A news report about a public hearing on Charles County's Financial Assurance Plan. The plan is intended to ensure funds are available to carry out restoration projects required by the county's stormwater permit. These projects are outlined in extensive Restoration Plan. This is the 1st time that the Maryland-issued MS4 permit and subsequent legislation required the county to produce a Restoration Plan and Financial Assurance Plan. These plans are an eye-opener. The plans essentially say that the impervious surface built in the past without stormwater controls overwhelms the ability to retrofit 20% of the surfaces within the five-year permit cycle. And the Restoration Plan also is unable to see a way to reduce nitrogen pollution to the level "required" in the pollution diet for Mattawoman Creek from a year-2000 baseline. |