A troubling stormwater bill that has been defeated numerous times in previous years has once again been killed in the General Assembly. SB 1067 (Kiggans) requires that localities shall provide for full waivers of certain stormwater charges for public use airport runways and taxiways.
As with similar bills in recent years, VACo opposed SB 1067 for several reasons.
- Such an exemption will have a severe fiscal impact on a locality. Given their nature and their sheer size, airports are large contributors to water pollutants, and thus if they are exempted from their stormwater fees, those costs will be shifting to other ratepayers who in turn will have to pay a larger share.
- Legislation like this will only serve to open the door for other special interests seeking exemptions from stormwater fees. In fact, for this reason, the General Assembly has rejected this very bill before as well as similar bills seeking exemptions for churches and railroads.
SB 1067 was stricken from the docket at the outset of the February 4 meeting of the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee. VACo expects that airport representatives will continue to pursue this over the next several months and will likely bring similar legislation in the future.
VACo Contact: Chris McDonald, Esq.