                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

REGULATION OF STORMWATER (§ 15.2-2114)

A. Any locality, by ordinance, may establish a utility or enact a system of
service charges to support a local stormwater management program consistent with
Article 2.3 (§ 62.1-44.15:24 et seq.) of Chapter 3.1 of Title 62.1 or any other
state or federal regulation governing stormwater management. Income derived from
a utility or system of charges shall be dedicated special revenue, may not
exceed the actual costs incurred by a locality operating under the provisions of
this section, and may be used only to pay or recover costs for the following:

   1. The acquisition, as permitted by &#xA7; 15.2-1800, of real and personal
   property, and interest therein, necessary to construct, operate and maintain
   stormwater control facilities;

   2. The cost of administration of such programs;

   3. Planning, design, engineering, construction, and debt retirement for new
   facilities and enlargement or improvement of existing facilities, including
   the enlargement or improvement of dams, levees, floodwalls, and pump stations,
   whether publicly or privately owned, that serve to control stormwater;

   4. Facility operation and maintenance, including the maintenance of dams,
   levees, floodwalls, and pump stations, whether publicly or privately owned,
   that serve to control stormwater;

   5. Monitoring of stormwater control devices and ambient water quality
   monitoring;

   6. Contracts related to stormwater management, including contracts for the
   financing, construction, operation, or maintenance of stormwater management
   facilities, regardless of whether such facilities are located on public or
   private property and, in the case of private property locations, whether the
   contract is entered into pursuant to a stormwater management private property
   program under subsection J or otherwise; and

   7. Other activities consistent with the state or federal regulations or
   permits governing stormwater management, including, but not limited to, public
   education, watershed planning, inspection and enforcement activities, and
   pollution prevention planning and implementation.

B. The charges may be assessed to property owners or occupants, including
condominium unit owners or tenants (when the tenant is the party to whom the
water and sewer service is billed), and shall be based upon an analysis that
demonstrates the rational relationship between the amount charged and the
services provided. Prior to adopting such a system, a public hearing shall be
held after giving notice as required by charter or as provided in &#xA7;
15.2-1427. However, prior to adoption of any ordinance pursuant to this section
related to the enlargement, improvement, or maintenance of privately owned dams,
a locality shall comply with the notice provisions of &#xA7; 15.2-1427 and hold
a public hearing.

C. A locality adopting such a system shall provide for full waivers of charges
to the following:

   1. A federal, state, or local government, or public entity, that holds a
   permit to discharge stormwater from a municipal separate storm sewer system,
   except that the waiver of charges shall apply only to property covered by any
   such permit; and

   2. Public roads and street rights-of-way that are owned and maintained by
   state or local agencies, including property rights-of-way acquired through the
   acquisitions process.

D. A locality adopting such a system shall provide for full or partial waivers
of charges to any person who installs, operates, and maintains a stormwater
management facility that achieves a permanent reduction in stormwater flow or
pollutant loadings or other such other facility, system, or practice whereby
stormwater runoff produced by the property is retained and treated on site in
accordance with a stormwater management plan approved pursuant to Chapter 3.1
(&#xA7; 62.1-44.2 et seq.) of Title 62.1. The locality shall base the amount of
the waiver in part on the percentage reduction in stormwater flow or pollutant
loadings, or both, from pre-installation to post-installation of the facility.
No locality shall provide a waiver to any person who does not obtain a
stormwater permit from the Department of Environmental Quality when such permit
is required by statute or regulation.

E. A locality adopting such a system may provide for full or partial waivers of
charges to cemeteries, property owned or operated by the locality administering
the program, and public or private entities that implement or participate in
strategies, techniques, or programs that reduce stormwater flow or pollutant
loadings, or decrease the cost of maintaining or operating the public stormwater
management system.

F. Any locality may issue general obligation bonds or revenue bonds in order to
finance the cost of infrastructure and equipment for a stormwater control
program. Infrastructure and equipment shall include structural and natural
stormwater control systems of all types, including, without limitation,
retention basins, sewers, conduits, pipelines, pumping and ventilating stations,
and other plants, structures, and real and personal property used for support of
the system. The procedure for the issuance of any such general obligation bonds
or revenue bonds pursuant to this section shall be in conformity with the
procedure for issuance of such bonds as set forth in the Public Finance Act
(&#xA7; 15.2-2600 et seq.).

G. In the event charges are not paid when due, interest thereon shall at that
time accrue at the rate, not to exceed the maximum amount allowed by law,
determined by the locality until such time as the overdue payment and interest
are paid. Charges and interest may be recovered by the locality by action at law
or suit in equity and shall constitute a lien against the property, ranking on a
parity with liens for unpaid taxes. The locality may combine the billings for
stormwater charges with billings for water or sewer charges, real property tax
assessments, or other billings; in such cases, the locality may establish the
order in which payments will be applied to the different charges. No locality
shall combine its billings with those of another locality or political
subdivision, including an authority operating pursuant to Chapter 51 (&#xA7;
15.2-5100 et seq.) of Title 15.2, unless such locality or political subdivision
has given its consent by duly adopted resolution or ordinance.

H. Any two or more localities may enter into cooperative agreements concerning
the management of stormwater.

I. For purposes of implementing waivers pursuant to subdivision C 1, for
property where two adjoining localities subject to a revenue sharing agreement
each hold municipal separate storm sewer permits, the waiver shall also apply to
the property of each locality and of its school board that is accounted for in
that locality&#8217;s municipal separate storm sewer program plan, regardless of
whether such property is located within the adjoining locality.

J. Any locality that establishes a system of charges pursuant to this section
may establish a public-private partnership program, to be known as a stormwater
management private property program, in order to promote cost-effectiveness in
reducing excessive stormwater flow or pollutant loadings or in making other
stormwater improvements authorized pursuant to this section. A locality that
opts to establish a stormwater management private property program pursuant to
this subsection shall:

   1. Promote awareness of the location, quantity, and timing of reductions or
   other improvements that it determines appropriate under this program;

   2. Seek the voluntary participation of property owners;

   3. Accept the participation of property owners on both an individual and a
   group basis by which multiple owners may collaborate on improvements and
   allocate among the multiple owners any payments made by the locality;

   4. Enter into contracts at its discretion to secure improvements on terms and
   conditions that the locality deems appropriate, including by making payments
   to property owners in excess of the value of any applicable waivers pursuant
   to subsections D and E; and

   5. Require appropriate operation and maintenance of the contracted
   improvements.

K. Any locality that establishes a stormwater management private property
program pursuant to subsection J may procure reductions and improvements in
accordance with the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act
(&#xA7; 56-575.1 et seq.) or other means, as appropriate. Subsection J shall not
be interpreted to limit the authority of a locality to secure reductions of
excessive stormwater flow or pollutant loadings or other stormwater improvements
by other means.

HISTORY: 1991, c. 703, § 15.1-292.4; 1994, cc. 284, 805; 1997, cc. 331, 587;
1998, c. 182; 2003, c. 390; 2004, c. 507; 2005, c. 313; 2006, c. 11; 2009, c.
703; 2011, c. 452; 2013, cc. 756, 793; 2015, c. 683; 2016, c. 587; 2017, c. 375;
2024, cc. 225, 242.