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<section number="10-302" name="Financing the Fund" law="code" slug="sec-10-302" node_id="PTIITI17PULOLAPRGECOMA_SUBTITLE_10FITA_DIV20LOWAPRREFU_S10-302FIFU">
  <level label="a">
    <text>Clean Water Act Fee.</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Except as provided in this section, the County shall annually collect a Clean Water Act Fee from owners of property located within the County.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>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:</text>
      <level label="A">
        <text>Impervious area existing on the property as of March 1 of the year in which the fee is imposed;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="B">
        <text>Zoning classification of the property; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="C">
        <text>A flat rate.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>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:</text>
      <level label="A">
        <text>Analysis of aerial photography;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="B">
        <text>Measurement from approved engineering drawings including, without limitation, as-built drawings or site plans;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="C">
        <text>Field surveys signed and sealed by a professional engineer or professional land surveyor licensed in the State of Maryland; or</text>
      </level>
      <level label="D">
        <text>Inspections conducted by the Department of the Environment.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>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.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>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.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="6">
      <text>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.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <text>There shall be deposited in the Local Watershed Protection and Restoration Fund:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>All Clean Water Act Fees collected by the County;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Interest or other income earned on the investment of money in the Local Watershed Protection and Restoration Fund; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Any additional money made available from any sources for the purposes for which the Local Watershed Protection and Restoration Fund has been established.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
</section>
