A June 16 article from The Capital details Anne Arundel County’s new stormwater ordinance. The new ordinance reflects stormwater management regulations adopted during the 2010 Session.
The county is poised to take on sweeping regulations to limit the amount of stormwater rushing into the Chesapeake Bay.
Spurred by new state laws, the rules that landed on the desk of the County Council yesterday would allow builders to use more techniques to keep the damaging water away from the county’s tributaries.
“These are substantive changes to the way the county does development,” said Councilwoman Cathy Vitale, R-Severna Park, who presided over a discussion of the changes.
The overhaul of the rules would place the first emphasis on evaluating the environmental impact of building so that a project can be designed to allow rainwater to percolate into the ground instead of rushing off into failing waterways. …
The new regulations would do nothing to combat existing sources of stormwater pollution – namely established neighborhoods.
County officials have estimated it would cost more than $2 billion to retrofit existing neighborhoods with the proper tools to combat stormwater pollution.
