The Polluters Pay in Chattanooga

In the article “Quality at a cost: Storm water rates go up to fend off expected fed fines” by Dave Flessner and Cliff Hightower, they explain the problems that Chattanooga, Tennessee is experiencing involving their polluted rainwater runoff. The taxpayers of Chattanooga have paid more than $80 million in storm water fees over the past 16 years, but federal regulators say the city is still facing pollution problems from rainwater runoff. The city’s storm water system is not in compliance with the Clean Water Act standards and therefore, they will need to invest in a more environmentally friendly system to accommodate the polluted rainwater. The Tennessee department of Environment and Conservation, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are preparing to impose a $50 million fine to the city if they do not deal with this problem quickly.

In order to improve their storm water runoff, the city of Chattanooga is preparing to introduce several procedures that will hopefully allow them to avoid the $50 million fine. The city is looking beyond single source polluters and is now focusing more on runoff across the city. They believe this will be more effective in reducing the potential of contaminated runoff. They have determined that runoff from parking lots, rooftops and other developed properties add silt, oil, pesticides and other contaminants to the water, which accounts for 85% of pollution in rivers and streams. Increased storm water fees will be implemented, with the income from this new tax, contributing towards more efficient engineering and inspections. Residential fees will increase from $36 to $115.50 a year and increased inspections of residential properties will occur.

In an inspection from September 2008, 57 violations of the city’s storm water permit were identified. The city never had any reason to spend their money on something that people don’t see and they determined that it was not a priority. If the polluter pays principle was never implemented, the city may never have changed their ways. The threat of a huge fine is causing them to pull out all the stops in order to reduce their impact on the environment.

There are several ways in which measures to protect the environment can have an impact on equity. There are three main aspects of equity that are addressed in the equity principle: people’s rights must be respected, people deserve fairness, and that people’s needs should be met and their contribution to meeting these needs should be based on their ability to do so. In this situation, taxes are increased due to the implementation of the polluter pays principle. These taxes are being imposed on all city residents, including a certain section of society whose members may not be able to afford these extra costs. Residents are expected to pay an extra $79 a year and there may be many people that cannot afford this increase. This is also causing problems for small business owners. The owner of a mobile home park had her storm water bill increase from $1324 to $5299 and she doesn’t know how she will deal with this extra cost.

The city of Chattanooga must address their issues with contaminated storm water runoff in order to protect the environment that they have been degrading for so many years. By implementing the polluter pays principle, the city is introducing fines to individual residences and other developed properties who are contributing to the problem. They have increased the tax for storm water runoff, expecting to use this extra income for increased inspections and more effective engineering. However, there are many people that cannot afford these increased costs. The equity principle states that people’s needs should be met and their contribution to meeting these needs should be based on their ability to do so. Therefore, it would be constructive if the city could compensate those with less money with some kind of extra income support. Before making a decision, all governments need to analyze the positive and negative outcomes of their implemented policy.

Flessner, D. & Hightower, C. November 22, 2009. Quality at a cost: Stormwater rates go up to fend off expected fed fines. Chattanooga Times Free Press. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2009/nov/22/quality-at-a-cost-stormwater-rates-go-up-to-fend/