STATE WASTEWATER FEE TAKES EFFECT JANUARY 1, 2005

In May 2004, Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. signed legislation creating the Bay Restoration Fund. The fund establishes a $2.50 per month fee -- $7.50 per quarter for WSSC residential customers -- that will appear as a separate line item on your water/sewer bill beginning January 1, 2005.

Non-residential WSSC customers will be charged on a sliding scale fee based on the number of equivalent dwelling units (EDUs). The State has established the following fee schedule for non-residential customers:

• For properties without submeters, the Bay Restoration Fee is calculated monthly and billed based on the customers' current billing schedule. The number of EDU's is determined by dividing the total average daily water consumption by 250 gallons;
  
  
• To determine the number of EDU's for properties with submeters, the total amount of sewer services received will be divided by 250 gallons. In this instance, the fee is also calculated monthly and billed based on the customers' billing schedule;
  
  
• The first 3000 EDU's are charged at $2.50 per month per EDU;
  
  
• The next 2000 EDU's are charged at $1.25 per month per EDU; and
  
  
• The maximum fee for 5000 EDU's or more is $10,000 per month for any single user.

Revenue from the fund will upgrade wastewater treatment plants throughout Maryland - helping to reduce levels of harmful nutrients in wastewater. WSSC operates six Wastewater Treatment Plants and helps clean more than 180 million gallons of wastewater each day. Last year, WSSC cleaned more than 60 billion gallons of wastewater and removed 20 million pounds of nitrogen and phosphorus. Over the past 15 years, WSSC has reduced nitrogen discharges by 51 percent while wastewater flows increased 22 percent.

The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) will administer and allocate the funds. For more information on this State legislation, or if you have questions concerning how your fee is calculated and how the funds will be allocated, please call MDE at 1-800-633-6101 or visit their website at www.mde.state.md.us.