The Republican state delegate from south county is in his third year of trying to help homeowners in neighborhoods with lots of failing septic systems pay to be connected to sewage plants.

After years of negotiations that at times got heated, Costa finally has a " 'Kumbaya' bill" that drew not one bit of opposition at a hearing in Annapolis Wednesday.

Costa's bill would allow homeowners in some communities to use money from the state's "flush fee" to help pay for sewer connections.

There's a strict set of conditions attached to use of the money. The whole neighborhood has to be certified as a septic problem area by the county and approved for sewer connection; everyone in the neighborhood has to be on board; the neighborhood must be along the water; and connecting to the sewer must align with the county's master plans for growth and sewer service.

And, after all that, homeowners could only get the same amount of money from the flush fee as they could have gotten to replace a septic system.

All those conditions filled up the three years of negotiations, Costa and others said after the bill's hearing before the House of Delegates' Environmental Matters Committee.

"It's taken him three years to bang everyone's heads together," joked Alan Friedman, the lobbyist for County Executive John R. Leopold, who supports the bill.

The county Health Department has identified a few dozen neighborhoods, from Pasadena to south county, with high numbers of failing septic systems. The old systems can leach harmful nutrients and bacteria into groundwater and surface water.

Most of the neighborhoods are older and many are near the water.

Some of those neighborhoods have explored connecting to the public sewer system, only to find out the cost would be prohibitive - $30,000 or more per home. Even when that's paid out over time, it's a lot of money.

Homeowners wouldn't be able toget the full cost of the sewer connection paid for by the flush fee under the bill. Likely, they'd get closer to $12,000, the average grant amount for a septic system.

Friedman said that brings down the price enough to make a difference.

"It's definitely a tipping point here," he said.

Property owners pay a flush fee of $30 per year into the state's Bay Restoration Fund. The money is used to upgrade sewage plants, to plant cover crops on farms and to install nitrogen-reducing septic tanks. Costa's bill would use money from the septic system portion of the fund for the sewer connection grants.

In past years, the bill was opposed by state agencies and environmentalists, who were concerned that it would spur new housing construction. But they're on board this year.

Erik Michelsen, executive director for the South River Federation, said there are probably a half-dozen communities on the river that might benefit.

"There are communities that want to do this sort of thing," he said. " …We see it as a big part of reducing pollution."

Costa's bill, co-sponsored by Del. Cathy Vitale, R-Severna Park, has not yet been scheduled for a committee vote.

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