E&E

Paul Quinlan, E&E reporter

Federal agencies would be forced to pay local pollution fees associated with stormwater that runs off impervious surfaces such as parking lots and into local rivers and streams, under a bill Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) filed today.

The bill (S. 3481) would resolve an ongoing debate whether the Clean Water Act allows local entities to collect stormwater fees from the federal government, Cardin said in a statement.

"At stake is a fundamental issue of equity: polluters should be financially responsible for the pollution that they cause," said Cardin, Water and Wildlife Subcommittee chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee. "That must include the federal government."

President Obama has taken a tough stance against water pollution, calling for tough regulation from U.S. EPA in two executive orders issued in 2009 concerning sustainability and the need to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, which has been fouled in part by decades of urban runoff.

But disagreement lingers over whether the feds, which operate military installations and other complexes whose concrete surfaces contribute pollution, should have to pay those fees.

The General Services Administration announced in late April that federal facilities in Washington, D.C., are not required to pay impervious area charges levied by the local municipal sewer authority, claiming that the fees amounted to a tax on the federal government and were therefore unconstitutional.

Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, this week wrote: "In passing the Clean Water Act, Congress provided clear authority to impose 'reasonable service charges' on federal agencies to support the goal of improving the Nation's water resources."

Cardin read the letter as dodging the question of whether the feds would be required to actually pay those fees.

"I believe that this administration recognizes its responsibility to manage the stormwater pollution that comes off federal properties," Cardin said. "But that responsibility needs to translate into payments to the local governments that are forced to deal with this pollution. When enacted, my legislation will remove all ambiguity about the responsibility of the federal government to pay these normal and customary stormwater fees."

While a majority of federal facilities currently pay local clean water fees, a growing number are contesting these charges as unconstitutional, according to the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, which fired off a statement praising Cardin.

"We believe the refusal of the federal government to pay for a critically important local environmental service is not only legally unjustified but also significantly undercuts the administration's commitment to improve water quality throughout the nation," NACWA Executive Director Ken Kirk said.