionally, there are scores of smaller urbanized areas whose stormwater systems will be increasingly regulated. That will require significant new investment, too.

One answer to meeting the fiscal and environmental challenges is establishing local stormwater utilities, where property owners pay a fee based on their property's hard-surface area, including rooftops, sidewalks, driveways and parking lots. The money collected pays for building and maintaining the runoff collection systems necessary to meet federal and state clean-water laws.

Establishing a new fee is rarely popular. But here it has certain advantages. It establishes a modest revenue stream that is dedicated to a specific capital need. It better allows local governments to take advantage of historically low interest rates and issue infrastructure bonds. It sets up opportunities for public-private partnerships and for bringing new technologies to market. And it keeps pressure off real estate

tax rates.

A number of localities, mostly in low-lying Hampton Roads, have already set up stormwater utilities, including Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, Hampton and Chesapeake. The small city of Portsmouth collects just over $5 million yearly, where much larger Virginia Beach takes in about $25 million.

Richmond established a stormwater utility in 2009. Homeowners pay between $25 and $70 a year, with larger property owners paying more, giving the city about $7.5 million annually to fund infrastructure improvements to filter runoff pollutants before they hit the James River and flow to the bay.

Other localities likely will consider establishing stormwater programs to fund new or improved runoff collection systems. Whether in the bay watershed or not, all Virginia localities, under state and federal law, will face stiffer stormwater regulations.

Improving water quality in local streams and rivers so that the bay is cleaner has been a decades-long struggle. The EPA's toughened stance is bringing the issue and its challenges into clearer focus.

Creating stormwater utilities is arguably the most direct way for local governments to meet the law's demands. Other options exist, but they may be politically less attractive and fiscally less prudent.