§ 1264b. Stormwater Fund

(a) A fund to be known as the Stormwater Fund is created in the State Treasury to be expended by the Secretary of Natural Resources. The Fund shall be administered by the Secretary of Natural Resources. The Fund shall consist of:

(1) stormwater impact fees paid by permittees to meet applicable permitting standards for the discharges of regulated stormwater runoff to the stormwater-impaired waters of the State and Lake Champlain and waters that contribute to the impairment of Lake Champlain;

(2) such sums as may be appropriated or transferred to the Fund by the General Assembly, the State Emergency Board, or the Joint Fiscal Committee during such times when the General Assembly is not in session;

(3) principal and interest received from the repayment of loans made from the Fund;

(4) private gifts, bequests, and donations made to the State for any of the purposes for which the Fund was established; and

(5) other funds from any public or private source intended for use for any of the purposes for which the Fund has been established.

(b) The Fund shall maintain separate accounts for each stormwater-impaired water and each phosphorus-impaired lake segment of Lake Champlain and the monies in each account may only be used to fund offsets in the designated water. Offsets shall be designed to reduce the sediment load, phosphorus load, or hydrologic impact of regulated stormwater runoff in the receiving water. All balances in the Fund at the end of any fiscal year shall be carried forward and remain a part of the Fund. Interest earned by the Fund shall be deposited into the Fund.

(c) The Secretary may authorize disbursements from the Fund to offsets that meet the requirements of the rule adopted pursuant to subsection 1264(f) of this title. The public funds used to capitalize the Fund shall:

(1) be disbursed only to an offset that is owned or operated by a municipality or a governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality; and

(2) be disbursed only to reimburse a municipality or a governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality for those funds provided by the municipality or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality to complete or construct an offset.

(d) A municipality or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality may, on an annual basis, reserve capacity in an offset that the municipality or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality operates or owns and that meets the requirements of the rule adopted pursuant to subsection 1264(f) of this title. A municipality or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality reserving offset capacity shall inform the Secretary of the offset capacity for which the offset will not receive disbursements from the Fund for nonmunicipal discharges.

(e) Eligible persons may apply for a grant from the Fund to design and implement an offset. The Fund may be used to match other public and private sources of funding for such projects.

(f) A discharger that pays a stormwater impact fee to the Fund in order to receive a permit for the discharge of regulated stormwater runoff may receive reimbursement of that fee if the discharger fails to discharge under the stormwater discharge permit, if the discharger notifies the Secretary of the abandonment of the discharge permit, and if the Secretary determines that unobligated monies for reimbursement remain in the Fund. (Added 2003, No. 140 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; amended 2017, No. 67, § 12.)