MACo Policy Associate Alex Butler testified to the Senate Education, Health, & Environmental Affairs Committee to support SB 495 – Bay Restoration Fund – Use of Funds – Municipal Wastewater Facilities. This bill would not change the amount of funds placed in the Bay Restoration Fund (BRF), but would expand the authorized uses of funds to include costs associated with the connection of a property using an on-site sewage disposal system to an existing municipal wastewater facility that has signed a funding agreement with the Department of the Environment and is under construction to achieve enhanced nutrient removal or biological nutrient removal level treatment.

From the MACo Testimony:

Several counties have wastewater facilities that are in the process of upgrading but do not have the funds to complete the project due to lack of connections. This would provide needed support for connections to facilities intending to upgrade. The result is a preferable one for environmental outcomes, as in virtually all cases a connection to upgraded municipal facilities yields better pollution deterrence than upgraded on-site septic systems.

Follow MACo’s advocacy efforts during the 2020 legislative session on MACo’s Legislative Tracking Database.