Chapter 13. Bay Restoration Fund Implementation

A household septic or any other septic system with average daily flow of 195 gallons per day or less is considered one septic equivalent dwelling unit; or

For a larger septic system, septic equivalent dwelling units are determined by the average daily flow of the system divided by 195 gallons per day.

First for ENR upgrades at wastewater treatment plants with a design capacity of 500,000 gallons per day or more that discharge to the Chesapeake Bay;

Second for the most cost-effective ENR upgrades at wastewater treatment plants with a design capacity of less than 500,000 gallons per day that discharge to the Chesapeake Bay;

Third for ENR upgrades at wastewater treatment plants that discharge into the Atlantic Coastal Bay or other waters of the State;

Fourth for future upgrades of wastewater treatment plants to achieve additional nutrient removal or water quality improvements at ENR treatment levels or better;

Fifth for combined sewer overflow abatement projects, rehabilitation of existing sewers, and upgrading conveyance systems, including pumping stations.

First for ENR upgrades at wastewater treatment plants with a design capacity of 500,000 gallons per day or more that discharge to the Chesapeake Bay;

Second for the most cost-effective ENR upgrades at wastewater treatment plants with a design capacity of less than 500,000 gallons per day that discharge to the Chesapeake Bay, based on their project ranking in accordance with §C of this regulation;

Third for ENR upgrades at wastewater treatment plants that discharge into the Atlantic Coastal Bay or other waters of the State, based on their project ranking in accordance with §C of this regulation;

Fourth for future upgrades of wastewater facilities to achieve additional nutrient removal or water quality improvements at ENR treatment levels or better, based on their project ranking in accordance with §C of this regulation;

Fifth for purchase of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment load reductions in accordance with §F of this regulation;

Sixth for any of the following types of projects based on their project ranking in accordance with §C of this regulation:

The users of the wastewater treatment plant pay the Bay Restoration Fund fee;

The owner shall file an application with the Department on or before January 31 of each year, or by a date specified by the Department;

The owner shall demonstrate, by submitting performance data for the prior calendar year, that the plant was operated in a manner that optimized enhanced nutrient removal and used its best efforts to achieve equal to or less than 3 mg/l total nitrogen and equal to or less than 0.3 mg/l total phosphorus in wastewater effluent concentration;

The owner shall provide data requested by the Department about the impact that a wastewater treatment plant that was upgraded to ENR has had on growth within the municipality or county that such a wastewater treatment plant is located as required by Environment Article, §9-1605.2, Annotated Code of Maryland.

The environmental practices generating the purchased nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment load reductions shall be located in Maryland;

The purchase of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment load reductions may not be from the agricultural sector or be permitted from environmental practices implemented on agricultural land as defined in COMAR 15.20.12.02;

The load reductions to be purchased pursuant to these regulations shall have been created on or after July 1, 2017; and

The load reductions purchased pursuant to these regulations may not be used for any other purpose.

The contracts executed by the Department for the purchase of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment load reductions may not exceed an annual obligation of $4,000,000 in FY 2018, $6,000,000 in FY 2019, $10,000,000 in FY 2020 and $10,000,000 in FY 2021, and may not exceed a cumulative expenditure of $30,000,000 over the term of the contracts;

The term of the contracts for the annual purchase of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment load reductions may not exceed the useful life of the environmental practice as determined by the Department;

The Department may not sign any new contracts for the annual purchase of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment load reductions after June 30, 2021; and

Payment provisions will be defined in each purchasing contract and shall require documentation submitted by the seller reporting the nitrogen, phosphorus, or sediment load reduction resulting from a completed environmental practice.

The baseline for wastewater treatment plants that received a grant from the Bay Restoration Fund for ENR upgrade shall be the lesser of:

The baseline for wastewater treatment plants that did not receive a grant from the Bay Restoration Fund shall be the lesser of:

The baseline per septic equivalent dwelling unit for nitrogen loading for a septic system that is connected to wastewater treatment plant on or after July 1, 2017, and did not receive State or federal financial assistance for the connection shall be:

The baseline for a permittee implementing stormwater best management practices and non-agricultural nonpoint source practices for nitrogen, phosphorus, or sediment reduction shall be the load reduction achieved after subtracting the load reductions the permittee is required to make under its municipal separate storm sewer system permit; or

The baseline for a person not regulated under municipal separate storm sewer system permit or property owner implementing stormwater best management practices or any other permissible nonpoint source practices for nitrogen, phosphorus, or sediment reduction shall be the existing conditions of the date a proposal is submitted for the purchase of a load reduction pursuant to these regulations, as determined by the Department consistent with appropriate assumptions and provisions of the Chesapeake Bay TMDL and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Model, or other Chesapeake Bay Program models, provided that the reduction is not used by a regulated entity to meet the reductions required under its municipal separate storm sewer system permit.

