During rainstorms, water rushes along rooftops, sidewalks, driveways and pavements, picking up nutrients, dirt and chemicals on the way to streams that feed the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers.

Awareness of the problem of urban and suburban runoff is increasing, and so are the attempts to fix them. But the proposed solutions are controversial.

A fight has been brewing over new, tougher state requirements for controlling stormwater from new developments. At the same time, environmentalists are pushing for a new fee on property owners that would pay for stormwater upgrades.

In 2007, environmental activists cheered when the Maryland General Assembly passed a law requiring better stormwater controls on new developments, such as housing subdivisions or shopping malls.

But lawmakers left it to the Maryland Department of the Environment to figure out all the details and spell them out in regulations.

Those regulations - set to go into effect in May - are causing consternation.

Builders and officials in some towns and cities worry the new rules will make it too expensive and difficult to develop or redevelop small lots inside towns.

Tom Farasy, the president of the Maryland State Builders Association, said the new rules are a "regulatory disincentive" to redevelop in urban areas.

"The regulations at this exact moment are causing challenges because they are extremely expensive and hard to do," he said.

The new rules require developers to mimic natural water filtration into the groundwhenever possible, by using techniques such as swales, rain gardens and porous pavement. Those approaches are preferred over the usual stormwater holding ponds that dot the landscape.

The rules give some leeway, however, for urban redevelopment, said Dawn Stoltzfus, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of the Environment.

"It's very flexible, a lot of creativity can be used," Stoltzfus said.

She also said the rules for redevelopment are half as strict as for new development.

In the toughest areas, developers can opt to do environmental restoration at another nearby site or even pay a fee into an environmental fund.

The problem with urban lots is that they are often small and pose logistical challenges in squeezing in the natural stormwater controls, which can take up more space.

Environmentalists also are defending the regulations.

Jenn Aiosa, a senior scientist for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said environmentalists think the stormwater rules aren't strong enough. So it's extra important to see them not weakened any more, she said.

"We're very opposed to efforts right now to make changes to the regulations or undermine the implementation date or change any of the requirements," Aiosa said.

She said the stormwater rules have "adequate flexibility" for developers.

Farasy disagreed, saying the new stormwater controls are difficult to fit in and so expensive they may encourage sprawling growth on big suburban and rural lots, instead of in-town "smart growth."

Farasy gave the example of Mosaic at Metro, a project he worked on near the Hyattsville Metro station in Prince George's County.

The Mosaic project, which includes luxury apartments, retail and office space, would have cost $500 million more if it had to follow the new stormwater rules, he said. And the development would have had 6 percent fewer units.

Building industry officials said they want the rules to be revised - either by MDE or by state lawmakers.

"What we're asking for is normal, what we're asking for is fair, what we're asking for is consistent with creating jobs and smart growth," Farasy said.

The issue has drawn interest in Annapolis during the ongoing General Assembly session.

A key lawmaker - Del. Maggie McIntosh, the head of the Environmental Matters Committee - said this week that she's concerned about the regulations.

McIntosh is known as a defender of the environment, but she also lives in Baltimore and supports urban redevelopment.

She told a meeting of hundreds of environmental activists this week she hopes MDE and the developers can work out their differences within the next four weeks. If not, she's willing to consider legislation to make changes.

"I want to see it, flush it out and get it fixed ... I want to make sure there are no unintended consequences," she said.

Raising money

Meanwhile, there's a push in the General Assembly to require cities and counties to levy a fee on property owners to raise money for stormwater fixes.

Most of the construction in the state was done before there were any stormwater rules. As a result, pollution has been flowing into the water and streams have been ruined by runoff blasting out of old pipes or pouring off of paved surfaces.

Fixing those problems is enormously expensive.

Erik Michelsen, executive director of the South River Federation, made the case for the stormwater fee to a gathering of environmentalists earlier this week.

"We have a $20 billion backlog ... The best time to do this was 20 years ago," he said. "The second-best time to do this is now."

The bill faces challenges this year, with elections looming and the economy still in the tank.

But a similar bill had some legs last year, making it out of a committee and onto the Senate floor, before being killed with a legislative move late in the session.

Andy Galli, who is with the advocacy group Clean Water Action, said raising money is the only way to make headway in correcting all of the stormwater-caused problems.

"This is a problem that has compounded year after year after year," he said.

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