Septic system debate swirls around money

As the County Council considers a sweeping plan to cut the pollution emitted by septic systems, the debate tomorrow night will center on dollars and cents, not environmental policy.

Three councilmen have proposed requiring homeowners near the waterfront to replace failing septic systems with enhanced ones that cut nitrogen pollution in half.

Though widely considered an excellent policy for the environment, the plan has become mired in questions over whether state money will be available to help homeowners defray the costs.

Sponsors point to a $6 million annual stream of state grant money - available to pay for most of the $3,000 to $17,000 in additional cost - plus a $17 million pool currently earmarked for helping residents upgrade septic systems.

But County Executive John R. Leopold's administration warns that at a time when state legislators are looking for every spare dollar to close next year's $1 billion-plus budget gap, the feasibility of the plan may be in jeopardy.

A vote on the bill is scheduled for tomorrow night's council meeting, but four legislators have yet to step forward promising to pass the plan.

Though no councilmen have given public indication they plan to vote against it, the main concern has become whether the bill will stick homeowners with the tab with no guarantee the government will help out.

Councilman Ron Dillon, R-Pasadena, Jamie Benoit, D-Crownsville, and Josh Cohen, D-Annapolis, have been pushing the measure as a way to accelerate a voluntary program that has not moved quickly enough.

Residents already can apply for the grant to pay for upgrades to their sewer systems, but only 63 of the about 200 homeowners who replaced septic systems near the Chesapeake Bay last year have received the grant to pay for nitrogen-pollution technology.

Mr. Benoit vowed to repeal the bill if the state ever ran out of money for the program.

"I want to put ourselves in the position to be a victim of our own success," he said.

Jay Prager, deputy manager of the wastewater permit program with the Maryland Department of Environment, said that if Anne Arundel requested money for about 200 septic systems a year, not only could the state afford it, "We would do it in a second."

"Anne Arundel County hasn't managed to disperse all the money we gave them two years ago, but we would replenish it if they needed more," he said.

Mr. Prager did caution that there are no certainties in state funding. The $17 million pool must be spent by the end of December 2009, although there appears to be more than enough money in the near future.

Outgoing county Health Officer Frances Phillips called the effort a "noble bill." But she told the council she had a different understanding of the way state funds were distributed, and her impression was the county would quickly burn through the $2.6 million already in its coffers to replace the septic systems. She was less optimistic state funding would come through.

"The spirit of the bill is a genuine one, it is an environmentally sound one," Ms. Phillips told the council at a recent hearing.

She quickly offered an explanation why she does not support it: "But I have to think that an analogy may be that if you fail your (vehicle) emissions testing, not only are you required to go back and fix whatever the problem is with your catalytic converter, oh by the way, you have to buy a hybrid."

Environmental policy makers have focused on nitrogen removal as one way to help restore the bay, which currently fails to meet federal Clean Water Act standards.

Excess nitrogen is the main element in "nutrient pollution" that triggers a cycle of unrestrained algae blooms that starve underwater plants from sunlight and ultimately deprive marine life of oxygen. Septic systems are only one source of the extra nitrogen; significant amounts come from farm pollution, urban stormwater runoff and sewage plants.

Already, all new homes in the critical area near the bay constructed with septic systems are required to have the nitrogen-reducing technology. Those systems cost between $3,000 and $17,000 more than a conventional system.

Mr. Benoit and his cosponsors argue mandating residents to take advantage of the state grant program is the only way to force environmental reform. Ms. Phillips said mandates have unintended consequences and this one might encourage residents with failing systems to avoid repairs instead of paying for expensive upgrades that may not be financed.

"Unless there's enough money to fully subsidize this technology, it will drive underground the very legitimate requests for repairs that we get now," Ms. Phillips said.

Several of the county's various environmental groups have expressed support for the measure, calling it a better way to heal the bay than the current voluntary grant program.

"This (current voluntary grant system) is the carrot that will encourage them to upgrade. But we also need a stick," said Bob Whitcomb, a vice president of the Severn River Association.

The vote on the bill is slated for the council meeting at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Arundel Center, 44 Calvert St. in Annapolis.