For a wastewater treatment plant, the load reduction is the annual loading identified in the monthly discharge monitoring reports submitted to the Department by the permittee as required under the national pollution discharge elimination system permit or groundwater discharge permit, subtracted from the baseline loading;

For septic system connections to wastewater treatment plants, the nitrogen reduction from each septic system is the average flow of 250 gallons per day per connected septic equivalent dwelling unit multiplied by the annual average nitrogen concentration at the wastewater treatment plant servicing the connections for the calendar year preceding the connection, subtracted from the baseline loading;

For a septic system connection to wastewater treatment plants, the phosphorus reduction is zero lbs/year; or

For stormwater best management practices and non-agricultural non-point source practices, the load reduction is the loads generated after the implementation of the best management practice as determined by the Department consistent with appropriate assumptions and provisions of the Chesapeake Bay TMDL and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Model, or other Chesapeake Bay Program models subtracted from the baseline loading.

Cost — Lowest annual cost per pound for nitrogen and phosphorus load reduction, and lowest cost/ton for sediment load reduction with the cost of reduction for each pollutant evaluated and compared independently;

Materiality — Annual load reduction of at least 500 lbs of nitrogen or 100 lbs of phosphorus or 30 tons of sediment;

Sustainability — The environment practice is innovative and is able to produce nitrogen, phosphorus, or sediment load reductions, or combinations thereof, for extended periods of time or provide additional environmental benefits; and

Additional benefits — The environmental practice provides additional benefits to water quality, habitat, watershed function, or social/community enhancement beyond nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment reduction.

The cost to upgrade an existing onsite sewage disposal system with the best available technology for the removal of nitrogen;

The cost difference between a conventional onsite sewage disposal system and an onsite sewage disposal system that utilizes the best available technology for the removal of nitrogen;

The cost of replacing multiple onsite sewage disposal systems located in the same community with a new community sewerage system that is owned by a local government and that meets enhanced nutrient removal standards, and the cost may not exceed the sum of the cost difference between conventional onsite sewage disposal systems and new onsite sewage disposal systems that use the best available technology for removing nitrogen; and

The cost of connecting a property using an onsite sewage disposal systems to an existing wastewater treatment plant that meets either enhanced nutrient removal or biological nutrient removal standards. This cost may not exceed the sum of the cost of onsite sewage disposal systems that include best available technology for removing nitrogen. This cost may include payment of principal, but not interest, of debt issued by a local government for such connection.

Up to 100 percent of the approved cost for annual household income of $300,000 or less;

Up to 50 percent of the approved cost for annual household income above $300,000.

Information about the public health issues that the project addresses including a description of the current condition of the onsite sewage disposal system based on factors such as type of soil, lot size, water table, bacteria samples, and dye tests;

The anticipated mitigation that the project will provide to the identified public health issues;

Information regarding any potential new development resulting from the project;

Measures to be taken to mitigate the potential impacts of new growth resulting from the project;

Evidence that demonstrates the total net nitrogen reduction resulting from the project as well as any additional nitrogen loading that may result from potential new growth, including:

Language amending the Water and Sewer Plan in draft or final form to identify the problem area and provide proof of available sewer service capacity, including identity of all necessary service agreements, proposed service area boundary changes, and any text and data changes needed to document new sewerage services.

Provide a 30-day public notice on its website homepage summarizing:

Provide a copy of the public notice to any interested party that has requested such notice; and

Provide an opportunity for a public hearing, if requested within 30 days of the public notice.

The applicant shall attend the hearing and present information concerning the application;

Written comments shall be accepted if they are received by the Department on or before the deadline specified by the Department; and

Oral comments may be made at the public hearing.

Based on the information received with the application, along with any written comments received or any oral public comments received at the hearing that raise issues of law or material facts regarding an application for funding, but only if the issues are pertinent to purposes of the onsite sewage disposal system fund; or

If no public hearing is requested, based on the information received with the application and from written comments that raise issues of law or material facts regarding an application for funding, but only if the issues are pertinent to purposes of the onsite sewage disposal system fund.

A denial of access for any future connections not included in the project’s proposed service area;

Limits on potential new developments that could result from the project;

A requirement to amend the county water and sewer plan;

Provisions to ensure that the funding for the project will not unduly impede access to funding for upgrading other individual onsite sewage disposal systems within the jurisdiction; and

A certification from the county’s environmental health director that the project is consistent with a public health area of concern and shall be subsequently added to the county’s water and sewer plan.