# Montgomery County Code — Part II. Local Laws, Ordinances, Resolutions, Etc.

## Chapter 45. Sewers, Sewage Disposal and Drainage.

### Article I. Water and Sewer Service Extensions.

**Sec. 45-1. Authority to extend water and sewer service outside approved area.**

  (a)    Community sewerage and water supply service may only be extended to areas in conformance with the comprehensive water supply and sewerage systems plan developed pursuant to state law except as noted in subsection (b).

  (b)    Under conditions of an existing or anticipated health hazard, the county Department of Environmental Protection may require connections of individual structures to a community water supply and sewerage system if available.

**Sec. 45-2. Service area category changes — application; fees.**

  (a)   A property owner seeking a change in the property's water or sewer service area category designation under the County's Ten-Year Comprehensive Water and Sewer Plan may request the change by filing an application with the Department of Environmental Protection on a form prescribed by the Director of Environmental Protection.

  (b)   The County Executive must establish application fees by Executive Regulation under method (2).

**Secs. 45-3 — 45-7. Reserved.**

### Article II. Excreta Disposal.

### Article III. Storm Drainage Districts.

**Secs. 45-19 — 45-26. Reserved.**

### Article IV. Special Sewer Assessment Districts.

**Sec. 45-27. Authority to create.**

  The county council may create from time to time within the Washington Suburban Sanitary District in the county special sewer assessment districts to provide the extension of sewer facilities and the levying of benefit assessments therein for the financing of the extension. The districts may be created when the county council shall have determined that any extension in the six-year sewer program, as approved by it pursuant to the provisions of title 7 of article 29 of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended, is necessary for the implementation of programs for staging the orderly growth of the county; for service to programmed construction of other public facilities in the county; or for the elimination of public health and sanitation problems and that alternative methods of funding are necessary to achieve any of these objectives. The district shall encompass all properties which could be served by the programmed extension, and the construction of the extension is hereby declared to be a general benefit to all these properties.

**Sec. 45-28. Hearing prior to creation.**

  Prior to the establishing of any assessment district and the levying of any assessment, the county council shall hold a public hearing thereon after thirty (30) days' notice thereof published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. Notice of the time and place of the hearing, together with a description of the programmed extension and the district to be established shall be mailed to the owner of each parcel of land proposed to be assessed for benefit received from the programmed extension, such mailing to be made by depositing a written notice in the United States mail at least two (2) weeks before the date of the hearing and to be to the owners and to their addresses as the same appear on the real property assessment records of the county. Prior to the hearing, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission shall be requested to furnish the county council with an engineering determination of the maximum area limits which could be served by the programmed extension; the estimated cost and time for construction of the extension; and the amounts and sources of funds available to the commission to defray the cost of the construction. If such information is not furnished, the hearing shall proceed on the basis of the information contained in the latest commission six-year capital improvements program approved under the provisions of title 7 of article 29 of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended.

**Sec. 45-29. Determination of need; resolution.**

  If, after the hearing provided for in this article, the council shall determine for any of the reasons set forth in section 45-27 that a special sewer assessment district is required for the public interest, health, safety or welfare, it shall by law designate the area of such assessment district and direct that the programmed extension be undertaken pursuant to agreements entered into with the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission for the construction of such facilities under the authority contained in section 1-206 of article 29 of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended. The council at or about the time of enactment of such law shall by resolution describe generally the work to be done, determine the benefit to all properties affected thereby and estimate the cost to be borne by benefitted properties.

**Sec. 45-30. Assessment and financing.**

  Upon completion of the construction, the council shall by resolution assess the benefit in terms of resulting costs to the county thereof, including actual cost of publication of notices, conduct of hearings, advertising for bids, engineering and all costs of financing incurred prior to the adoption of the resolution, to all land encompassed within the assessment district and shall levy such assessment thereon for the recovery of the benefit or portion thereof on either an ad valorem basis or on a per-acre basis on all of the land. Notice of such assessment shall be given by placing a true copy of the resolution in the United States mail addressed to the owner of the property as shall appear on the real property assessment records of the county giving opportunity for objections thereto within thirty (30) days of such deposit in the mail. Such assessment shall be final; provided, that any person aggrieved by such assessment may appeal the same to the circuit court for the county within thirty (30) days after the expiration of the time for objection. The proceeds of the assessment may be expended by the county council for or in aid of the purposes of this article or may be paid over to the commission for these purposes. In the event the assessments levied together with all capital contributions or other funds received by either the county or the commission for such extension exceed the original capital costs of the completed project, such excess funds shall be applied as credits toward payment of any unpaid assessments or as refunds in whole or in part of assessments fully paid, as applicable.

