Clean Water Act

When we receive our next tax statement from Prince George’s County, most of us will find a Clean Water Act fee of $41.48 added to the bill.

What is this fee? In 2010 the Federal government required states to meet new standards under the Clean Water Act to reduce stormwater runoff pollution from impervious surfaces – parking lots, roads, and roofs. In turn, the State of Maryland passed a Watershed Protection and Restoration Program that requires counties to implement a Clean Water Act Fee. And in its turn, Prince George’s County has established a payment structure for property owners. The Department of Environmental Resources is administering the program.

The funds collected will be used to retrofit parking lots, roads, and roofs in ways that will filter out pollutants from stormwater.

Most of the property owners in Cheverly, those whose lots are under one acre, will pay $41.48 per year. (The impact fee is actually $20.90; the rest goes to administration.)

Can we reduce our fees? Yes, we can! How?

• Remove pavement and replace it with native plants or permeable pavement

• See a driveway constructed of permeable materials at 6109 Inwood.

• Install rain barrels

• Install rain gardens

• Find more on installing rain barrels and rain gardens right here on the Green Plan site. You can see rain barrels in use at many homes in Cheverly. See a rain garden in the making at 3148 Belleview Avenue.

• Plant trees. The Town of Cheverly will plant trees in your yard. Send the application to the Cheverly Public Works Department to request your tree.

• Install green roofs

You probably recognize all these “best management practices” as among those recommended in the Cheverly Green Plan. While the Watershed Protection and Restoration Program emphasizes reduction in pollution from stormwater runoff, the Cheverly Green Infrastructure Plan shows that the same practices which help keep rainwater where it falls help reduce the volume, velocity, and temperature of runoff. In this way our streams are given a chance to recover as living systems that can support aquatic life.

And now the county will help us achieve these goals.

More details of the program, along with “how-to” information, are on the DER web site. From the general stormwater management page, click on Clean Water Act to find details on appeals, credits, a fee calculator, financial hardship, and alternative compliance.

• Rain Check Rebates to find applications and forms and a pdf flyer on the rebate process.

• Resources to find Clean Water Act fee forms.

• "Best Management Practices," duplicated at each tab, leads to "how-to" information.

Learn more at these useful links:

• Description of the Watershed Protection and Restoration Program (also known as the Clean Water Act Fee). More (frequently asked questions). Flyer about the program.

• Adam Ortiz, DER Director, talks about the Clean Water Act (video).

• Press release about the passage of the stormwater bill.

• Rebate program information.