A bill promoted by the Maryland Department of the Environment would force electricity producers to pay a fee on each ton of fly ash and similar products it produces. The money would go toward monitoring and regulating the material.

The aim is to prevent cases like the one in Gambrills, where fly ash that was used to fill an old mine seeped dangerous chemicals into well water at nearby homes.

The department's written testimony to lawmakers reads, in part: "A new regulatory program is needed to ensure situations such as occurred in Anne Arundel County resulting in significant contamination of local drinking water wells does not occur in the future."

MDE officials already have proposed the first part of its new monitoring program; the rest should be outlined this summer. The total cost for more staff and more inspections will be $750,000, said Stephen Pattison, a state assistant secretary for the environment.

The bill doesn't set a specific amount for the fee the power companies would pay; rather, MDE would write regulations and set the fee.

With Constellation Energy, Mirant and other power producers creating 2 million tons of fly ash and other "coal combustion byprodcuts" per year, a fee of 37 or 38 cents per ton would raise the $750,000 MDE is seeking, Mr. Pattison said.

"It won't be a significant financial impact on us," said Constellation Energy spokesman Kevin Thornton.

Constellation has several coal-burning plants, including two in Pasadena. Constellation's Maryland plants produce 789,000 tons of fly ash and other byproducts per year, according to the company.

If all that is taxed at 38 cents, the company would pay just shy of $300,000 per year.

But Constellation and other affected companies are seeking a change in the bill that would give credits when the byproducts are used for "beneficial reuse," such as in cement or wallboard.

The amount of byproducts should increase for Constellation and other power producers when "scrubbers" are installed to meet stricter pollution laws.

So-called "scrubber sludge" is used in wallboard and is being tested on farm crops.

"With increasing regulations, you're capturing more of the emissions, so you have to find ways to use it," Mr. Thornton said. "It's not going out the stack."

Of Constellation's byproducts, about 60 percent is used beneficially and 40 percent is used as "structural fill" - which was the situation in Gambrills.

From 1995 until last fall, about 200,000 tons of fly ash were dumped annually into an old surface mine there owned by BBSS Inc. and operated by Reliable Contracting Co.

A county Health Department investigation revealed groundwater and wells in the area around the site have been contaminated with an array of heavy metals - some carcinogenic - because of the dumping. As a result, the state fined Constellation $1 million, residents filed a lawsuit and the county banned fly ash dumping for one year.

Brad Heavner, director of the advocacy group Environment Maryland, said it makes sense to charge a fee on businesses that produce fly ash. He said MDE needs the cash to do a better job on fly ash oversight.

"They really knew for years that fly ash would come back and haunt them, but they could never get on top of that," Mr. Heavner said.

Mr. Pattison said his agency is talking with Constellation and the other affected companies. Even if a compromise is worked out, it remains to be seen whether the bill can survive with only one week left in the General Assembly session.

There would have to be some legislative maneuvers to get the bill moving along, as key deadlines for getting initial approval for bills have already passed.

MDE has been trying to get publicity for the bill and Secretary Shari Wilson has been making personal appeals to lawmakers - especially Anne Arundel lawmakers - to gain their support.

"We are lobbying very heavily ... Certainly, we think this bill would benefit the citizens of Anne Arundel County and the whole state," Mr. Pattison said.