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Stormwater Facility Programs
Maintenance of Stormwater Management Facilities
Funding of Stormwater Facility Maintenance
Certificate of Attendance for Stormwater Facility Maintenance
Stormwater Facility Transfer Program
Aboveground Stormwater Management Maintenance Contractors
Belowground Stormwater Management Maintenance Contractors
Water Quality Protection Charge
Water Quality Protection Charge Public Meetings
Water Quality Protection Charge Adjustments
Water Quality Protection Charge Appeals
Urban Stormwater runoff is rainwater that goes into stormdrains
and then directly into county streams and rivers. The force of the runoff and pollutants carried in it can adversely affect the receiving streams, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay.
The Stormwater Facility Maintenance Program is responsible for inspecting and ensuring maintenance for all public and private stormwater management facilities within Montgomery County. These 4,000 facilities comprised of wet ponds, dry ponds, sand filters, infiltration trenches, oil grit separators and underground storage structures are vital components to protecting our streams and our safety. Inspection and maintenance of this valuable infrastructure is imperative to keep them functioning so they continue to remove pollution, recharge groundwater, protect stream banks and keep roads from flooding. The Water Quality Protection Charge provides the funding to maintain these structures as assets to our parks, schools, businesses and neighborhoods.
If you live in a neighborhood built after 1968, or even possibly before, and no one in your homeowners association has ever discussed how best to manage the community stormwater pond, or whether the muck should be cleaned out of that curious roadside ditch, you may be in for an unpleasant surprise. Click on Stormwater Alert to find out more.
Maintenance of Stormwater Management Facilities
Click for a list of Aboveground Stormwater Management Maintenance Contractors and Belowground Stormwater Management Maintenance Contractors who have the required Certificate of Attendance from the Department of Environmental Protection’s Stormwater Facility Maintenance Contractor Training.
Click here for Non-Structural Maintenance Requirements.
Click here for “Designation of Authorized On-Site Representative” form.
Commercial Stormwater Facility Maintenance [932k PDF]
A downloadable pdf guide to oil/grit separators, underground storage structures, and other facilities.
A company interested in obtaining certification of attendance for stormwater facility maintenance must attend the approved DEP training program or pass the Interim Certification Test and attend the training within one year.
Funding of Stormwater Facilities Maintenance Policymakers have struggled with the task of equitably funding the maintenance needs of the County’s stormwater management facilities. The variability in funding sources to pay for repair and maintenance of these structures has resulted in some citizen objections to the inequity of the current revenue system. To address this funding equity issue, the Council President and the County Executive formed the Stormwater Financing Options Working Group which was charged with assessing the current system with regards to maintenance and environmental protections for equity and public benefit. An Outline of the Group's report and the complete report itself, Policy and Program Options for Montgomery County Stormwater Management, are available for public review and comment.
Certificate of Attendance for Stormwater Facility Maintenance
A company who performs repair or maintenance on a stormwater management facility must have demonstrated experience in stormwater management facility construction and inspection and hold a certificate of attendance awarded through a training program approved by the Department of Environmental Protection. A company who performs repair or maintenance on an underground stormwater facility must have the training and credentials required under applicable state and federal law. DEP holds an approved training program every spring. A company interested in obtaining certification of attendance for stormwater facility maintenance must attend the approved DEP training program or pass the Interim Certification Test and attend the training within one year.
Check back here to find out the next scheduled training.
The successful completion of this test (minimum score of 70%) will allow your company to maintain and repair stormwater management facilities in Montgomery County, Maryland. In maintained your certification of attendance, it is necessary for supervisory representatives of your company to attend the next annual Stormwater Facility Maintenance Contractor Training class.
Certification Presentation & Training Materials for the Test
Stormwater Facility Transfer Program
The water quality protection charge will help provide funds for maintenance of stormwater facilities by Montgomery County Government. Those owners of stormwater maintenance facilities who would like the county to begin performing routine cleaning, etc., must, among other steps, arrange any necessary easements and/or covenants allowing County officials access to the property and stormwater facility. There are seven steps for recording these necessary easements and covenants. Once these steps have been completed, the County Government becomes the only entity responsible for structural maintenance of the facility. However, the property owner will still be responsible for the non-structural maintenance of the surroundings of the facility (e.g. trash removal, landscaping, grass cutting, etc.). Click to find more information.
The Water Quality Protection Charge (WQPC), which appears as a line item on your tax bill was implemented to pay for the Stormwater Management Program. The program conducts structural maintenance of residential and associated non-residential stormwater facilities and is responsible for water quality improvements in the county. The law authorizing the charge was passed by the County Council and signed by the County Executive after many years of hard work by citizens, County Council Staff, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), as well as other County agencies.
The WQPC is based on the amount of impervious surface of the property and computed as equivalent residential units (ERUs). The WQPC charge for Levy Year 2009 is $45.50 per ERU. The WQPC is assessed to all residential properties and certain non-residential properties. The Charge Classification table below shows the charge assessed to each type of property.
Charge Classification
Charge Amount
Apartments and condominiums
(Multi-family Residential)
Charge based on amount of impervious* surface
Associated Non-residential
(Any property that is not a residential property, including commercial, retail, common areas of homeowner associations, churches, etc.)
Charge based on amount of impervious* surface within a residential drainage area
Single Family Detached Home
$45.50**
Single Family Attached Home (Townhomes)
$15.02**
*Impervious surfaces include roofs, driveways, parking lots, and streets. Impervious surfaces prevent precipitation from soaking into the ground, This excess water carries pollutants into streams and rivers.
** Single family home owners and townhome owners are not eligible for the refund because they are assessed a flat fee, that is not based on the calculation of impervious surface.
Helpful factsheet explaining the Water Quality Protection Charge [140k PDF]
A downloadable Frequently Asked Questions guide to the Water Quality Protection Charge
Water Quality Protection Charge Public Meetings
Water Quality Protection Charge Adjustment for Levy Year 2008
Last year DEP updated impervious surface area calculations for the majority of the county and sent bills to apartments, condominium owners, home owner associations and commercial businesses based on the updated impervious surface. Because DEP did not finish updating the calculations of impervious area for the entire county, and to reduce the extent of the WQPC increase, the County Executive has announced that some homeowner associations, apartment building owners, condominium owners, and commercial property owners will receive a one-time reduction in the Water Quality Protection Charge, which was included in the tax bill they received in July 2008. Click here to see if your account qualifies for an adjustment.
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