Builders complained it was costly and unfair to make projects already in the development pipeline comply with the new rules, which require leaving more land open to let rainfall soak in, instead of being collected in large surface ponds or underground tanks.  Local officials also objected that the new requirements could hurt redevelopment projects, undermining the state's Smart Growth policies aimed at curbing sprawl.

Lawmakers had introduced several bills aimed at addressing those complaints, but some proposals went further, in at least one case delaying the rules for up to a decade.  At the behest of Del. Maggie McIntosh, a Baltimore Democrat and chairwoman of the House Environmental Matters Committee, representatives of builders, county and municipal officials and environmental groups huddled for a week and struck what all called a fair compromise.  With the Maryland Department of the Environment pledging to revise its rules by emergency regulation, McIntosh said the storm-water bills would remain cooped up in her committee.

Environmental activists engaged in the talks - representing the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and 1000 Friends of Maryland -- said they reluctantly agreed to some delay and softening of the rules in order to avoid risking potentially bigger concessions being made by the legislature. They noted that they had gotten developers to agree to limits on how long they could avoid complying with the new runoff rules.  Projects with preliminary local approval could avoid the tougher storm-water control requirements, but would have to get final approval by May 2013 and start construction by 2017.

But Tutman, who was not party to the negotiations, contended that those terms actually grant developers more time to delay construction than some localities currently allow before projects would have to reapply for permits and comply with new regulatory requirements.  He called the deal "hardly a bargain."

Wayne T. Gilchrest, a former congressman from the Eastern Shore, also called the deal "ridiculous" and unnecessary.  He said he and former Gov. Harry R. Hughes and former U.S. Sen. Joseph Tydings had traveled to Annapolis last week to urge legislators not to delay or water down the new runoff rules.  Though some lawmakers had indicated they were getting a lot of pressure from builders and local officials in their communities, Gilchrest said leaders in the House and Senate had assured them "nothing's going to happen."

"We never thought it was going anyplace," Tutman said of the storm-water legislation.  The deal, he added, "was a safe place for environmentalists who didn't want to roll the dice."

Gilchrest, who championed environmental causes during his tenure in Congress, said tough measures are needed to reduce polluted runoff from development, because it is a major and growing threat to the health of the Chesapeake Bay.

"We just can't sit on our hands and be timid about these issues," the former congressman said. "You've got to be bold now -- and if you aren't bold now, we'll just keep losing ground."

Other activists were not as upset.  Erik Michelsen, executive director of the South River Federation in Anne Arundel County, said he felt "pretty relieved" by the agreement and had been kept apprised of the talks.  While some aspects of it were "far from ideal," overall he said it seemed fair and better than taking a chance that legislators feeling election-year heat might pass something more sweeping.

"The people who've spent a fair amount of time in Annapolis this year recognize it's a difficult climate," Michelsen said.

It remains to be seen if the discord will unravel the deal.  An Annapolis press conference that had been planned Wednesday by some dissenters to denounce any weakening or delay of the rules was canceled, without explanation.

(Baltimore Sun file photo)