Chicago suburb Arlington Heights, for example, is implementing a new stormwater utility fee for businesses to help fund flood control projects throughout town, according to the Daily Herald. While small businesses (up to 40,000) square feet per billed meter, will pay just $6.25 additional per month, larger businesses will have higher fees in four tiers, depending on the size of the facility and the number of meters. These fees will range from about $12 per month to more than $30 per month.
While these additional fees may not make or break a business, the new Arlington Heights fee highlights the challenges that businesses across the U.S. — face in terms of stormwater management. In Colorado Springs, CO, for example, organizations may be facing a one-time fee to fix the city’s stormwater system. The EPA filed a lawsuit against the city in November for not adequately funding its stormwater management program, a failure that caused problems for cities to the south, according to KKTV 11 News.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has said that restoring the country’s water infrastructure is one of the EPA’s top priorities, so the pace of water management improvement projects in cities will likely increase — potentially boosting stormwater management fees for businesses. However, the EPA also offers a financial assistance program for a wide range of water infrastructure projects, via the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) . The program is a partnership between the EPA and the states that replaced EPA’s Construction Grants program. States have the flexibility to fund a range of projects that address their highest priority water quality needs. The program was amended in 2014 by the Water Resources Reform and Development Act.
