There is hereby established a Local Watershed Protection and Restoration Fund.

Clean Water Act Fee. Except as provided in this section, the County shall annually collect a Clean Water Act Fee from owners of property located within the County. The Clean Water Act Fee shall be established by resolution of the County Council. The resolution shall include a schedule of fees based upon any of the following: Impervious area existing on the property as of March 1 of the year in which the fee is imposed; Zoning classification of the property; and A flat rate. For the purpose of setting the Clean Water Act Fee as provided in subparagraph (a)(2)(A) of this section, impervious area existing on a property shall be determined based upon any of the following methods: Analysis of aerial photography; Measurement from approved engineering drawings including, without limitation, as-built drawings or site plans; Field surveys signed and sealed by a professional engineer or professional land surveyor licensed in the State of Maryland; or Inspections conducted by the Department of the Environment. Property owned by the State, a unit of State Government, the County, a municipality, or a regularly organized Volunteer Fire Department that is used for public purposes shall not be assessed a Clean Water Act Fee under this section. A property that has an agricultural use assessment as determined by the State Department of Assessments and Taxation shall be subject to a fee based on the impervious surface measurement only for the principal residential structure located on the property. The Clean Water Act Fee shall be collected in the same manner as County real property taxes and shall have the same priority, rights, and bear the same interest and penalties, and be enforced in the same manner as County real property taxes. Any unpaid portion of the Clean Water Act Fee shall be a lien upon the real property for which it is imposed and shall have the same priority as a lien imposed for nonpayment of real property taxes. There shall be deposited in the Local Watershed Protection and Restoration Fund: All Clean Water Act Fees collected by the County; Interest or other income earned on the investment of money in the Local Watershed Protection and Restoration Fund; and Any additional money made available from any sources for the purposes for which the Local Watershed Protection and Restoration Fund has been established.

Subject to subsection (b) of this section, the Local Watershed Protection and Restoration Fund shall be used for the following purposes: Capital improvements for stormwater management, including stream and wetland restoration projects; Operation and maintenance of stormwater management systems and facilities; Public education and outreach relating to stormwater management or stream and wetland restoration; Stormwater management planning, including: Mapping and assessment of impervious surfaces; and Monitoring, inspection, and enforcement activities to carry out the purposes of the Local Watershed Protection and Restoration Fund; To the extent that fees imposed under Section 4-204, Environment Article, Annotated Code of Maryland, are deposited into the Local Watershed Protection and Restoration Fund, review of stormwater management plans and permit applications for new development; Grants to nonprofit organizations for up to 100% of a project's costs for watershed restoration and rehabilitation projects relating to: Planning, design, and construction of stormwater management practices; Stream and wetland restoration; and Public education and outreach related to stormwater management or stream and wetland restoration; provided that County-based businesses, as defined in Section 10A-101(a)(13), shall be utilized for watershed restoration and rehabilitation projects by nonprofit organizations receiving grants from the Local Watershed Protection and Restoration Fund, except where the Director of Central Services determines in writing that insufficient local business capacity exists for a particular good or service; Reasonable costs necessary to administer the Local Watershed Protection and Restoration Fund. The County may use the Local Watershed Protection and Restoration Fund as an Environmental Fund, and may deposit to and expend from the Fund additional money made available from other sources and dedicated to environmental uses, provided that the funds received from the Clean Water Act Fee are expended only for purposes authorized under subsection (a) of this section. Money in the Local Watershed Protection and Restoration Fund shall not revert or be transferred to the general fund.

The Director of the Environment, or his designee, shall administer the Fund in accordance with the provisions of this Division and Subtitle 32, Division 3, Subdivision 4 of this Code.

Beginning July 1, 2014, and every 2 years thereafter, the Director of the Environment shall make publicly available a report on: The number of properties subject to the Clean Water Act Fee; The amount of money deposited into the Local Watershed Protection and Restoration Fund over the previous 2 fiscal years; and The percentage of funds in the Local Watershed Protection and Restoration Fund spent on each of the purposes provided in section 10-303 of this Division.