Ways & Means reviews H.481 changes adding stormwater study, funding tweaks

The House Committee on Ways & Means reviewed Senate amendments to H.481 that add a study committee on stormwater management and regional stormwater utility districts, adjust recommended funding language for municipal stormwater programs, and add notice and guidance requirements for some stormwater permits, committee members were told.

Legislative Council attorney Michael (Mike) O'Grady walked the committee through a side-by-side of the House-passed bill and the Senate proposal, highlighting changes in the stormwater management statute and several funding and notice provisions. "The senate natural resources committee heard that some of the people that are subject the property owner subject to 3 acre stormwater permitting didn't actually receive notice that they were subject to the permit, and this is requiring the secretary to provide notice to all owners subject to that 3 acre permit," O'Grady said during his briefing.

The changes described by O'Grady include a requirement that the secretary provide notice to all owners subject to three-acre stormwater permitting; language clarifying municipal authority to use special assessment fees (as distinct from municipal impact fees) when municipalities assume full responsibility for a stormwater system; and a new charge and membership changes for a study committee that will examine formation of regional stormwater utility districts and whether regional utilities could manage parcel-based issues more equitably and cost-effectively.

Members were also told the bill adjusts how the Clean Water Fund's recommendations work. The House version included language that would call for at least $1,000,000 annually into a municipal stormwater implementation program; the Senate amendment would allow that program to receive priority consideration but would remove the mandatory minimum recommendation after a sunset conversion in 2032. The House-passed bill also carried a recommended appropriation of $5,000,000 to the municipal stormwater implementation fund for fiscal year 2027.

James Epping of the Joint Fiscal Office summarized fiscal impacts and said the Senate changes do not produce major changes to the bill's fiscal note. "So as passed by this amendment, there are no major changes to the fiscal note for H.481," Epping said, noting two principal updates: (1) authorizing ANR grant funding for planning and engineering related to forming municipal stormwater utilities, and (2) inserting a periodic check-back on the clean water surcharge's adequacy and necessity beginning in 2027 or 2028 under the amended language.

The bill also directs the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) to develop a publicly available stormwater management resource guide for owners subject to stormwater operating permits and makes several implementation and effective-date clarifications; committee staff noted that although many statutory changes take effect July 1, 2025, actual grant awards and Clean Water Fund board recommendations will follow the board's next schedule and fiscal-year timing.

Committee members conducted a straw poll on whether they were satisfied to move the bill forward for further consideration; the tally was reported as 9 yes, 0 no and 2 abstentions. The committee did not take a final formal vote on H.481 during this meeting.

Why it matters: the changes could affect which property owners receive notice about permitting obligations, how municipalities fund stormwater system takeover and upgrades, and how Clean Water Fund priorities and recommended minimums are structured going forward. The committee discussion repeatedly emphasized the potential revenue implications of study recommendations and program design.