**Sec. 45-31. Article to be supplemental.**

  Nothing herein is intended to be a substitute for any other method or system for financing of projects, particularly those in section 5-101 of article 29 of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended, it being intended to provide for a supplementary source of funds where the scheduled construction has been determined to be needed by the county council for the public purposes of this article. Nothing in this chapter authorizes the county council to construct or maintain sewer systems. Assessments levied in an assessment district under this chapter shall be used only for financing sewer systems within that district or related to the district or the system therein.

### Article V. Areawide Wastewater Treatment Management Planning.

**Sec. 45-32. Purpose; authority to create article.**

  The county council finds that the health, safety and welfare of the residents and taxpayers of the county are beneficially served through participation by the county in an areawide wastewater treatment management planning agency to be established under the provisions of section 208 Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (P.L. 92-500); further, the county council finds that authority exists to provide for county participation in this program through the enactment of this amendment.

**Sec. 45-33. Charter approval and amendment; procedure for participation in planning.**

  (a)   The charter for areawide water resources planning submitted to the county by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments on August 23, 1974, is hereby approved as it relates to the county, and the county is hereby authorized to participate in the activities provided under such charter.

  (b)   Such charter provides procedures for its own amendment. In those instances where local government approval is required for charter amendment to become effective, the county council, after receiving the recommendations of the county executive, may, by local legislation, approve such amendments on behalf of the county. Such action shall be taken within the time required in such charter amendment procedure.

  (c)   The county executive and such alternate member as the executive may select shall serve as a representative from the executive branch on the Metropolitan Washington Water Resources Planning Board. The county council shall select one (1) of its members to serve as a member and a member or nonmember of the council to serve as an alternate member on the Metropolitan Washington Water Resources Planning Board. Members and alternate members shall serve at the pleasure of the respective body appointing them.

  (d)   Voting authority of the county on the water resources planning board shall be divided equally between and exercised by the members or alternates appointed by the county council and the county executive.

**Sec. 45-34. Plan review and approval.**

  The plan of the water resources planning board, prepared in accordance with law and the charter establishing such board, and amendments thereto shall be submitted to the county council, the county executive, the county planning board and the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission for review. At least five (5) days prior to the date established for a public hearing by the county council on the plan and any amendments thereto, the county executive, the planning board and the sanitary commission shall submit recommendations thereon in writing to the county council. After receiving the recommendations of the county executive, the planning board and the sanitary commission and after public hearing, the county council may approve or disapprove the plan or amendments as they affect the county; provided, that if the plan or amendments are disapproved by the county council, the council shall submit in writing to the board the council's reasons for disapproval.

**Sec. 45-35. Work program of water resources planning board; authority of county executive.**

  It is the intent of the county council and county executive that county participation in the planning process, conducted through the water resources planning board shall be conditioned upon the consistency of the annual work program and budget with maximum involvement of the county water resources planning staff to the extent that these responsibilities are pertinent to that work program and budget.

  In furtherance of this policy, the water resources planning board's annual work program and budget shall be reviewed to ensure that the county is clearly assigned the primary responsibilities and commensurate funding to undertake at least the following programs and projects involving areas within the county that may be included in the work program:

  (a)   Provisions of community water supply and wastewater disposal systems;

  (b)   Programs of individual water supply and wastewater disposal systems both on an interim and indefinite basis;

  (c)   Disposal of solid wastes as they relate to water pollution control;

  (d)   Planning, programming and financing requirements for the orderly expansion and extension of community and individual water supply, wastewater and solid waste disposal systems consistent with anticipated growth within succeeding five-, ten- and twenty-year periods;

  (e)   Local implementation of the required regulatory programs necessary to regulate discharges into the waters of the county, including those resulting from excavation and grading;

  (f)   Programs for the control of nonpoint sources of pollution, such as agricultural, silvicultural discharges and landfill discharges;

  (g)   Identification and control of construction related sources of pollution.

  The county executive is authorized to use such county resources as are available to him through approved appropriations and any supplementary funds made available by the water resources planning board to undertake the activities noted above and to assign such county personnel to work with the staff of the water resources planning board as he deems appropriate and desirable, consistent with other legal responsibilities under state or local law.

**Sec. 45-36. Status of sewerage or water related programs or projects with prior approval.**

  Sewerage or water related programs or projects duly approved by the county council prior to the effective date of any approved areawide water resources plan prepared under these procedures shall continue in force and effect.