stormwater fee

As the Baltimore County Council considers cutting stormwater fees by one-third, members are being pressured to cut the fees even further.

Gov. Larry Hogan offered four kinds of tax relief in the first State of the State speech of his nascent administration, promising to push for breaks that impact the environment, small businesses, some retirees and transportation funding.

House Speaker Michael E. Busch is vowing to resist any move this year to repeal the storm-water pollution cleanup fees being charged in Baltimore city and most of Maryland's largest counties.

Sen. James Brochin, a Baltimore County Democrat known for his independent stands, is sponsoring legislation loved and hated by environmentalists. One bill would repeal the storm-water management fees meant to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay, while the other bill would ban hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in Maryland because of concerns about pollution and health and safety from the drilling techniques.

Joined by several county council members, Harford County Executive Barry Glassman signed legislation Monday morning repealing the county's two-year-old stormwater management fee.

Local governments around the Baltimore region are rolling back or eliminating stormwater fees, derided as the "rain tax."

A proposal to repeal Harford County's version of the state-mandated stormwater remediation fee, popularly called "the rain tax," got plenty of opposition from the public at a council hearing Tuesday night.

As he promised in his inaugural address, Harford County Executive Barry Glassman has sent legislation to the county council authorizing collection of a new tax and the repeal of an existing one.