AUGUSTA - Rep. Dan Ankeles, D-Brunswick, introduced legislation Wednesday before the Legislature's Environment and Natural Resources Committee that would establish Maines Storm Water Infrastructure Repair and Replacement Fund.
LD 1570 would direct the Department of Environmental Protection to administer grants from the fund to municipalities and local water utilities to repair or replace aging storm water infrastructure. The bill would provide an initial investment of $10 million to support those grants and to hire a storm water engineer to administer the program.
"Recent flooding reminds us that good storm water management protects our waterways from polluting runoff and makes our coasts and our riverbanks more resilient to stronger and more frequent weather events," said Ankeles. "This new fund is a valuable way for state and local governments to work together on a major environmental challenge that we cant afford to ignore."
Storm water affects water quality when polluted runoff from pavement enters water bodies. Storm water systems include large concrete storm sewers, roadside ditches, rain gardens, natural riverine systems and more. As of 2019, more than 40 states have at least one storm water management system, but cities and towns are continuing to grow and develop, increasing paved surface areas which contributes to runoff and disturbs the natural process of storm water absorption by the soil.
"Storm water pollution is a major cause of poor water quality resulting in beach closures, fishing closures and more," said Ivy Frignoca, a representative from Friends of Casco Bay testifying in support of LD 1570. "The solutions to this problem largely fall on municipalities, which do not have the financial resources to repair and upgrade aging infrastructure or install systems to filter storm water before it reaches our waterways."
Federal funding for storm water infrastructure averages about $250 million annually, which leaves a growing funding gap of $8 billion per year to comply with current regulations, according to the 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) report card. In 2020, ASCE gave Maine's storm water infrastructure a C- grade.
"Funding storm water management at the local level can be a challenge," said Curtis Bohlen, a representative from Casco Bay Estuary Partnership in remarks before the committee. "Towns face many competing priorities. All too often, storm water programs end up underfunded. Largely invisible underground infrastructure may not compete well in budget discussions in comparison with schools, roads or police."
The committee will hold a work session on the bill on Thursday, May 11 at 1 p.m.
Ankeles, a member of the Transportation Committee, is serving his first term in the Maine House and represents District 100, a central slice of Brunswick that includes downtown, the former naval airbase, Bowdoin College and multiple watersheds.
Contact:
Brian Lee [Ankeles], c. 305-965-2744