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Maryland Senate President Introduces Stormwater Fee Changes

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Maryland's Senate president has proposed some changes to the state's stormwater management fees.

The measure introduced Wednesday would remove a mandate that nine counties and the city of Baltimore impose a fee to pay for stormwater management.

The jurisdictions would still have to pay for measures to help fight pollution from impervious surfaces that wash into Maryland waters by rain. They would need to submit a financial assurance plan to show how they would meet federal stormwater management requirements.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller's bill would set a fee cap on nonprofit groups that is equal to $15 per 1,000 square feet.

Critics of the 2012 measure have derided the fee as "the rain tax." Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, has proposed repealing it.

(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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